Trends in the Production of Knowledge about the Middle East within and across Disciplines: A Survey of PhD Dissertations, 2000–2010

Author(s):  
Laura Bier

This chapter surveys topical, methodological, and geographic trends in the production of knowledge about the Middle East in doctoral dissertations written over the decade 2000–2010. It assesses the extent to which the post-9/11 political and academic climate influenced knowledge production about the Middle East. It argues that while scholarship on the Middle East has undoubtedly been both constrained and inspired by geopolitics and the various political, popular, and media responses to 9/11, the relationship between the two is not necessarily coherent, unilinear, or predictable. Trends in Middle East studies (MES) are the product of changes in political climate, methodological currents within disciplines (themselves related to shifts in the post-Cold War geopolitical order), the peculiarities and engagements of MES as a distinct disciplinel, and the relationship between area studies and wider disciplinary norms, organizations, and institutions.

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 81-106
Author(s):  
M. A. Muqtedar Khan

This paper seeks to understand the impact of current global politicaland socioeconomic conditions on the construction of identity. I advancean argument based on a two-step logic. First, I challenge the characterizationof current socioeconomic conditions as one of globalization bymarshaling arguments and evidence that strongly suggest that along withglobalization, there are simultaneous processes of localization proliferatingin the world today. I contend that current conditions are indicative ofthings far exceeding the scope of globalization and that they can bedescribed more accurately as ccglocalization.~H’2a ving established thisclaim, I show how the processes of glocalization affect the constructionof Muslim identity.Why do I explore the relationship between glocalization and identityconstruction? Because it is significant. Those conversant with current theoreticaldebates within the discipline of international relations’ are awarethat identity has emerged as a significant explanatory construct in internationalrelations theory in the post-Cold War era.4 In this article, I discussthe emergence of identity as an important concept in world politics.The contemporary field of international relations is defined by threephilosophically distinct research programs? rationalists: constructivists,’and interpretivists.’ The moot issue is essentially a search for the mostimportant variable that can help explain or understand the behavior ofinternational actors and subsequently explain the nature of world politicsin order to minimize war and maximize peace.Rationalists contend that actors are basically rational actors who seekthe maximization of their interests, interests being understood primarilyin material terms and often calculated by utility functions maximizinggiven preferences? Interpretivists include postmodernists, critical theorists,and feminists, all of whom argue that basically the extant worldpolitical praxis or discourses “constitute” international agents and therebydetermine their actions, even as they reproduce world politics by ...


1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 229-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark N. Katz

AbstractSince the breakup of the USSR in 1991, there has been significant change in Moscow's Middle East policy. During much of the Cold War, Moscow sought to project Soviet influence throughout even the far off Arab region of the Middle East. In the post-Cold War era, though, Russian foreign policy has focused on that part of the Middle East closest to the former USSR-the Northern Tier. This article will examine the major aspects of post-Cold War Russian foreign policy toward the Middle East in order to identify Moscow's multiple goals in the region and discuss Moscow's capacity for achieving them. First, though, a brief review of the different stages of Imperial and Soviet foreign policy toward the region is necessary in order to show the extent to which post-Cold War Russian foreign policy toward the Middle East has and has not changed.


Author(s):  
Robert Weiner ◽  
Paul Sharp

Scholars acknowledge that there is a close connection between diplomacy and war, but they disagree with regard to the character of this connection—what it is and what it ought to be. In general, diplomacy and war are assumed to be antagonistic and polar opposites. In contrast, the present diplomatic system is founded on the view that state interests may be pursued, international order maintained, and changes effected in it by both diplomacy and war as two faces of a single statecraft. To understand the relationships between diplomacy and war, we must look at the development of the contemporary state system and the evolution of warfare and diplomacy within it. In this context, one important claim is that the foundations of international organizations in general, and the League of Nations in particular, rest on a critique of modern (or “old”) diplomacy. For much of the Cold War, the intellectual currents favored the idea of avoiding nuclear war to gain advantage. In the post-Cold War era, the relationship between diplomacy and war remained essentially the same, with concepts such as “humanitarian intervention” and “military diplomacy” capturing the idea of a new international order. The shocks to the international system caused by events between the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003 have intensified the paradoxes of the relationship between diplomacy and war.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-87
Author(s):  
Md Muddassir Quamar ◽  
P. R. Kumaraswamy

The Iraqi invasion, occupation, and annexation of Kuwait in August 1990 exposed the soft underbelly of India’s policy toward the Middle East in general and the Persian Gulf region in particular. While safe evacuation of the Indian workers was a prime concern, some of the steps in that direction proved counterproductive. However, in the long run, the Kuwait crisis resulted in India making two critical steps that shaped its post-Cold War policy toward the region: diminishing influence of the Palestinian cause in its engagements with the Arab world and economic substance replacing political rhetoric.


