CSPO 23A03 - From Ajax Operation to the Nuclear Deal: an introduction to contemporary Iran
CSPO 23A03 · Fall semester 2026-2027
- Language of tuition
- English
- Course type
- Cours séminaire
- Number of hours
- 24
- Credits
- 3
Information
Description
Relying on a multidisciplinary perspective, this seminar aims at providing students with theoretical and empirical tools to apprehend contemporary Iran. The study of decisive historical events, figures and ideologies will enable students to understand how Iran interacted and interacts with regional and global powers. The analysis of the Iranian political and religious model will help understand continuities and discontinuities in Iranian domestic policies (institutional and political structure, state ideology) as well as the evolution of alliances and balances of powers (regionally and internationally) in a context of war. The goal of this class is to encourage students to read and be familiar with the global academic literature. Through the reading and discussion of articles, students will be encouraged to develop their critical thinking and methodological skills.
Assessment
Readings
Main readings 5
-
ABRAHAMIAN (Ervand), Oil Crisis in Iran. From Nationalism to Coup d’Etat, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2021
-
HOURCADE (Bernard), “Iran: The Revolt of the Third Generation”, Orient XXI, 2022
-
MESBAHI (Mohiaddin), “Free and Confined: Iran and the International System”, Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs, Vol. 2, No. 5, Spring 2011, pp. 9-34
-
NASR (Vali), Iran’s Grand Strategy. A Political History, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2025
-
PARSI (Trita), Losing an Enemy. Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy, New Heaven, Yale University Press
Further readings 4
-
MOÏSI (Dominique), The Geopolitics of Emotion: How cultures of Fear, Humiliation, and Hope are Reshaping the World, New York, Doubleday, 2009
-
PBS America documentary (2021), The Iran-Iraq War: A Tragedy that changed History.
-
RICHARD (Yann), Iran. A Social and Political History since the Qajars, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2019
-
The Iran Podcast, with Negar Mortezavi
Teaching units
| Unit no. | Unit type | Teaching units | Teachers | Number of hours | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20516 | Cours séminaire | From Ajax Operation to the Nuclear Deal: an introduction to contemporary Iran | Eva ZAHIRI | 24 | 3 |
Teachers
- Eva ZAHIRI
In the curricula
- SCIENCES PO UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE, Menton campus, Academic year 2026-2027, Semester 3COLLÈGE UNIVERSITAIRE - CAMPUS MENTON
Contacts and resources
- Contact
- BELUSSI Federica