Middle Eastern Studies

A framework described by Edward Said in which Western scholarship, art, and literature constructed a patronizing and essentialist image of Eastern societies, reinforcing colonial power dynamics and treating the 'Orient' as exotic, backward, or inferior.

A political ideology advocating for the unification of Arab peoples and nations based on shared language, culture, and history. It reached its peak influence in the 1950s and 1960s under leaders like Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

The privileging of religious or ethnic sect identity in politics and social relations, often leading to discrimination, conflict, or power-sharing arrangements based on communal affiliation rather than individual citizenship.

A theory in political economy explaining how states that derive a substantial portion of their revenue from external rents, particularly oil and gas exports, can maintain authoritarian governance by distributing wealth to citizens without requiring taxation.

A range of political ideologies that hold that Islam should guide social and political life, encompassing diverse movements from reformist parties that participate in elections to revolutionary groups seeking to overthrow existing governments.

The post-World War I arrangement under the League of Nations in which former Ottoman territories were placed under the administrative control of Britain and France, ostensibly to prepare them for self-governance but functionally serving as a continuation of colonial control.

A series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that swept across the Arab world beginning in late 2010, driven by demands for political freedom, economic opportunity, and an end to corruption and authoritarian rule.

A nationalist movement that emerged in late nineteenth-century Europe advocating for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, rooted in both secular nationalist and religious motivations, and leading to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

A secret 1916 agreement between Britain and France, with Russian assent, that divided the anticipated post-Ottoman Arab provinces into spheres of influence, establishing the framework for modern state boundaries in the Levant and Mesopotamia.

An Arabic term meaning 'catastrophe,' referring to the mass displacement of approximately 700,000 Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which resulted in the destruction of Palestinian society and the creation of a lasting refugee crisis.