2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Eckstein

AbstractThis article documents a U.S. Cuban foreign policy cycle that operated in tandem with the presidential electoral cycle between 1992 and 2004. During these post–Cold War years, when Cuba posed no threat to U.S. national security, influential, well-organized Cuban Americans leveraged political contributions and votes to tighten the embargo on travel and trade, especially at the personal level. U.S. presidential candidates, most notably incumbent presidents seeking re-election, responded to their demands with discretionary powers of office. When presidential candidates supported policies that made good electoral sense but conflicted with concerns of state, they subsequently reversed or left unimplemented Cuba initiatives. After describing the logic behind an ethnic electoral policy cycle and U.S. personal embargo policy between 1992 and 2004, this article examines Cuban American voter participation, political and policy preferences, lobbying, political contributions, and the relationship between the ethnic policy and presidential election cycles.


Few world regions today are of more pressing social and political interest than the Middle East: hardly a day has passed in the last decade without events there making global news. Understanding the region has never been more important, yet the field of Middle East studies in the United States is in flux, enmeshed in ongoing controversies about the relationship between knowledge and power, the role of the federal government at universities, and ways of knowing other cultures and places. This book explores the big-picture issues affecting the field, from the geopolitics of knowledge production to structural changes in the university to broader political and public contexts. Tracing the development of the field from the early days of the American university to the Islamophobia of the present day, this book explores Middle East studies as a discipline and, more generally, its impact on the social sciences and academia. Topics include how different disciplines engage with Middle East scholars, how American universities teach Middle East studies and related fields, and the relationship between scholarship and U.S.–Arab relations, among others. This book presents a comprehensive, authoritative overview of how this crucial field of academic inquiry came to be and where it is going next.


1989 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
William B. Quandt

Is The Cold War finally coming to an end, as some would have us believe? And if so, what does this mean for the Middle East? These are questions that will be with us for some time. They do not lend themselves to clear answers, but they nonetheless demand our attention.For students of the contemporary Middle East, these questions pose special analytical problems—how can one best assess the relationship between the area that we study and the broader currents of international politics? Middle East specialists are rightly skeptical of efforts to analyze their region of study from a “globalist” perspective. Most of us have little patience with theorizing that fails to take into account that which is distinctive in the cultures, politics, and societies of the Middle East. We have even less use for crude empiricism which tries to reduce the complexities of the Middle East to quantifiable events or entries in simplistic classification schemes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-111
Author(s):  
Shirin Saeidi

Driving Culture in Iran creatively explores the relationship between legalculture and citizenry formation in post-revolutionary Iran. Banakar focusseson driving customs and explanations for citizens’ disregard of trafficlaws, demonstrating that the exceptionally high rates of road accidents andlack of law abidance is due to the complex cultural and political climate. Themonograph argues that the state’s propaganda machine promotes revolutionaryzeal but in a context where people are penalized if they dissent (3). Consequently, dissension becomes a tool for control, setting into motionmultiple forms of internal conflict which are reflected in the way Iraniansrelate to one another as well as in increasing rates of road traffic accidents(4). The originality of the study rests in its exploration of political life atthe juncture of law and culture. Through his analysis of the unintendedcultural outcomes of the legal structure in Iran, Banakar contributes to ourunderstanding of citizenship formation in hybrid and religiously chargedregimes. In particular, the book illustrates how citizens’ distrust of the statecan have deadly consequences on Iran’s roads. The monograph will be ofinterest to academics and other professionals working on the Middle East,Islam, and from a multitude of disciplinary perspectives ...


