Comparative Politics and International Relations of the Middle East

Readings

SES #	TOPICS	READINGS
1	Politics of Knowledge in Middle East Political Science	Required readings: Lust-Okar, Ellen, Lisa Anderson, Steve Heydemann, et al. “Comparative Politics of the Middle East and Academic Freedom.” (PDF) APSA-CP Newsletter 18 (Winter 2007): 12–15. “The Ethics of Research in the Middle East.” (PDF) POMEPS Studies 8, July 2, 2014. More resources: Said, Edward W. Orientalism: 25th Anniversary Edition. Vintage Books, 1979. ISBN: 9780394740676. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Islam through Western Eyes.” The Nation, April 26, 1980. Lockman, Zachary. Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism. 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, 2009. ISBN: 9780521133074. [Preview with Google Books] McMurtie, Beth. “Terrorism Experts Are Sought by the Public but Not by Academe,” Chronicle of Higher Education, June 24, 2013.
2	Political Violence: Ideas and Structure	Required readings: Nielsen, Richard A. “Why Clerics Turn Deadly.” Chapter 1 in Deadly Clerics: Blocked Ambition and the Path to Jihad. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9781108404051. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Paths to Preaching Jihad.” Chapter 3 in Deadly Clerics: Blocked Ambition and the Path to Jihad. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9781108404051.  [Preview with Google Books] Hegghammer, Thomas. “Should I Stay or Should I Go? Explaining Variation in Western Jihadists’ Choice between Domestic and Foreign Fighting.” American Political Science Review 107, no. 1 (2013): 1–15. Parkinson, Sarah Elizabeth. “Organizing Rebellion: Rethinking High-Risk Mobilization and Social Networks in War.” American Political Science Review 107, no. 3 (2013): 418–32. Krause, Peter. “The Structure of Success: How the Internal Distribution of Power Drives Armed Group Behavior and National Movement Effectiveness.” International Security 38, no. 3 (Winter 2013/14): 72–116. Manekin, Devorah. “Violence Against Civilians in the Second Intifada: The Moderating Effect of Armed Group Structure on Opportunistic Violence.” Comparative Political Studies 46, no. 10 (2013): 1273–1300. More resources: Pearlman, Wendy. “The Organization Mediation Theory of Protest.” Chapter 1 in Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement. Cambridge University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9781107632493. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Occupation and the First Intifada, 1967–1993.” Chapter 4 in Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement. Cambridge University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9781107632493. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “The First Intifada, 2000.” Chapter 6 in Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement. Cambridge University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9781107632493.  Berrebi, Claude, and Esteban F. Klor. “Are Voters Sensitive to Terrorism? Direct Evidence from the Israeli Electorate.” American Political Science Review 102, no. 3 (2008): 279–301. Getmansky, Anna, and Thomas Zeitzoff. “Terrorism and Voting: The Effect of Rocket Threat on Voting in Israeli Elections.” American Political Science Review 108, no. 3 (2014): 588–604. Menoret, Pascal. Joyriding in Riyadh: Oil, Urbanism, and Road Revolt. Cambridge University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9781107641952. [Preview with Google Books] Hegghammer, Thomas. “The Rise of Muslim Foreign Fighters: Islam and the Globalization of Jihad.” (PDF) International Security 35, no. 3 (2011): 53–91. ———. Jihad in Saudi Arabia: Violence and Pan-Islamism since 1979. Cambridge University Press, 2010. ISBN: 9780521732369. [Preview with Google Books] Gerges, Fawaz A. The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global. 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, 2009. ISBN: 9780521737432. [Preview with Google Books]
3	Authoritarianism	Required readings: Wedeen, Lisa. “Believing in Spectacles.” Chapter 1 in Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria. University of Chicago Press, 2015. ISBN: 9780226333373. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Killing Politics: Official Rhetoric and Permissable Speech.” Chapter 2 in Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria. University of Chicago Press, 2015. ISBN: 9780226333373. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Complicating Compliance.” Chapter 5 in Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria. University of Chicago Press, 2015. ISBN: 9780226333373.  ———. “Ideology and Humor in Dark Times: Notes from Syria.” Critical Inquiry 39, no. 4 (2013): 841–73. Bush, Sarah Sunn, Aaron Erlich, Lauren Prather, et al. “The Effects of Authoritarian Iconography: An Experimental Test.” Comparative Political Studies 49, no. 13 (2016): 1704–38. Jones, Calvert W. “Seeing Like an Autocrat: Liberal Social Engineering in an Illiberal State.” Perspectives on Politics 13, no. 1 (2015): 24–41. Bellin, Eva. “The Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Exceptionalism in Comparative Perspective.” Comparative Politics 36, no. 2 (2004): 139–57. ———. “Reconsidering the Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Lessons from the Arab Spring.” Comparative Politics 44, no. 2 (2012): 127–49. More resources: Brownlee, Jason. Authoritarianism in an Age of Democratization. Cambridge University Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780521689663. [Preview with Google Books] Owen, Roger. The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life. Harvard University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780674735378. [Preview with Google Books] Menaldo, Victor. “The Middle East and North Africa’s Resilient Monarchs.” Journal of Politics 74, no. 3 (2012): 707–22.
