MA International Relations (Research) / Course details

This module analyses contemporary state formation processes in the Middle East and North Africa through the prism of resistance, revolutions and authoritarian upgrading in the 21st Century. It aims to answer the key question of this module: How have authoritarian regimes across the Arab region been able to survive increasingly contentious state formation processes? Empirically, the search for an answer to this question takes us from a historical analysis of Arab state formation processes to contemporary forms of mass mobilisation and resistance and the responses of authoritarian regimes. The first half of the course is dedicated to understanding varieties of authoritarian regimes (their evolution and strategies to retain power) and trajectories of resistance (militarised versus nonviolent resistance, including different types of revolutions). The second half of the course analyses revolutionary and counter-revolutionary state formation processes. It explains why some authoritarian regimes have fragmented after the revolutionary waves of 2011 and 2019, while others have upgraded their governance structures. The spectacular rise and fall of Islamist movements across the region will be examined through the prism of revolution / counter-revolution as well. Moreover, the role of international intervention in Arab state formation processes will be discussed here. Subsequently, the course ends with a critical appraisal of prospects for peace and regional security in the Middle East and North Africa.

By the end of this course, students should be able to: 

• engage with theories on resistance, revolutions, state formation, and authoritarianism
• understand the socio-economic and political root causes of contemporary mass uprisings
• differentiate between divergent trajectories of political mobilization through analysis of revolutionary dynamics and the factors that     constrain or fuel them
• understand processes of regime fragmentation and regime survival in the context of mass uprisings
• critically assess the driving forces, effects and limitations of foreign interventions in state formation processes
• comprehend the obstacles encountered by revolutionary networks in the subsequent state formation processes
• improve teamwork, writing, presentation, and research skills

The module will be delivered in ten two-hour blocks of teaching. In the first three seminars, the convener will introduce the underlying driving forces and revolutionary dynamics. 

As of week 4, students will be involved in the dissemination of knowledge through group presentations. The convener will try to cater to different types of learning by providing imagery in her presentations, and offering links to podcasts or visual forms of learning, where appropriate.

E-learning will be integrated throughout the module, using Blackboard and online research for course preparations as well as for assignments.

Critical reflection (800 words)            30%    

Essay (1,200 words)                          55%     

Presentation (10 mins)                       15%

A detailed weekly reading schedule is laid out in the handbook. Yet the following publications are key texts, which the seminars will draw on throughout the course. These books are available in the JRUL library.

Bayat, Asef (2017), Revolution Without Revolutionaries: Making Sense of the Arab Spring (Stanford: Stanford University Press)

Hinnebusch, Raymond (2015) The International Politics of the Middle East (Manchester: Manchester University Press)

Hinnebusch, Raymond and Jasmine Gani (eds.) The Routledge Handbook to the Middle East and North African State and States System (New York: Routledge)

Kamrava, Mehran (2014); Beyond the Arab Spring: The Evolving Ruling Bargain in the Middle East (London: Hurst & Company).