POL 392 - Issues in Asian Politics

FDR: SS2
Credits: 3
When Offered: Spring

Prerequisite: POL 105 or 227 or permission of the instructor.A topical seminar focusing on Chinese politics, other Asian countries, or selected subjects in Asian politics. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.

Topic for Fall, 2009:

POL 392: Issues in Asian Politics: Politics of Turkey and Iran (3). Prerequisites: POL 105 or permission of the instructor. Meets the global politics field requirement or elective credit in the major. A topical seminar focusing on Turkish and Iranian political systems. As two non-Arab regional powers in the Middle East, Turkey and Iran followed remarkably similar development trajectories until the Iranian Revolution of 1979. In this course, we study this development trajectory by exploring the complex relationship between modernity and Islam, and try to pinpoint the reasons for the radical divergence we see after 1979. We also learn about the inner workings of the current political systems in these two countries, as well as the dynamics of their foreign policy choices. (SS2) Zarakol