Shifting grounds in the Middle East and North Africa?: Understanding international relations and foreign policy in the region

The course Shifting Grounds in the Middle East and North Africa: Understanding International Relations and Foreign Policy in the Region is an introduction to the study of the regional political and social reality of the Middle East and North Africa. It is dedicated to the understanding and analysis of the primary and secondary institutions that constitute the regional order as well as the external action of the main regional and extra-regional actors. To achieve this, the course makes use of the main concepts and theories on regional society proposed from History, Political Science, International Relations, Law and Sociology, emphasizing the need for an interdisciplinary approach to understand the region.

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the course, the student:
· will have acquired survey knowledge of the fundamental actors for the understanding of the social, political and economic reality of the Middle East and North Africa and critically analyze their behavior and their external action.
· will have received an introduction to the basic elements of any interdisciplinary perspective the primary and secondary institutions of the regional order, being able to identify their links with the global order as well as the challenges and risks they face.
· will be able to transmit information, ideas, problems and solutions about the political and social reality of the Middle East and North Africa region to both specialized and non-specialized audiences.