Postgraduate Course: Gulf Politics (PLIT11020)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course offers taught postgraduate students an introduction to the history, politics, and development of the Gulf states of the Middle East. A distinct sub-system of the region, the resourcerich states of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran command enduring relevance within the international system. The course deploys political economy as a theoretical framework to (1) reveal trajectories of state formation influenced by the discovery of oil and other hydrocarbons and (2) analyse how resource abundance continues to influence state behaviour at the regional and international levels. Students will complete the course having gained an insight into how these conservative states have responded to the challenges of political reform, economic diversification, climate change, instability and insecurity to consolidate influence in the international system. |
| Course description |
This course offers taught postgraduate students an introduction to the history, politics, and development of the Gulf states of the Middle East. A distinct sub-system of the region, the resourcerich states of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran command enduring relevance within the international system. The course deploys political economy as a theoretical framework to (1) reveal trajectories of state formation influenced by the discovery of oil and other hydrocarbons and (2) analyse how resource abundance continues to influence state behaviour at the regional and international levels. Students will complete the course having gained an insight into how these conservative states have responded to the challenges of political reform, economic diversification, climate change, instability and insecurity to consolidate influence in the international system.
Outline Content
The following outline provides an indicative list of key issues and themes covered in this course (note that these can vary year-by-year):
- Colonial legacies in the Gulf region
- Forms of government and the politics of succession
- Resource abundance and trajectories of state formation - Failed monarchies: Iraq & Iran
- Failed monarchies: Iraq & Iran
- Collective security and the Gulf Cooperation Council
- Regional conflicts: The Iran-Iraq War, The First Gulf War and Saudi Arabia and the Yemen Civil War
- International media and regional politics: Al Jazeera and Al Arabiyya
- Gulf responses to the Arab Spring in comparative perspective
- Competitive rivalries: Saudi Arabia/Iran & 2017 GCC Diplomatic Crisis
- Strategies of transition to a post-oil era: Environmentalism and Gender
Student Learning Experience
The course will be delivered in 10 x 2-hour convenor-led seminar which will take a more student focused approach. Active participation and interaction are key in this course so seminars will include structured debates, small group work and student presentations. These will be based around assigned readings and case studies provided in advance. Detailed written guidance for each of the assessments will be offered at the beginning of the course. Comprehensive feedback will be provided on each written assessment.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Distinguish the diverse nature of development patterns in the states of the Gulf region
- Be able to place contemporary political dynamics within a broader historical, social and political context
- Apply this knowledge to larger explanatory controversies in political science and international relations
- Interrogate and appraise different theories related to the political economy of development i.e. modernisation theory; the concept of rentierism; democratisation and authoritarianism
- Enhance communication and critical debate skills through participation in seminar discussions and written assessments
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Reading List
Al-Rasheed, Madawi. A Most Masculine State. Gender, Politics and Religion in Saudi Arabia. Cambridge University Press, 2013
Barnett, M. N. Dialogues in Arab Politics: Negotiations in Regional Order, New York, Columbia University Press, 1998.
Hanieh, A. Capitalism and Class in the Gulf Arab States. London: Palgrave McMillan, 2011
Heard-Bey, F. "Conflict Resolution and Regional Co-Operation: The Role of the Gulf Co-Operation Council `1970-2002." Middle Eastern Studies, 2006
Herb, Michael. The Wages of Oil. Parliaments and Economic Development in the UAE and Kuwait. Ithaca:
Cornell University Press, 2014
Hertog, S. 'State and Private Sector in the GCC after the Arab Uprisings'. Journal of Arabian Studies, 3 (2).
174-195, 2014
Kamrava, M. The International Politics of the Persian Gulf. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2012
Matthiesen, T. Sectarian Gulf: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the Arab Spring that wasn't. Stanford University Press, 2013
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
By the end of the course, students should have developed and strengthened their skills in:
- Grasping complex arguments and conceptualisations, and using them to develop an independent line of argument
- Processing and interpreting information, and presenting it orally, visually and in writing
- Working effectively with others in collaborative activities and making an individual contribution to the course
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Lucy Abbott
Tel: (0131 6)50 8254
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Casey Behringer
Tel: (0131 6)50 2456
Email: |
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