COURSE SYLLABUS
Nationalisms and Islamisms
of the Contemporary Middle East
Course Nr.:
Instructor:HannesČerny, Visiting Professor, Department of International Relations, CEU
Office Hours:Tuesdays, Wednesdays 12.00 – 13. 00, Vigyazo, Room 210
Nationalism and Islamism are portrayed as two sides of the same coin that have shaped the political and social realities of the Middle East for the past 150 years, often in co-existence, yet time and again have clashed and led to radical change, as witnessed most recently with the so called “Arab Spring”. The objective of this course is to provide students with an in depth overview of the study of identity, nationalism and Islamism at the theoretical and empirical levels, focusing on their manifestations in one of the world’s most geo-strategically important and contested regions, the contemporary Middle East.
Nationalism and Islamism are variants of identity politics, thus after covering classic theories of identity formation – essentialism, modernism, instrumentalism – ample room will be given to constructivist and post-structuralist readings of identity politics. To this end, the course is distinctly interdisciplinary, combining approaches from sociology, anthropology, political science, and history.To round off the picture, ethno-nationalism, the relationship between radical Islamism and terrorism, and opposing views to nationalist and Islamist doctrine from the region will also be covered.
Empirically, after addressing pre-World War One nationalist precursors in the Ottoman and Persian Empires, we will focus on case studies from countries and movements that have dominated the regional discourse in our times, namely Egyptian, Turkish, Iranian, Israeli, and Palestinian nationalism. Likewise, the course will focus on the most prominent expressions of Islamism in the region and its leading proponents, i.e. the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafism/Wahhabism, Iran’s Vilayat e-Faqih, the Taliban, and the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham (ISIS). Students will be given the theoretical and empirical basis to develop an informed opinion and ability to independently analyze the social currents, ideological and religious tenets, and political developments that have dominated the region and greatly influenced world politics for the past two decades.
Course format
The structure of the course is distinctly contextual and will be adapted to the nature of each individual issue discussed with an incremental progression of student-centered learning, employing a wide range of interactive teaching methods. The traditional division of lectures and seminar discussions involving textual analysis will be supplemented by a number of interactive exercises including student poster presentations, oral presentations, and directing a class of their own design.
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course students are expected to:
(1)be able to identify and discuss classicalas well as critical social theories on identity, nationalism, ethnicity, and religion,
(2)be able to independently apply those social theories to the analysis of nationalist and Islamist movements in the contemporary Middle East,
(3)have gained a sound knowledge of the ideologies of the key nationalist and Islamist movements in today’s Middle East, their historic evolution, and how they fit into the bigger picture of recent socio-political developments in the region,
(4)be able to translate the theoretical and empirical insights gained in this course to their own individual epistemological and ontological approaches to questions about social identity, nationalism and religion both in other courses and beyond the classroom.
Course requirements:
(1)Presentation or mid-term essay (25%): Students will be required to give a 15 minutes presentation ona reading addressing particular aspects of the nationalisms andIslamisms covered in the course, to put those issuesintowider theoretical context of the course. Alternatively students can choose to write a 2,000 word essay on a on a particular case study related to but not covered in the course. Students are expected to independently identify literature, apply the theories on nationalism discussed in class and strictly adhere to the university’s standards for written course work.
(2)Directing a class (30%): Students will be required to slip into the role of course convener for one session and prepare a class of their own design. They are expected to give a lecture, answer their colleagues’ questions and chair the discussion in the tutorial section(s). The basis for students’ preparation will be the readings identified for the respective week of which they are expected to have read all the required readings and a substantial amount of the further readings.
(3)Final exam (35%): The final exam will focus on students’ comprehensive understanding of the wide range of theories and empirical case studies covered in the course as well as challenge them to demonstrate their own individual epistemological and ontological approach to the analysis of nationalist and Islamist movements in today’s Middle East.
(4)Class attendance and participation (10%): Students are expected to attend and actively participate in all classes, in particular the discussions in seminars, and to have read all required readings for each seminar.
