Revolution and Popular Protest in the Middle East
Just a few short months ago, it would have been hard to imagine the transformations we have seen take place across the Middle East region since January.In an extremely short and tumultuous time frame, we have witnessed the ousting of long-term Tunisian President Ben Ali; the popular overthrow of the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak; large street protests and crackdowns in Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen; a divided revolt in Libya, and political discontent and unrest from Morocco in the west to Iraq, Jordan, and Iran in the east.
Political analysts, journalists, academics, and the general public alike have watched these events unfold with excitement as well as fear, hope alongside uncertainty. It is an exciting time to be engaged in any study of the Middle East as its diverse constituencies engage in popular uprisings on a scale that has not been seen in the Middle East in recent years.
Many educators of course have taken advantage of these special moments to focus their attention on the region in new ways, responding to the daily changes in the news while also pulling out comparative wisdom on previous historical moments. In this issue of Perspectives, we have tried to highlight some of these approaches, provide ideas for what could be introduced in the classroom, and in general inspire you to creatively engage with these pivotal moments of Middle Eastern history in the making. While making predictions of where this all will head is a futile exercise, we can say with certainty that these developments will continue to reveal themselves long beyond this particular moment, often referred to as the “Arab Spring.” We hope you’ll engage with the region in your classrooms long into the Fall and Winter and beyond–perhaps reflecting next Spring on where the year has taken us.
In this issue of Perspectives:
- President’s Letter
- Teaching the News
- Studying Egypt During the Egyptian Spring
- 2010 MEOC Book Awards
- The Jasmin Revolution
- MEOC Member Profiles
To download a PDF of the entire issue of Perspectives click on the image below:
