Cross-listed with ISRL382. Credit only granted for ISRL382 or GVPT368A.

What are the United States' interests in the Middle East? Who and/or what determines those interests? How are these interests pursued? This course will provide an overview of American diplomacy in the Middle Eastas it unfolded since the mid-1940s with an emphasis on the Israeli-Arab/Palestinian conflicts. We will first examine the overarching ideational and institutional factors that shape and guide U.S. foreign policy, and then turn to analyze major issues and challenges American diplomacy faces in the Middle East. The course seeksto integrate U.S. foreign policy and the Arab-Israeli conflict intoa broader analytical framework dealing with mediation, conflict resolutionand management, alliance and politics, and patron-client relations.