MVZ173 American Foreign Policy Towards the Middle East During 1945-2008

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2009
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Oldřich Vondruška, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
PhDr. Petr Suchý, Ph.D.
Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Olga Cídlová, DiS.
Timetable
Wed 18:00–19:30 U43
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 9 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The students should be able to interpret major historic events of Middle East region in the context of international relations.
Getting familiar with primary sources of American foreign policy (presidential directives, SD etc.)
Analysis of dynamic relationship between universally declared values and principles on the one side and concrete political, economic and security interests on the other side regarding Middle East.
Undestanding of functioning of decision-making process among respective institutions (White House, DoD, SD, NSC) in respect to the Middle East.
Syllabus
  • 1) Prehistory of American interest in the Middle East region.
  • 2) Truman Doctrine: The United States like new "guardian" of Persian Gulf.
  • 3) Eisenhower and Suez Crisis. 4) Search for balance and „Six-day War“. 5) Nixon doctrine: American „Twin Pillars Policy“. 6) „Shuttle Diplomacy“ of Henry Kissinger. 7) Carter Doctrine: How to face new challanges? 8) Reagan's effort for restoration of enviroment and his outcomes. 9) Reagan's „roll-back“ policy in the Middle East. 10) Fall of communism and „New World Order“ in the Middle East. 11) Middle East on the bottom of Clinton's agenda. 12) The 11/09/2001 attacks and „War on terror“. 13) Continuation of Bush's asertive policy toward Middle East and onset of new Obama's administration.
Literature
  • BRANDS, Henry. Into the Labyrinth: The United States and the Middle East, 1945-1993. New York: McGraw Hill, 1994, 234 pp. ISBN 0070071888. info
  • BRONSON, Rachel. Thicker Than Oil. Americas Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, 353 pp. ISBN 0195167436. info
  • HINNEBUSCH, Raymond. The international politics of the Middle East. 1st pub. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003, 262 s. ISBN 0-7190-5346-3. info
  • KAUFMAN, Burton. The Arab Middle East and the United States: Inter-Arab Rivalry and Superpower Diplomacy. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1996, 291 pp. ISBN 0805779116. info
  • LAHAM, Nicholas. Crossing the Rubicon: Ronald Reagan and U.S. Policy in the Middle East. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004, 178 pp. ISBN 0754639614. info
  • LITTLE, Douglas. American Orientalism: the United States and the Middle East since 1945. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004, 419 pp. ISBN 0807855391. info
  • PALMER, Michael. Guardians of the Gulf: A History of Americas Expending Role in the Persian Gulf, 1833-1992. New York: Free Press, 1992, 328 pp. ISBN 0029238439. info
  • PAULY, Robert J. US foreign policy and the Persian Gulf : safeguarding American interests through selective multilateralism. Aldershot, Hants: Ashgate, 2005, 158 s. ISBN 9780754635338. info
  • ROSSI, Lorenza. Who Shall Guard the Guardians Themselves? An Analysis of US Strategy in the Middle East since 1945. Bern: Peter Lang, 1998, 342 pp. ISBN 0820442100. info
  • SPIEGEL, Steven. The Other Arab-Israeli Conflict: Making of Americas Middle East Policy from Truman to Reagan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985, 522 pp. ISBN 0226769615. info
  • International relations of the Middle East. Edited by Louise L'Estrange Fawcett. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, xiv, 356. ISBN 0199269637. info
  • LAHAM, Nicholas. Selling AWACS to Saudi Arabia: The Reagan Administration and the Balancing of Americas Competing Interests in the Middle East. Westport: Praeger, 2002, 256 pp. ISBN 0275975630. info
  • DILLER, Daniel. The Middle East. Washington: CQ, 1994, 432 pp. The Middle East. ISBN 0871879999. info
  • FRIEDLANDER, Melvin. Conviction and Credence: US Policymaking in the Middle East. Boulder: L.Rienner Publishers, 1991, 177 pp. ISBN 1555871771. info
  • GHANAYEM, Ishaq and Alden VOTH. The Kissinger Legacy: American-Middle East Policy. New York: Praeger, 1984, 237 pp. ISBN 0030697522. info
Assessment methods
Conditions for obtaining credit: 1) writing of seminar paper in extend of 5-6 pages with topics relating to major themes of the course with evaluation 0-10 points.
2) successful completing of written test with 11 open questions. The highest number of points to get is 40. It is necessary to get at least 27 points to pass.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2006.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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