4	Sectarianism	Required readings: “The Politics of Sectarianism.” (PDF - 1MB) POMEPS Studies 4, November 13, 2013. Christia, Fotini, Elizabeth Dekeyser, and Dean Knox. “To Karbala: Surveying Religious Shi’a from Iran and Iraq,” MIT Political Science Department Research Paper No. 2016-39. December 15, 2016. Christia, Fotini, Dean Knox, and Jaffar Al-Rikabi. “Networks of Sectarianism: Experimental Evidence on Access to Services in Baghad.” (PDF - 11MB) March 1, 2017. Cammett, Melani. “Welfare and Sectarianism in Plural Societies.” Chapter 1 in Compassionate Communalism: Welfare and Sectarianism in Lebanon. Cornell University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780801478932. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “The Political Geography of Welfare and Sectarianism.” Chapter 4 in Compassionate Communalism: Welfare and Sectarianism in Lebanon. Cornell University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780801478932. [Preview with Google Books] Siegel, Alexandra. “Viral Pulpits: Clerics and the Sectarianization of the Gulf Online Sphere.” Project on Middle East Political Science.
5	Gender	Required readings: Patel, David S. “Concealing to Reveal: The Informational Role of Islamic Dress.” Rationality and Society 24, no. 3 (2012): 295–323. Ben Shitrit, Lihi. “Introduction: Frames of Exception and Righteous Transgressions.” Chapter 1 in Righteous Transgressions: Women’s Activism on the Israeli and Palestinian Religious Right. Princeton University Press, 2015. ISBN: 9780691164571. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Women’s Protests: Exceptional Times and Exceptional Methods.” Chapter 4 in in Righteous Transgressions: Women’s Activism on the Israeli and Palestinian Religious Right. Princeton University Press, 2015. ISBN: 9780691164571. [Preview with Google Books] Nielsen, Richard A. “Women’s Authority in Patriarchal Social Movements: The Case of Female Salafi Preachers.” (PDF) January 9, 2018. Blaydes, Lisa, and Drew A. Linzer. “The Political Economy of Women’s Support for Fundamentalist Islam.” World Politics 60, no. 4 (2008): 576–609. Bush, Sarah Sunn, and Eleanor Gao. “Small Tribes, Big Gains: The Strategic Uses of Gender Quotas in the Middle East.” Comparative Politics 49, no. 2 (2017): 149–67. “Women and Gender in Middle East Politics.” (PDF - 1.3MB) POMEPS Studies 19, May 10, 2016. More resources: Masoud, Tarek, Amaney Jamal, and Elizabeth Nugent. “Using the Qur’ān to Empower Arab Women? Theory and Experimental Evidence From Egypt.” Comparative Political Studies 49, no. 12 (2016): 1555–98. Iyigun, Murat. “Lessons from the Ottoman Harem on Culture, Religion, and Wars.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 61, no. 4 (2013): 693–730. Blaydes, Lisa. “How Does Islamic Local Governance Affect the Lives of Women?” Governance 27, no. 3 (2014): 489–509. Blaydes, Lisa, and Rachel Gillum. “Religiosity-of-Interviewer Effects: Assessing the Impact of Veiled Enumerators on Survey Response in Egypt.” Politics and Religion 6, no. 3 (2013): 459–82. Ahmed, Leila. “The 1980s: Exploring Women’s Motivations.” Chapter 5 in A Quiet Revolution: The Veil’s Resurgence, from the Middle East to America. Yale University Press, 2011. ISBN: 9780300181432.  Ross, Michael L. “Oil, Islam, and Women.” American Political Science Review 102, no. 1: (2008): 107–23. Cherif, Feryal M. “Culture, Rights, and Norms: Women’s Rights Reform in Muslim Countries.” Journal of Politics 72, no. 4 (2010): 1144–60. Al-Rasheed, Madawi. A Most Masculine State: Gender, Politics, and Religion in Saudi Arabia. Cambridge University Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780521122528. [Preview with Google Books]
