Download SS 384 Islam and Contemporary World Order

SS 384 Islam and Contemporary World Order
Course Outline
Winter 2004-2005
Dr.Tahir Amin
E-mail: [email protected]
Room 218 Ext.2218
Course Description
The main objective of this course is to introduce the students to the current discourse on
Islam in the world order. We shall address both the Western and the Islamic perspectives
on the role of Islam in the context of 9/11 events. We shall address the following
questions: What are the major theoretical paradigms in the post-Cold war world order?
What is the image of Islam in these paradigms? How has that image been transformed in
the post 9/11 world? What different schools of thought on Islam exist in theWest ? What
are their sources of inspiration? What is the Islamic theory of International Relations?
What are the fundamental assumptions of both the classical theory of IR and its modern
variants?
Course Objectives
1. To develop a good theoretical understanding of the current discourse of Islam in
International Politics.
2. To develop the skill of doing a research paper, finding material and integrating it
in a meaningful analysis.
Grading
Class attendance 5%
Class participation 5%
Collection of Research material 10%
Research paper 20%
Mid term 30%
Final Exam 30%
Main Themes
An Overview
Key issues in the debate on Islam and the Contemporary World Order
Readings
1. Ken Booth and Tim Dunne, Worlds in Collision (Palgrave:2002) Chapter 1, pp 123
2. Gilles Kepel, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam(I.B.Tauris,2003) Preface and
Introduction pp.v-x, 1-20
Five Great Debates about World Order
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
End of History
Clash of Civilizations
Complex Interdependence
Multi-polarity
Criminal Anarchy
Reading
Francis Fukuyama, “The End of History” National Interest ( Fall 1989)
Samuel Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations” Foreign Affairs(Summer 1993)
Joseph Nye, “What a New World Order” Foreign Affairs (Fall 1992)
_________, “The Power of Persuasion” Harvard International Review (Winter 2003)
John J.Mearsheimer, “Back to the Future” International Security (Summer 1990)
________________”Why We Will Soon Miss the Cold War” The Atlantic Monthly
(August1990)
Robert D.Kaplan, “The Coming Anarchy” The Atlantic Monthly(Feb.1994)
Perceptions about Islam: Post 9/11 Context
Contending Schools of thoughts about Islam: “Confrontationists vs. “Accomodationists”
a) “Confrontationists”
Readings
Fawaz A.Gerges, America and Political Islam: Clash of Cultures or Clash of
Interests(Cambridge University Press,1999)Chapter 2, PP.20-35
Bernard Lewis, “The Roots of Muslim Rage” The Atlantic Monthly,(Sept.1990)
___________, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror(2003) Introduction
___________,From Babel To Dragomans: Interpreting the Middle East(2004) pp369-378
Francis Fukuyama, “History and September 11” in World in Collision pp27-36
Samuel P.Huntington, “The Age of Muslim Wars” The Newsweek (Dec.17,2001)
Daniel Pipes, Militant Islam Reaches America (2002) Introduction and Conclusion
(b) “Accomodationists”
Readings
Edward Saeed, “Collective Passion” The End of the Peace Process(2002)
John Esposito, “ Beyond the Headlines” Harvard International Review (Summer 2003)
Graham E.Fuller, The Future of Political Islam” Foreign Affairs (March/ April 2003)
P.W.Singer, “America and the Islamic World” Current History (November 2002)
Fred Halliday, “Transnational Paranoia and International Relations: The Case of the
Islamic Threat (1999)
Islamic Theory of World Order
A discussion of Classical and modern variants of the Islamic theory of world order will
be explored in this section
Readings
Farhang Rajaee, “Paradigm Shifts in Muslim International Relations Discourse” Studies
in Contemporary Islam (1999) PP1-13
Abdul Hamid A. AbuSulayman, Towards an Islamic Theory of International Relations
(1994) Introduction, PP. 17-33, PP 127-145
Tahir Amin, Nationalism and Internationalism in Liberalism, Marxism and Islam
(1991)Foreword, Introduction and Chapter 3 PP.v-xxix, 1-11,62-101
K.Ahmad, “Islam and the West: Confrontation or Cooperation” The Muslim World (JanApril 1995)
Ali A.Mazrui, “Islam and The End of History” American Journal of Islamic Social
Sciences (Winter 1993)
Akbar S. Ahmed, Islam under Siege,(2003) Introduction, pp1-22