2018 ◽  
pp. 47-62
Author(s):  
Kelcilene Gisela Persegueiro ◽  
José Euzébio de Oliveira Souza Aragão

Resumo O presente artigo traz os resultados de uma pesquisa que objetivou investigar os detalhes no cotidiano de uma sala de aula do Ensino Fundamental I com crianças de 6 e 7 anos ao vivenciarem o encontro do cinema na escola, bem como compreender que tipo de práticas pedagógicas podem ser construídas a partir da experiência do cinema e de que maneira podem promover/criar/afetar/transmitir/ transformar os alunos e estimular a produção de conhecimento, além de verificar como a relação das crianças com os desenhos animados, inspirados no Sítio do Pica-Pau Amarelo conduz a um aprendizado que permite uma leitura de mundo no qual as experiências prévias das crianças somam-se à própria experiência do cinema. No que tange à metodologia, trata-se de uma pesquisa que está inserida na abordagem qualitativa, com a utilização das pesquisas bibliográfica, documental e pesquisa-ação. Os dados foram analisados por meio da análise de conteúdo trazida por Bardin (1979). Os resultados e as conclusões/considerações finais apontam que o cinema na escola possibilita a construção de práticas pedagógicas como formação humana dos educandos que estão em contato com o mundo, para provocar movimentos de apropriação, revelação e criação, tecendo elo entre o cinema, a educação e o cinema na escola, tido como potencialidade para se pensar a educação no país. Palavras-chave: Cinema. Escola. Práticas pedagógicas. Produção de conhecimento. Educação. Pedagogical practices from the cinema as an experience without a strength shirt AbstractThis article presents the results of a research that aimed to investigate the details in the daily life of a classroom with children between 6 and 7 years from “Ensino Fundamental I” when experiencing the meeting of the cinema in the school. Moreover, this paper intends to understand what kind of pedagogical practices can be built from the experience of cinema, and how this experience can promote /create/affect/transmit/transform students and stimulate the production of knowledge. We also investigate how the relationship between children and cartoons, inspired by the Pica Pau Amarelo Site, leads to a learning process that allows a reading of the world in which the children’s previous experiences are added to the experience of the cinema itself. Regarding the methodology, it is a research that is inserted in the qualitative approach, with the use of bibliographical, documentary and action research. The data were analyzed through the analysis of content brought by (BARDIN, 1979). The results / conclusions / or the final considerations point out that the cinema in the school makes possible the construction of pedagogical practices, like human formation of the students who are in contact with the world to provoke movements of appropriation, revelation and creation, building a link between the cinema and education and cinema in the school. This process reveals potentialities to think about education in the country. Keywords: Cinema. School. Pedagogical practices. Knowledge production. Education. Prácticas pedagógicas a partir del cine como una experiencia sin camisa de fuerza Resumen El presente artículo trae los resultados de una investigación que objetivó investigar los detalles en el cotidiano de un aula con niños, entre 6 y 7 años de la Enseñanza Fundamental I al vivenciar el encuentro del cine en la escuela y comprender qué tipo de prácticas pedagógicas pueden ser construidas a partir de la experiencia del cine y de qué manera pueden promover / crear / afectar / transmitir / transformar a los alumnos y estimular la producción de conocimiento; ver cómo la relación de los niños con los dibujos animados, inspirados en el Sitio del Pica Pau Amarillo conduce a un aprendizaje que permite una lectura de mundo en el que las experiencias previas de los niños se suman a la propia experiencia del cine. En lo que se refiere a la metodología, se trata de una investigación que está inserta en el abordaje cualitativo, con la utilización de las Investigaciones bibliográfica, documental e investigación-acción. Los datos fueron analizados por medio del análisis de contenido traído por (BARDIN, 1979). Los resultados / conclusiones / o las consideraciones finales apuntan que el cine en la escuela posibilita la construcción de prácticas pedagógicas, como formación humana de los educandos que están en contacto con el mundo para provocar movimientos de apropiación, revelación y creación, tejiendo el eslabón entre el cine y el cine educación y cine en la escuela, tenido como potencial para pensar la educación en el país. Palabras clave: Cinema. Escuela. Prácticas pedagógicas. Producción de conocimiento. Educación.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Tangguh Chairil ◽  
Dedy Sinaga ◽  
Annisa Febrianti

World military expenditure in post-Cold War world shows increasing trend especially in ASEAN region; Indonesia is no exception. The trend may have been supported by the argument that military expenditure has positive multiplier effects on economic growth. Unfortunately, there have been not too many studies on the effect of military expenditure on economic growth in the Indonesia context. This paper examines the topic by first reviewing literature on the relationship between military expenditure and economic growth, then by empirically testing the causal relationship between the two variables by using the Augmented Sollow Growth Model. The result shows that Indonesia's military expenditure has positive effect on the country's economic growth, which is most possibly caused by development of human capital as effect of military expenditure.


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