Fall 1998
Sayles 252
Robert B. Packer
Office: 413 Willis
Phone: 646-4119
Office Hours: after 5a
e-mail: rpacker@carleton.edu
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Fall 1998 |
Sayles 252 |
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Robert B. Packer |
Course Objectives
This course is designed to introduce students to the dynamics of the Arab-Israeli conflict and to demonstrate how this conflict has come full circle. From the original clash between Zionism and Arab-Palestinian nationalism, this conflict grew to an interstate rivalry between Israel and its immediate Arab neighbors even as it remained a localized "civil" war between Israel and the Palestinians who live under its occupation. The latter are now attempting to govern themselves in an emerging autonomous region in the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.
Special attention is paid to the conflict's historical development and changing nature over the years; the role of outside powers (Britain, the United States, and the former Soviet Union especially) in contributing to the conflict; and the consequences this conflict holds for regional and international actors.
In this course, we will focus on the history and politics of the conflict as well as examine previous and on-going attempts at resolving it. A variety of methods will be used to accomplish these tasks. Through both individual and group learning, much of your efforts will be concentrated on:
This course is intended to be more than a passive experience on your part, whereby you would just sit and listen to lectures. Instead, you will be actively involved in the process of learning about the Arab-Israeli conflict by becoming participants in a simulation of it and through group discussions based on cases.
The Simulation
In the simulation, you will take on a role of the one of the many actors involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict (e.g., King Husayn, Binyamin Netanyahu, Madeline Albright, Hanan Ashrawi, etc.) and will actively pursue that person's and his/her group's objectives regarding the conflict.
Communication is the key to this simulation and it will be conducted by way of face-to-face negotiations, group meetings, computer Web-based conferencing, and a two-day "international gathering." The simulation is the culmination of our efforts and is an absolute requirement.
In this course, students are expected to develop skills in: research, reading comprehension, critical thinking, problem identification and analysis, team-work, public speaking/oration, and writing.
Required Reading
Please complete the reading before coming to class.
Course Requirements
Short Essay Quizzes (30 percent [7.5 percent each]) - four four-page written analyses of the issue topics based on questions I will provide.
Role Profile/Goals and Tactics paper (15 percent) - a three-page "autobiography" of a key actor who is involved in the conflict (e.g., Yasser Arafat, Binyamin Netanyahu, King Husayn). Written in the first person, this paper should be a sympathetic account of your personal and professional history. Also included in this is an outline of who in the conflict is your friend/ally and who is your enemy. This is followed by seven-page expositon that states the goals you want to achieve in the simulation and in the conflict and it specifies the tactics/means you will use to attain your goals.
Simulation (15 percent) - participation in the two-day simulation exercise.
Term Paper (25 percent) - (15-18 pages). Write a term paper that focuses on a significant aspect of the conflict. As much as possible, discuss historical, political, economic, social, and geographic factors relating to this case. Tell me your case topic by Week 6.
Class & Web Participation; Attendance (15 percent) - I will set up a computer conference for the class. You should be regular participant in discussions on current issues in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Conferencing is also a major mode of communication in the simulation.
TOTAL: 100 percent
ALL late papers will be marked down. Papers must be typed and include citations and a bibliography.
Attendance Policy: Attendance is mandatory. Anyone who has three or more unexcused absences will receive zero points for participation and attendance. The simulation is an absolute requirement.
Schedule of Topics and Readings (subject to change as events warrant)
September 11: Introduction
Zilkha, "History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict," in Ferna & Hocking, The Struggle for Peace: Israelis and Palestinians (1992): 7-61.
Muslih, "History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict," in Fema & Hocking, The Struggle for Peace: Israelis and Palestinians (1992): 62-79.
September 14: Origins of Zionism and Arab Nationalism
Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1996): 1-37.
Tessler, A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (1994): 24-68.
September 16: First World War and Mandatory Palestine
Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1996): 38-67.
Tessler, A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (1994): 145-184.
September 18: cont.
Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1996): 68-111.
September 21: The Partition and Establishment of Israel
Tessler, A Histo[y of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (1994): 233-256.
Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1996): 112-15 1.
September 23: The 1948 war and after
Bailey, Four Arab-Israeli Wars and the Peace Process (1990): 1-71.
September 25: The Unchosen People - Palestinian Refugees
Tessler, A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (1994): 273-335.
September 28: Israel and the Arab States, 1949-67
Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1996): 152-177.
Shimshoni, Israel and Conventional Deterrence: Border Warfare From 1953 to 1970(1988): 69-122.
September 30: cont.
Kaufman, The Arab Middle East and the United States (1996): 17-40.
Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1996): 178-205.
Tessler, A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (1994): 359-387.
October 2: The June 1967 Six Day War
Kaufman, The Arab Middle East and the United States (1996): 41-64.
Safran, From War to War: The Arab-Israeli Confrontation, 1948-1967 (1969): 266-316.
October 5: cont.
Bailey, Four Arab-Israeli Wars and the Peace Process (1990): 222-263.
October 7: Attrition and the 1973 October War
Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1996): 206-226.
Bar-Siman-Tov, Israel, the Superpowers, and the War in the Middle East (1987): 1-26, 147-185.
October 9: cont.
Kaufman, The Arab Middle East and the United-States (1996): 65-85.
Bailey, Four Arab-Israeli Wars and the Peace Process (1990): 285-341.
October 14: Evaluating Deterrence Models
Lieberman, "Deterrence Theory: Success or Failure in the Arab-Israeli Wars?" National Defense University McNair Paper 45 (October 1995)
October 16: From Shuttle Diplomacy to Camp David
Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1996): 226-241.
Kaufman, The Arab Middle East and the United States (1996): 87-119.
Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1996): 242-259.
October 19: The Lebanon War and the Continued Searchfor Peace
Kaufman, The Arab Middle East and the United States (1996): 120-148.
Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1996): 259-29 1.
October 2 1: The Intifada and the Gulf War
Tessler, A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (1994): 677-748.
October 23: cont.
Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1996): 291-313.
Kaufman, The Arab Middle East and the United States (1996): 149-165.
Flamhaft, Israel on the Road to Peace: Accepting the Unacceptable (1996): 61-74.
October 26: Peace Negotiations
Flamhaft, Israel on the Road to Peace: Accepting the Unacceptable (1996): 75-112.
Kaufman, The Arab Middle East and the United States (1996): 166-184.
Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1996): 313-333.
October 28: Stalemated Peace
Benvenisti, Intimate Enemies: Jews and Arabs in a Shared Land (1995): 1-111.
October 30: cont.
Benvenisti, Intimate Enemies: Jews and Arabs in a Shared Land: (1995): 112-234.
November 2: cont.
Kass & O'Neill, The Deadly Embrace: The Impact of Isreali and Palistinian Rejectionism on the Peace Process (1997): 61-112.
November 4: cont.
Kass & O'Neill, The Deadly Embrace: The Impact of Isreali and Palestinian Rejectionism on the Peace Process (1997): 115-210
November 6: cont.
Sandler, The State of Israel, the Land of Israel: The Statist and Ethnonational Dimensions of Foreign Policy (1993): 141-233.
November 9: cont.
Kass & O'Neill, The Deadly Embrace: The Impact of Isreali and Palestinian Rejectionism on the Peace Process (1997): 213-309.
November 11: Simulation of International Peace Conference
November 13: Simulation/Debriefing
November 21: Case Study papers due