CULF 3331: Middle Eastern Revolutions

Today in class we will conduct a mock trial of the Syrian regime on charges of crimes against humanity. Our goal is to understand some of the constrictions on social justice embedded in international human rights law. For class today you browsed through some materials on the Geneva Conventions, which will constitute the letter of the law we’ll use in this trial.

You’ve also looked at some sources that serve to indict the regime, but other sources that might excuse the regime’s actions or recast their nature.

To start class today, we’ll observe some media about previous war crimes trials and use them to inspire us as we undertake to serve justice.

I will also share with you the details of the Syria Simulation Reflection Paper that you will write in response to this activity.

At the end of class today we’ll take some time to review for Thursday’s examination.

ICRC: “Rules of War”

PBS Documentary on the Nuremberg Trials

RT “ICC Enemy of Liberty”

RT “ICC Enemy of Liberty”

Hafez Al-Assad Speech on Muslim Brotherhood, 1982

Robert Fisk Remembers Hama, 2012

Charlie Rose interviews Bashar Al-Assad, May 2010

Barbara Walters Interviews Bashar Al-Assad, 2011

Barbara Walters Interviews as Bashar Al-Assad

Vice News: “Bulldozing the Border between Syria and Iraq”

Today we’re going to talk about Yemen as a site of proxy war, going back even to the 1960s. We’ll start with a quiz and then ease in with some media about Yemen.

In the middle part of class today we’ll discuss the dimensions of great powers conflict and share opinions on what the future of conflict in the world might look like.

Finally, we’ll use Diaries of an Unfinished Revolution to explore the role of journalism and reportage in revolution and war.

Gamal Abdel Nasser Speech on Yemen War, 1962

Vice News: “Yemen: A Failed State” 2014

NYT: “Life With Houthi Rebels” 2015

Vice News, “Inside War-Torn Yemen: Sana’a Under Attack”

Here we are at the end of week four, meaning that we have just two weeks left in the summer. I’m personally baffled by the pace of the summer session, but so it goes.

We’ll start with a look at a slideshow of Col. Gaddafi’s fashion over the years, which will be an indirect way of reviewing some of the big historical brackets in the 42 years of his rule. The main theme that I want us to discuss in looking at the chapter “Bayou and Laila” is dystopia. Dystopia is typically a genre of fiction, and there’s a lot of room for error in using fictional genres to interpret history (and vice versa); however, the topics that Mohamed Mesrati addresses in his diary entry warrant the discussion. I’d like to talk about what you all understand to be mainstays of dystopian stories and then we’ll list instances of those mainstays in Mohamed’s diary.

And this speech that Qaddafi gave before the UN Security Council authorized military action against his regime.

We’re also going to look at “Military Intervention and Human Rights: Is Foreign Military Intervention Justified by Widespread Human Rights Abuses?” in Controversies in Globalization. I’ll help you understand Just War Principles and we’ll talk about the political realist vs. political liberalist perspectives on military intervention for human rights.

Finally, we’ll consider what has happened in Libya since the overthrow of Qaddafi.

Today, we’re discussing two controversies: trade liberalization and global inequality. Both of these topics are deeply connected to what we’re learning right now about Nasser and Sadat’s Egypt between the 1950s and 1970s.

To help put that in perspective, we’ll watch this video about Egypt’s 1977 Bread Riots and the Infitah policies.

After our quiz, we’ll have a pretty free-ranging discussion of democratization until 12:50. These ideas will seed our approach to analyzing the evolution of governance in Egypt during the Nasser era and get us ready for looking at Sadat’s Egypt of the 1970s. Continue reading →