Obama and the Present

There were a lot of great articles that everyone sent in. I'm posting all of them here, including some recent material on Israel and ISIS, but for class next time lets all look at the first 13 more general pieces (the ones above the dashes)

Barack Obama in his own words:
Candidate Obama from 2007
Obama's Cairo Speech

The Middle East: Have We Lost It?
How America Lost the Middle East
The End of America's Moment in the Middle East?
US Power in the Middle East: Not Declining

The Middle East: Does it Matter?
Why the Middle East Still Doesnt Matter
The Real Pivot Back to the Middle East

General Assessments of Obama's Polices
Trouble at the Core of Obama's Foreign Policy
Commentary on Obama's West Point Speech
Obama's Anti-Doctrinal Doctrine (the first chapter)

Advice
A New US Strategy for the Middle East
How Obama Can Chart a new Course in the ME
The Grand Strategy Obama Needs

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Israel
The New Yorker: Is AIPAC losing influence?
How the Israel Palestine Deal Died
Jeffrey Goldberg: The Crisis in US Israel Relations is Finally Here
Some further thoughts on the Obama-Bibi Chickenshit Moment
And finally, Martin Peretz, from 2011, getting so mad at Obama and Erdogan he repeatedly slips into French...

The Arab Spring, Syria and ISIS
Demystifying the Arab Spring
The International Socialist Review on Neoliberalism and Egypt's Revolution
Some Background on ISIS
McCain on How Obama Screwed Up
Jimmy Carter on How Obama Screwed Up

Iraq

Michael Sterner, “The Iran-Iraq War” 
Ken Pollack, "Next Stop Baghdad" 
Ken Pollack, "Securing the Gulf"
James Duffield, “Oil and the Iraq War”

And a dramatic video of Saddam Hussein's Baath party purge. This is the one described in Friedman's Hama rules chapter.

Finally, a reminder that before next thursday you should all send me one (1) suggested reading for our subsequent class on the US and the Middle East during the Obama presidency. Failure to do so will count against your participation grade.

Lebanon, Afghanistan and the 80s

Thomas Friedman, From Beirut to Jerusalem. Read the Beirut half, from the start to page 242.

Episode 11 of Al Jazeera's Lebanese Civil War Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E40KQtc7Uxw

Iran

David Painter, “TheUnited States, Great Britain and Mossadegh”

April Summitt,“For a White Revolution”

Westad, Global Cold War, Chapter 8

Israel-Palestine

Rather than save all the controversial readings for the end of the semester, we're starting in on them early...

Peter Hahn, Crisis and Crossfire, Chapters 2, 4 and 6 
Anatol Lieven, American Nationalism, Israel and the Middle East
Walt and Mearsheimer, The Israel Lobby
Michael Massing, The Storm over 'The Israel Lobby'

October 16, Modernization in the Middle East

Michael Latham, Modernization as Ideology, Chapter 1
(Available electronically through Lauinger)

Nathan Citino, Crush of Ideologies

Nick Danforth, Malleable Modernity *

* If anyone is hesitant about criticizing my article let me assure you nothing you say will - I hope - approach the responses I've gotten from online commenters. Although in the example here perhaps you should all take offense as undergraduates as well...

Primary Source: Daniel Lerner, Passing of Traditional Societies, Selections
(Sorry for the delay in posting this. The possibility that both of the library's copies of this book would be checked out simply didn't cross my mind.)

Illustration from a 1970s (?) article on "tradition meets modernity" in Turkey 

Eisenhower, Egypt and the 1950s

Peter Hahn, US, Great Britain and Egypt, Chapter 6 and Conclusion

Selim Yaqub, Containing Arab Nationalism, Chapters 1, 2, 3
(apologies for the delay. This reading will be available monday morning)

Ike and Islam, selected primary sources:

US Military Guide to Turkey, Read section on Religion, pages 5 and 6
Mecca Pilgrims Ride US Magic Carpet, NYTimes
Magic Carpet, USA NYTimes