Course schedule:
Week 1
Mo, 11 Jan.Course introduction
We, 13 Jan.Theories of nationalism I
Day, G. & A. Thompson (2004) Theorizing Nationalism, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, chapters 1-4
Eriksen, T.H. (1993) Ethnicity and Nationalism: Anthropological Perspectives, London: Pluto Press, chapter 6
Smith, A. (2001) Nationalism: Theory, Ideology, History, Cambridge: Polity, chapters 1-3
Further Reading:
Anderson, B. (2009) Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, London: Verso, 2nd edition, chapter 1-3
Brass, P. (1991) Ethnicity and Nationalism: Theory and Comparison, New Delhi: Sage
Connor, W. (1978) “A Nation Is a Nation, Is a State, Is an Ethnic Group, Is a …”,Ethnic and Racial Studies 1, pp. 377-400
Geertz, C. (1993) The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays, London: Fontana, 2nd edition
Giddens, Anthony (1985) A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism, vol. II: The Nation State and Violence, Cambridge: Polity
Hechter, Michael (2000) Containing Nationalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Hobsbawm, E. & T. Ranger (1992) The Invention of Tradition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapters 1, 7
Kedourie, E. (1993) Nationalism, Oxford: Blackwell, 4th edition
Smith, A. (2009) Ethno-symbolism and Nationalism: A Cultural Approach, London: Routledge
Week 2
Mo, 18 Jan.Theories of nationalism II
Calhoun, C. (1997) Nationalism, Buckingham: Open University Press, chapters 1-3, 5
Edkins, J. & N. Vaughan-Williams (2006) Critical Theorists and International Relations, London: Routledge, chapter 16
Malesevic, S. (2006) Identity as Ideology: Understanding Ethnicity and Nationalism, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, chapters 1-4
Özkirimli, U. (2005) Contemporary Debates on Nationalism: A Critical Engagement, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, chapter 7
Further Reading:
Billig, M. (1995) Banal Nationalism, London: Sage
Brubaker, R. (1995) Nationalism Reframed: Nationhood and the National Question in the New Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
—(2004) Ethnicity without Groups, Cambridge: Harvard University
Press
Chatterjee, P. (1993) Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World: A Derivative Discourse, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press
Gramsci, A. (2000) The Gramsci Reader: Selected Writings, 1916-1935, New York: New York University Press
Malesevic, S. (2013) Nation States and Nationalism, Cambridge: Polity
Yuval-Davis, N. (1997) Gender and Nation, London: Sage
We, 20 Jan. Nationalism in IR
Bush, K. & F. Keyman (1997) ‘Identity-Based Conflict: Rethinking Security in a Post-Cold War World’, Global Governance 3(3), pp. 311-28
Calhoun, C. (1997) Nationalism, Buckingham: Open University Press, chapter 4
Gellner, E. (1983) Nations and Nationalism, Oxford: Blackwell, chapter 1
Griffiths, M. & M. Sullivan (1997) “Nationalism and International Relations Theory”, Australian Journal of Politics and History 43(1), pp. 53-66
Guibernau, M. & J. Hutchinson (2001) Understanding Nationalism, Cambridge: Polity, chapter 2
Further Reading:
Breuilly, J. (1994) Nationalism and the State, Manchester: Manchester University Press
Cederman, L.E. (1997) Emergent Actors in World Politics: How States and Nations Develop and Dissolve, Princeton: Princeton University Press, chapter 2
Černy, H. (2014) “’Ethnic Alliances’ Deconstructed: The PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan and the Internationalization of Ethnicised Conflicts Revisited”, Ethnopolitics13(4), pp. 328-54
Campbell, D. (1998) National Deconstruction: Violence, Identity and Justice in Bosnia, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press
Coakley, J. (2012) Nationalism, Ethnicity, and the State, London: Sage, chapters 8-10
Duffy-Toft, M. (2003) The Geography of Ethnic Violence: Identity, Interests and the Indivisibility of Territory, Princeton: Princeton University Press