6	Islamism	Required readings: Schwedler, Jillian. “Can Islamists Become Moderates? Rethinking the Inclusion-Moderation Hypothesis.” World Politics 63, no. 2 (2011): 347–76. Wickham, Carrie Rosefsky. “Conceptualizing Islamist Movement Change.” Chapter 1 in The Muslim Brotherhood: Evolution of an Islamist Movement. Princeton University Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780691163642. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “The Brotherhood’s Foray into Electoral Politics.” Chapter 3 in The Muslim Brotherhood: Evolution of an Islamist Movement. Princeton University Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780691163642. [Preview with Google Books] El-Ghobashy, Mona. “The Metamorphosis of the Egyptian Muslim Brothers.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 37, no. 3 (2005): 373–95. Meyersson, Erik. “Islamic Rule and the Empowerment of the Poor and Pious.” (PDF) Econometrica 82, no. 1 (2014): 229–69. “Evolving Methodologies in the Study of Islamism.” (PDF - 1MB) POMEPS Studies 17, March 7, 2016. More resources: “Islamist Social Services.” (PDF - 3MB) POMEPS Studies 9, October 15, 2014. Wickham, Carrie Rosefsky. Mobilizing Islam: Religion, Activism, and Political Change in Egypt. Columbia University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780231125734. [Preview with Google Books] Cammett, Melani, and Pauline Jones Luong. “Is There an Islamist Political Advantage?” Annual Review of Political Science 17 (2014): 187–206. Schwedler, Jillian. Faith in Moderation: Islamist Parties in Jordan and Yemen. Cambridge University Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780521040006. [Preview with Google Books] Brown, Nathan J. When Victory Is Not an Option: Islamist Movements in Arab Politics. Cornell University Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780801477720. [Preview with Google Books] Lacroix, Stéphane. Awakening Islam: The Politics of Religious Dissent in Contemporary Saudi Arabia. Harvard University Press, 2011. ISBN: 9780674049642. [Preview with Google Books] Al-Rasheed, Madawi. Contesting the Saudi State: Islamic Voices from a New Generation. Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780521858366. [Preview with Google Books]
7	Historical Approaches to Developments	Required readings: Kuran, Timur. “Why the Middle East Is Economically Underdeveloped: Historical Mechanisms of Institutional Stagnation.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 18, no. 3 (2004): 71–90. Blaydes, Lisa, and Eric Chaney. “The Feudal Revolution and Europe’s Rise: Political Divergence of the Christian West and the Muslim World before 1500 CE.” American Political Science Review 107, no. 1 (2013): 16–34. Chaney, Eric. “Tolerance, Religious Competition and the Rise and Fall of Muslim Science.” November 20, 2008. Iyigun, Murat. “Luther and Suleyman.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 123, no. 4 (2008): 1465–94. Rubin, Jared. “Introduction.” Chapter 1 in Rulers, Religion, and Riches: Why the West Got Rich and the Middle East Did Not. Cambridge University Press, 2017. ISBN: 9781108400053. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “The Propogation of Rule.” Chapter 2 in Rulers, Religion, and Riches: Why the West Got Rich and the Middle East Did Not. Cambridge University Press, 2017. ISBN: 9781108400053.  [Preview with Google Books] Optional: Rubin, Jared. “Printing and the Reformation.” Chapter 6 in Rulers, Religion, and Riches: Why the West Got Rich and the Middle East Did Not. Cambridge University Press, 2017. ISBN: 9781108400053.
8	Arab Spring	Required readings: Gause, Gregory F., III. “Why Middle East Studies Missed the Arab Spring: The Myth of Authoritarian Stability.” Foreign Affairs 90, no. 4 (2011): 81–90.  Kuran, Timur. “Sparks and Prairie Fires: A Theory of Unanticipated Political Revolution.” Public Choice 61, no. 1 (1989): 41–74. Pearlman, Wendy. “Emotions and the Microfoundations of the Arab Uprisings.” Perspectives on Politics 11, no. 2 (2013): 387–409. Hassanpour, Navid. “Media Disruption and Revolutionary Unrest: Evidence from Mubarak’s Quasi-Experiment.” Political Communication 31, no. 1 (2014): 1–24. Steinert-Threlkeld, Zachary C., Delia Mocanu, Alessandro Vespignani, et al. “Online Social Networks and Offline Protest.” EPJ Data Science (2015) 4:19. “Reflections Five Years After the Uprisings.” (PDF - 2.5MB) POMEPS Studies 18, March 28, 2016.
