Writer choice Part 2

37190Your Midterm Exam will consist of two essay questions PICK ONE of the two listed below and it will cover the material in Modules 1, 2, 3 and 4. For the question, your answer must state your thesis and be supported with detailed information, including dates, specific examples, and material from your reading. Your conclusions should follow logically from the information you have presented. Any quotations, specific information, and ideas drawn from your reading must be cited and referenced in APA format.

1. Consider the discovery of oil in several states in the MENA region. How has oil affected the domestic situation in most oil exporting countries in the region? How has the discovery of oil and subsequent involvement in the global economy because of this resource affected relations among Arab and Persian states? How has it affected external relations with great powers? Is possession of this resource a benefit or a curse?

OR

2. You have analyzed the phenomenon of Arab nationalism as a supra-state identity in the region that competes with sovereign state nationalism (or identification with the nation-state). How can the ebb and flow of Arab nationalism from the 1950s to the present be explained? Do any of the six theories/perspectives on the politicization of identity described in the Module Four’s Notes help you understand this ebb and flow? Choose at least one theory and elaborate. Finally, what impact is the Arab spring likely to have on Arab nationalism?

Reading:
Fawcett, L. (2013). International Relations of the Middle East. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1-184.