Week 3
Mo, 25 Jan.Religion in IR
Haynes, J. (2007) Introduction to International Relations and Religion, Harlow: Pearson, chapters 1-5, 7
Snyder, J. (2011) Religion and International Relations Theory, New York: Columbia University Press, chapters 1-2, 4-6
Further Reading:
Barbato, M & F. Kratochwil (2009) “Towards a Post-Secular Political Order?”,European Political Science Review 1(3), pp. 317-40
Bottici, C. & B. Challand (2006) “Rethinking Political Myth: The Clash of Civilizations as a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy”, European Journal of Social Theory 9(3), pp. 315-36
Duffy-Toft, M. et al. (2011) God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics, New York: W. W. Norton
Habermas, J. (2006) “Religion in the Public Sphere”, European Journal of Philosophy 14(1), pp. 1-25
Haynes, J.(2011) Religion, Politics and International Relations: SelectedEssays, London: Routledge, chapters 1-2, 9, 12-13
Huntington, S. (1996) The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, New York: Simon & Schuster
Kubalkova, V. (2000) “Toward an International Political Theology”, Millennium 29(3), pp. 675-704
Thomas, S. (2005) The Global Resurgence of Religion and the Transformation of International Relations: The Struggle for the Soul of the Twenty-First Century, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
We, 27 Jan.Theories of Islamism and criticisms of the concept
Roy, O. (2012) “The New Islamists”, Foreign Policy, 16 April, available online at:
Sadowski, Y. (2006) “Political Islam: Asking the Wrong Questions?”,Annual Review of Political Science 9(1), pp. 215-40
Volpi, F. (2011) Political Islam: A Critical Reader, London: Routledge, Section 1-2, chapter 3.4
Further Reading:
Eickelman, D. & J. Piscatori (1996) Muslim Politics, Princeton: Princeton University Press
Fuller, G. (2003) The Future of Political Islam, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Gerges, F. (2013) “The Islamist Movement: From Islamic State to Civil Islam?”,Political Science Quarterly 128(3), pp. 389-426
Mandaville, P. (2007) Global Political Islam, London: Routledge
Milton-Edwards, B. (2004) Islamic Fundamentalism since 1945, London: Routledge
—(2012) “Revolt and Revolution: The Place of Islamism”, Critical
Studies on Terrorism 5(2), pp. 219-36
Roy, O. (2002) Globalised Islam: Fundamentalism, De-Territorialization and the Search for a New Ummah, London: Hurst
—(2012) Whatever Happened to the Islamists? Salafis, Heavy Metal
Music and the Lure of Consumerist Islam, London: Hurst
Tibi, B. (2002) The Challenge of Fundamentalism: Political Islam and the New World Disorder, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2nd edition
Week 4
Mo, 1 Feb.State formation in the Middle East
Fawcett, Louise (2013) International Relations of the Middle East, Oxford: Oxford University Press, chapters 2, 8
Halliday, F. (2005) The Middle East in International Relations: Power, Politics, and Ideology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapters 1-3, 7-8
Zubaida, S. (2011) Beyond Islam: A New Understanding of the Middle East, London: I.B. Tauris, chapter 1
Further Reading:
Ayubi, N. (1995) Over-stating the Arab State: Politics and Society in the Middle East, London: I.B. Tauris, chapters 1-3, 5
Fromkin, D. (1989) A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empireand the Creation of the Modern Middle East, New York: Avon Books
Kamrava, Mehran (2011) The Modern Middle East: A Political History since the First World War, Berkeley: University of California Press, chapters 1-3, 7-8
Karsh, E. & I. Karsh (1999) Empires of the Sand: The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East 1789-1923, Cambridge: Harvard University Press
Khoury, P. & J. Kostiner (1991) Tribes and State Formation in the Middle East, London: I.B. Tauris, chapters 1-5
Omer, A. & J. Springs (2013) Religious Nationalism: A Reference Handbook, Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, Parts I and II (except case studies)
