Middle East

 

Our courses introduce students to the principal features of the modern history and politics of the Middle East and North Africa. We particularly stress the continuities and changes between the empire and nation-state eras in the area, while adopting a critical approach to “traditional” and “modern” as categories of historical analysis. We connect the tumultuous history of the region to the international and transnational developments that have affected, and still do in many cases, our contemporary world: such as the rise of nationalism, communism, the Cold War, “identity movements”, and globalisation.

• Introduction to Modern History and Politics in the Middle East - J. Tejel
• Résistances et protestations au Moyen-Orient: une perspective socio-historique - J. Tejel

• Understanding Terrorism: History, Contexts and New Challenges - M-M Ould Mohamedou
• Comparative Perspectives on Political Liberalisation and Democratisation - M-M Ould Mohamedou
• Colonialism, Decolonisation and the International System - G. Balachandran
• Evolution of the International System - J. Hanhimäki
• Nationalism - A. Liebich

Faculty and doctoral students of the International History Department are involved in two major collective projects:

• States, Minorities and Conflicts in the Middle East:A Comparative Study of the Durability of States and Regimes and Dissident Movements in Egypt, Iraq, and Turkey, 1948–2003
• History of International Organisations Network (HION)

Resulting from the first of the projects named above, an international conference is to be held at the Institute by late 2013 on “States, Minorities and Conflicts in the Middle East”.

• Currently about ten professors across the various disciplinary departments and interdisciplinary centres at the Graduate Institute are experts on one or another aspect of African Studies, with particular reference to a wide range of individual countries.  See a complete listing here.
• Much research on the Middle East is conducted at the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding.
• There is also a new programme headed by Professor Mohamedou.

Many of the international organisations based in Geneva have worked in the Middle East over many years, and some of them have archives or other materials accessible to scholars. Notable examples are the International Labour Organization, the League of Nations and the United Nations.  See a listing here.