THE MIDDLE EAST IN TURMOIL:
IMPLICAT IONS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Mehmet Gurses

DESCRIPTION: The populist uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, collectively referred to as the “Arab Spring,” represent the most significant challenge to authoritarian rule since the collapse of Soviet Communism. These populist protests have resulted in the collapse of dictatorships in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya, with Tunisia and Egypt holding their first-ever free elections. The demands for democracy continue. Authoritarian regimes in Morocco, Algeria and Jordan announced a series of constitutional reforms, lifted emergency rule, and shuffled cabinets in response to pro-democracy protests. Can the “Arab Spring” be contained? Which country will be next? Will it spread to region key player, Saudi Arabia? What are the prospects for democracy in oil-rich Muslim countries? These questions and more will be addressed in these lectures. Dr. Gurses will analyze the political developments in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Bahrain and Yemen, and discuss the prospects for democratization in strategic Middle East countries. The series aims to provide a coherent understanding of the challenges that the United States and Israel face in their relations with the Muslim World.

EIGHT LECTURES:

1. Islam, oil, and democracy: Do they mix?
   
2. Saudi Arabia: A Pandora’s box?
   
3. Bahrain: Saudi Arabia’s backyard under the Iranian threat
   
4. Jordan and Syria: Friendly king vs. the devil we know?
   
5. Yemen: Another Somalia?
   
6. The age of Muslim democracy?
   
7. Democracy and Islam: Lessons from Turkey
   
8. What now? Implications for the US and Israel

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Dr. Mehmet Gurses joined the Department of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in 2007, after completing his doctorate at the University of North Texas. An expert on Middle East politics, he specializes in ethnic and religious conflict, post-civil war peace building, democratization, and Islamist parties in the Middle East. Dr. Gurses frequently speaks to groups in several communities on a range of topics relating to the Middle East. His scholarly publications have appeared in International Interactions, Social Science Quarterly, Civil Wars, Defense and Peace Economics, Democratization, International Studies Perspectives and Nationalism and Ethnic Politics.