OCMO 2340 - International Relations and State Formation in the Middle East

***UPDATED for 2026/27***

From carving-up areas of influence and border-drawing practices by colonial powers in the beginning of the 20th century, to the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, international actors and factors surely had significant impacts on the formation of states in the Middle East. Drawing on a sociohistorical approach, and extensive fieldwork in several Middle Eastern contexts, the instructors will assess the role of international relations in the evolution of states, regimes and political fields - ranging from foreign interventions, international coalitions, settler colonial projects, wars and conflicts, all the way to transnational networks and international institutions. The course will introduce case studies that bring local actors and agencies back in and provide students with a space of dialogue, encouraging them to adopt a critical lens to international dynamics of state formation in the Middle East.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Apprehending dynamics of state formation in the modern Middle East.
• Identifying the effects and nuances of international factors participating in shaping Middle Eastern politics.
• Mobilizing multidisciplinarity to understand the nexus between international and local dynamics.

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

• Elaborating background analyses using multidisciplinary tools.
• Analyzing political contexts using multi-scale approaches.
• Appreciating historical contexts in shaping present situations and relations.

None

• Since the instructors will foster dialogue and discussion as a teaching mechanism, feedback will be infused within the dialogue process, encouraging students to revisit some of the topics raised.
• Presentations will be another opportunity to present feedback following the presentation, engaging other students in the process.
• Discussions about selected objects and how to build a research project around them will be the third opportunity for feedback.

• In-Class Participation 10%

Each week, students will have mandatory readings that will be discussed in class. More generally, participation is highly recommended throughout the semester.

• Individual Background Presentation 40%

Throughout the semester, each student will make a 10-minute Background Presentation on topics communicated by the instructors at the beginning of the semester.

• Individual Object Narrative 50%

Students will search archives, identify objects (in the wide sense of the word), and revisit past events, and through them initiate a research-exploration-reflection process to produce a narrative related to the history of the Arab region and the formation and transformation of states in their political and international contexts. Object narratives will be composed of the following three items: an exhibition item that may take any form (written / photo / video / voice essay, installation, infographics, etc.), a 2,000-word research article on the selected object-subject nexus, and a 250-word didactic panel explaining the connection between the exhibition object and the research article. Students will be divided into groups of 3-4 so that they can collaborate on discussing and producing ideas, but projects are delivered individually. Objects should be decided by midsemester; projects should be delivered end of semester.

An exhibition of these narratives with their corresponding objects will be made if resources at PSIA allow.

• In Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 3 hours a week / 36 hours a semester
• Research and Preparation for Group Work: 40 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 40 hours a semester