9	Religion	Required readings: Hassner, Ron E. “Blasphemy and Violence.” International Studies Quarterly 55, no. 1 (2011): 23–45. Chaney, Eric. “Revolt on the Nile: Economic Shocks, Religion, and Political Power.” (PDF) Econometrica 81, no. 5 (2013): 2033–53. Taylor, Julie. “Prophet Sharing: Strategic Interaction between Muslim Clerics and Middle Eastern Regimes.” Journal of Islamic Law and Culture 10, no. 1 (2008): 41–62. Campante, Filipe, and David Yanagizawa-Drott. “Does Religion Affect Economic Growth and Happiness? Evidence from Ramadan.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 130, no. 2 (2015): 615–58. Clingingsmith, David, Asim Ijaz Khwaja, and Michael Kremer. “Estimating the Impact of The Hajj: Religion and Tolerance in Islam’s Global Gathering.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 124, no. 3 (2009): 1133–70.
10	Elections	Required readings: Blaydes, Lisa. “Introduction.” Chapter 1 in Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak’s Egypt. Cambridge University Press, 2013. ISBN: 9781107617018. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Elections and Elite Management.” Chapter 3 in Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak’s Egypt. Cambridge University Press, 2013. ISBN: 9781107617018. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “The Politics of Infrastructure Provision.” Chapter 4 in Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak’s Egypt. Cambridge University Press, 2013. ISBN: 9781107617018.  Masoud, Tarek. “Explaining Islamist Dominion.” Chapter 1 in Counting Islam: Religion, Class, and Elections in Egypt. Cambridge University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780521279116. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “The Islamic Machine?” Chapter 3 in Counting Islam: Religion, Class, and Elections in Egypt. Cambridge University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780521279116. [Preview with Google Books] ———.“Winning in the ‘Well-Run Casino’.” Chapter 4 in Counting Islam: Religion, Class, and Elections in Egypt. Cambridge University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780521279116. Corstange, Daniel. “Introduction.” Chapter 1 in The Price of a Vote in the Middle East: Clientelism and Communal Politics in Lebanon and Yemen. Cambridge University Press, 2017. ISBN: 9781107514409. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Perverse Competition and Personalized Patronage.” Chapter 8 in The Price of a Vote in the Middle East: Clientelism and Communal Politics in Lebanon and Yemen. Cambridge University Press, 2017. ISBN: 9781107514409. [Preview with Google Books]
11	Anti-Americanism and Views of the West	Required readings: Jamal, Amaney A. “Introduction: Pro-American Democracy or No Democracy At All?” Chapter 1 in Of Empires and Citizens: Pro-American Democracy or No Democracy At All? Princeton University Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780691149653. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Engaging the Regime through the Lens of the United States: Citizens’ Political Preferences.” Chapter 4 in Of Empires and Citizens: Pro-American Democracy or No Democracy At All? Princeton University Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780691149653. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Support for Democracy and Authoritarianism: The Geosrategic Utility of Cooperative Leadership.” Chapter 5 in Of Empires and Citizens: Pro-American Democracy or No Democracy At All? Princeton University Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780691149653. [Preview with Google Books]  Blaydes, Lisa, and Drew A. Linzer. “Elite Competition, Religiosity, and Anti-Americanism in the Islamic World.” American Political Science Review 106, no. 2 (2012): 225–43. Jamal, Amaney A., Robert O. Keohane, David Romney, et al. “Anti-Americanism or Anti-Interventionism in Arabic Twitter Discourses.” (PDF) Perspectives on Politics 13, no. 1 (2015): 55–73. Corstange, Daniel. “Anti-American Behavior in the Middle East: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Lebanon.” Journal of Politics 78, no. 1 (2016): 311–25. Nugent, Elizabeth, Tarek Masoud, and Amaney A. Jamal. “Arab Responses to Western Hegemony: Experimental Evidence from Egypt.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 62, no. 2 (2016): 254–88.