Politics and Society

In the Middle East and North Africa

This page provides resources for understanding politics and society in the Middle East and North Africa. It addresses the misconception, common among American college students, that "Islam rules every aspect of Muslims' lives."

Lecture and Class Activities

Sample Lesson Plan - Gender Equality in MENA

On Day 2 of the 2018 Bimson Seminar, Dr. Gamze Çavdar provided a detailed overview of politics in the Middle East and North Africa.

Resources

This list provides resources for U.S. educators and students seeking to better understand politics and societies in the Middle East and North Africa. It is far from exhaustive and is intended as a starting point only. Many of these resources should be viewed and used critically and with care.

  1. Council on Foreign Relations - Middle East and North Africa
  2. Aramco World Classroom Guides
  3. Teach Mideast Website
  4. The United Nations Arab Human Development Report 
  5. BBC Documentary - The Birth of Israel
  6. "A City Divided: Jerusalem's Most Contested Neighborhood"
  7. Middle East Dialogues at the Joseph Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver
  8. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
  9. CSSH Syllabus for Islamic Studies
  10. Muslim Girl Website
  11. Islamophobic Website (view critically!)

 

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Further Reading

Political issues in the Middle East and North Africa are the subject of countless books and articles, but these works vary widely in quality. This list provides a sampling of literature on MENA politics and society that may help to explore and elucidate these issues in the classroom. Resources are linked to online documents as available.

  1. Ahmed, A. (199). “When Worlds Collide: Muslim Nations and Western Modernity.” In Islam Today: A Short Introduction to the Muslim World. I.B. Taurus.
  2. Arat, Y. (2005). Rethinking Islam and liberal democracy: Islamist women in Turkish politics. New York: SUNY Press.
  3. Gamze Ç. & Y. Yaşar (2019). Women in Turkey: Silent consensus in the age of neoliberalism and Islamic conservatism. Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Politics. 
  4. “Club Med: The Mediterranean economy, north and south, is forming a single economic unit: Europe should make it a powerful one.” (2008, July 10). The Economist.
  5. Ehteshami, A. (2007). Globalization and geopolitics in the Middle East: Old games, new rules. New York: Routledge.
  6. Finkel, A. (2012). Turkey: What Everyone Needs to Know.  Oxford University Press.
  7. Henry, C.M. & Springborg, R. (2001). Globalization and the politics of development in the Middle East, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  8. Kearns,J. (2009). “The United States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement.” In S.N. Lester & B. Mercurio (Eds.) Bilateral and regional trade agreements: Case studies. New York:  Cambridge University Press.
  9. Kirişci, K. (2009). "Transformation of Turkish foreign policy: The rise of the trading state." New Perspectives on Turkey, 40, 29-57.
  10. Moghadam, V. (2003). Modernizing women: Gender and social change in the Middle East. 2nd edition. Boulder, CO: Lynn Rienner.
  11. Steves, R. (2009). "Turkey and Morocco: Sampling Secular Islam." In Travel as a Political Act. New York: Nation Books.