Thursday 2:00pm - 4:00pm

The course examines the establishment of Arab authoritarian regimes after WW2 as a result of pressures to protect their new-found sovereignty. Then the nature of the political and economic forces that first encouraged the rulers of the Arab republics to try to establish family dynasties of a crony-capitalist variety, and then lead to their challenge and overthrown by popular movements aiming to create a wholly new constitutional order. Attention will also be paid to the impact of these developments on relationships with the Arab monarchies as well as the...