We, 3 Feb.Orientalism
Burke, E. (1998) “Orientalism and World History: Representing Middle Eastern Nationalism and Islamism in the Twentieth Century”, Theory and Society 27(4), pp. 489-507
Halliday, F. (1996) Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: Religion and Politics in the Middle East, London: I.B. Tauris, chapters 4-7
Said, E. (2000) The Edward Said Reader, New York: Vintage Books, chapter 4
Further Reading:
Adib-Moghaddam, A. (2011) AMetahistory of the Clash of Civilizations: Us and Them beyond Orientalism, London: Hurst
Kumar, D. (2010) “Framing Islam: The Resurgence of Orientalism during the Bush II Era”, Journal of Communication Inquiry 34(3), pp. 254-77
Little, Douglas (2008) American Orientalism: The United States and the Middle East since 1945, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 3rd edition, Introduction, chapter 1
Lockman, Zachary: Contending Visions of the Middle East, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Said, Edward (1979) Orientalism, New York: Vintage Books
Varisco, D.M. (2007) Reading Orientalism: Said and the Unsaid, Seattle: University of Washington Press
Week 5
Mo, 8 Feb.Nationalist historic predecessors: Ottomanism and Persian nationalism
Abrahamian, E. (2008) A History of Modern Iran, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapters 1-2
Ansari, A.M. (2012) The Politics of Nationalism in Modern Iran, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapter 2
Karpat, K. (1972) “The Transformation of the Ottoman State 1789-1908”, International Journal of Middle East Studies 3(3), pp. 243-81
Ülker, E. (2005) “Contextualizing ‘Turkification’: Nation-Building in the Late Ottoman Empire 1908-1918”, Nations and Nationalism 11(4), pp. 613-36
Presentation 1:
Zürcher, E.J. (2010) The Young Turk Legacy and Nation Building: From the Ottoman Empire to Atatürk’s Turkey, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Presentation 2:
Keddie, N. (1999) Qajar Iran and the Rise of Reza Khan 1796-1925, Costa Mesa: Mazda Press
Further Reading:
Abrahamian, E. (1979) “The Causes of the Constitutional Revolution in Iran”, International Journal of Middle East Studies 10(3), pp. 381-414
Atabaki, T. & E.J. Zürcher (2004) Men of Order: Authoritarian Modernization under Atatürk and Reza Shah, London: I.B. Tauris, chapter 1-3, 6, 8-9
Axworthy, M. (2010) A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind, New York: Basic Books, chapter 6
Bill, James (1988) The Eagle and the Lion: The Tragedy of American-Iranian Relations, New Haven: Yale University Press
Cronin, S. (2003) The Making of Modern Iran: State and Society under Riza Shah 1921-1941, London: Routledge
Enayat, H. (2013) Law, State, and Society in Modern Iran: Constiutionalism, Autocracy, and Legal Reform 1906-1941, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Hanioglu, M.S. (2001) Preparation for a Revolution: The Young Turks 1902-1908, Oxford: Oxford University Press
—(2008) A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire, Princeton:
Princeton University Press
Katouzian, H. (1979) “Nationalist Trends in Iran 1921-26”, International Journal of Middle East Studies 10(4), pp. 533-51
Keddie, N. (1962) “Religion and Irreligion in Early Iranian Nationalism”, Comparative Studies in Society and History 4(3), pp. 265-95
Martin, V. (2005) TheQajar Pact: Bargaining, Protest, and the State in Nineteenth Century Persia, London: I.B. Tauris
Miller, A. & S. Berger (2014) Nationalizing Empires, Budapest: Central European University Press, chapter 8
We, 10 Feb.Regional nationalist alternatives: Nasserism and Baathism
Choueiri, Y. (2000) Arab Nationalism: A History, Oxford: Blackwell, chapters 5-6
Dawisha, A. (2003) Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century: From Triumph to Despair, Princeton: Princeton University Press, chapters 6-10
Devlin, J. (1991) “The Baath Party: Rise and Metamorphosis”, The American Historical Review 96(5), pp. 1396-1407
Sirriyeh, H. (2000) “A New Version of Pan-Arabism?”,International Relations 15(3), pp. 53-66
Presentation 1:
Jankowski, J. (2002) Nasser’s Egypt, Arab Nationalism, and the United Arab Republic, Boulder: Lynne Rienner
Presentation 2:
Abu Jaber, K. (1966) The Arab Ba’th Socialist Party: History, Ideology and Organization, Syracuse: Syracuse University Press
Further Reading:
Ajami, F. (1992) The Arab Predicament: Arab Political Thought and Practice since 1967, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapters 1-2
Baram, A. (1983) “Qawmiyya and Wataniyya in Ba'thi Iraq: The Search for a New Balance”, Middle Eastern Studies 19(2), pp. 188-200
Dawisha, A. (2003) “Requiem for Arab Nationalism”, The Middle East Quarterly 10(1), pp. 25-41
Hinnebusch, R. (2001) Syria: Revolution from Above, London: Routledge
Kienle, E. (1995) “Arab Unity Schemes Revisited: Interest, Identity, and Policy in Syria and Egypt”, International Journal of Middle East Studies 27(1), pp. 53-71
Lenczowski, G. (1966) “Radical Regimes in Egypt, Syria, and Iraq: Comparative Observations on Ideologies and Practices”, The Journal of Politics 28(1), pp. 29-56
Mansfield, P. (1965) Nasser’s Egypt, London: Penguin Books
Roberts, D. (1987) TheBa’th and the Creation of Modern Syria, London: Croom Helm
Week 6
Mo, 15 Feb. The Muslim Brotherhood
Albrecht, H. (2005) “How Can Opposition Support Authoritarianism? Lessons from Egypt”, Democratization 12(3), pp. 378-97
Asad, T. (2012) “Fear and the Ruptured State: Reflections on Egypt after Mubarak”, Social Research 79(2), pp. 271-98
El-Ghobashi, M. (2005) “The Metamorphosis of the Egyptian Muslim Brothers”, International Journal of Middle East Studies 37(3), pp. 373-95
Juergensmeyer, M. (2003) The New Cold War? Religious Nationalism Confronts the Secular State, Bereley: University of California Press, chapter 3 (section on Egypt)
Rosefsky-Wickham, C. (2011) “The Muslim Brotherhood and Democratic Transition in Egypt”, Middle East Law and Governance 3(1-2), pp. 204-23
Further Reading:
Brownlee, J. (2010) “The Muslim Brothers: Egypt’s Most Influential Pressure Group”, History Compass 8(5), pp. 419-30
Ghanem, A. & M. Mohanad (2011) “Strategies of Electoral Participation by Islamic Movements: The Muslim Brotherhood and Parliamentary Elections in Egypt and Jordan, November 2010”, Contemporary Politics 17(4), pp. 393-409
Johnston, D. (2007) “Hassan al-Hudaybi and the Muslim Brotherhood: Can Islamic Fundamentalism Eschew the Islamic State?”,Comparative Islamic Studies 3(1), pp. 39-56
Pargeter, A. (2013) The Muslim Brotherhood: From Opposition to Power, London: Saqi
Qutb, S. (1964) Milestones, available online at:
Ranko, A. (2015) The Muslim Brotherhood and Its Quest for Hegemony in Egypt: State Discourse and Islamist Counter-Discourse, Wiesbaden: Springer
Rosefsky-Wickham, C. (2013) The Muslim Brotherhood: Evolution of an Islamist Movement, Princeton: Princeton University Press
Zollner, B. (2007) “Prison Talk: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Internal Struggle during Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Persecution 1954 to 1971”, International Journal of Middle East Studies 39(3), pp. 411-33
We, 17 Feb.Israeli Nationalism
Juergensmeyer, M. (2003) The New Cold War? Religious Nationalism Confronts the Secular State, Bereley: University of California Press, chapter 3 (section on Israel)
Sand, S. (2009) The Invention of the Jewish People, London: Verso, chapters 1, 5
Shelef, N. (2010) Evolving Nationalism: Homeland, Identity and Religion in Israel 1925-2005, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, Part I
Further Reading:
Benbassa, E. (2010) Suffering as Identity: The Jewish Paradigm, London: Verso
Dieckhoff, A. (2003) The Invention of a Nation: Zionist Thought and the Making of Modern Israel, New York: Columbia University Press
Herzl, T. (1988) The Jewish State, New York: Dover Publications