GOVT-336 Dept Sem: Islam and World Politics

Peter Henne

This course is an overview of the role Islam plays in international politics. It exposes students to a variety of perspectives on this issue, including both general overviews of Islam and politics and studies of specific countries. While the course is focused on Islam, a proper background in the study of religion and politics is required, so the course will spend some time on this subject. The course is divided into four units. The first unit focuses on religion and international politics, covering topics such as the role of ideas in international politics, a general discussion of how religion affects politics and the international system, and how to conceptualize inter-religious interactions. The second unit focuses on Islam and politics, with sessions on how to approach the study of Islam, and topics such as nationalism, political violence, domestic politics and foreign policy. The third involves studies of the foreign policy of specific states and elements of transnational relations. Foreign policy case studies include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey, while the sessions on transnational relations address Muslim minorities, international organizations, transnational social movements, and “pan-Islamism.” In this way, the study of Islam and world politics can be tied to broader debates in the field and compared with the study of other religions, while the diverse aspects of Islam’s role in world politics is highlighted. The course concludes with a fourth unit, which includes two debates. The first is a debate on the role of religion in a particular case, the civil war in Algeria; the second is a debate about the future of the international system. This unit is intended to bring together the various subjects addressed in the course in one discussion. The course will be a mix of lecture and discussion.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: None

Other academic years
There is information about this course number in other academic years:

• 2005-2006 Fall and Spring
• 2012-2013 Fall and Spring

More information
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