Empires, States, and Great Power Competition in the Modern Middle East (DHP-P261)

Fall 2026 · DHP P261 · Tufts University · 3 credits · Undergraduate

This graduate course will focus on the political history and international relations of the modern Middle East from the late Ottoman period to the gradual great-power rivalries unfolding in 2026. Rather than examining the Middle East as a collection of individual countries or contemporary crises, the course follows a single historical and analytical narrative that traces the evolution of the regional order from empire and colonialism to state formation, nationalism, Cold War rivalry, state fragmentation, and the return of great-power competition in the twenty-first century. Stretching across three continents, the region has been a crucible of colonial state formation, a laboratory for nationalism, Islamism, and authoritarian durability, and a persistent theatre of empire and great-power competition, from British and French mandates to the unfolding U.S.-China rivalry. The course traces how imperial legacies, colonial state formation, nationalist movements, ideological projects, and great-power rivalry shaped the region’s modern political order. Situated at the intersection of history and international relations, the seminar explores the making and unmaking of states, the rise of nationalism and political Islam, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Cold War competition, state failure, and the renewed era of U.S.-China-Russia rivalry. It asks how external intervention and internal politics interacted to produce enduring patterns of conflict, authoritarian resilience, and regional fragmentation. Students will move chronologically and thematically through the region's major junctures: late Ottoman reform and the Tanzimat; the trauma of the First World War and the colonial mapping of Sykes-Picot; the rise of Pan-Arabism, Kemalism, and political Islam; the Arab-Israeli wars; Cold War superpower rivalry; the post-2001 era of state collapse and civil war; and the contemporary contest between U.S. retrenchment and Chinese, Russian, and Turkish ambition. The course also examines the roles of key regional cases, including Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Iran, and Israel-Palestine, while situating them within broader structural transformations across the Middle East. Special attention is given to the impact of borders, identity politics, religion, oil, military intervention, and transnational networks on state and society. By combining historical analysis, theoretical perspectives, and case-based inquiry, the course equips students to understand the Middle East as a region shaped by empire, contested sovereignty, and shifting global power balances.

Course codes: DHP-P261

• 1-LEC (Lecture) — Arash Reisinezhad