KC Johnson

US-Middle East Relations, fall 2026

Course Requirements:

  • Final exam: 45%
  • NSC-style group presentation: 30%
  • Participation: 15%
  • Quizzes: 10%

Contact Information:

  • email (kcjohnson9@gmail.com)
  • cell (207-329-8456);
  • office hours: via zoom: M, 11.30-1.00, T 12.15-2.00, and Friday 11.30-12.30
  • zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82246646081
  • Meeting ID: 822 4664 6081

Course Structure:

This course is an all-remote, onlne mix class.. Each week features a synchronous & asynchronous session.

The asynch session consists of three or four lecture snippets–posted on the course youtube page & Blackboard, & also emailed to everyone. Lecture snippets should be viewed consecutively but you don’t need to watch them all at once–I try to do each snippet as a discrete item. Snippets will go out on Sunday night with a quiz on their contents. Quiz plus a question/comment about the material should be back to me by Thursday night. I’ll do up a Q&A video responding to some of the questions for sending out on Friday.

The synchronous session will feature a discussion about the week’s readings (documents and journal articles). The discussion groups will range from 7-9 people & meet each week at the same time. I’ll send out a signup sheet with possible times after our introductory meeting. Whichever time you sign up for will be your meeting time throughout the term (though, obviously, if you have a conflict one week and need to attend another section, you can just let me know). Your discussion group will also be your NSC presentation group.

Course Zoom Link:

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82181504371?pwd=sayUYhugdNyPKUpBpKSEigFlpJM8Tx.1

Course Schedule:

Monday, August 31: [synchronous] Introduction

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82181504371?pwd=sayUYhugdNyPKUpBpKSEigFlpJM8Tx.1

[asynchronous, lecture snippets]: The Ottoman Decline and Middle East International Relations

Quizzes due by Friday night.

Monday, Sept. 7: No class per college calendar

[asynchronous, lecture snippets]: World War I & Middle East International Relations

Week of September 14: [discussion sections start this week]

[asynchronous, lecture snippets]: The Interwar Era

synchronous discussion section:

Week of September 21:

[asynchronous, lecture snippets]: World War II

synchronous discussion section:

Week of September 28:

[asynchronous, lecture snippets]: The Cold War Arrives

synchronous discussion section:

  • Melvyn P. Leffler, “Strategy, Diplomacy, and the Cold War: The United States, Turkey, and NATO, 1945-1952,” The Journal of American History, pp. 807-825.
  • documents:
  • Soviet Politburo plan to support separatist activities in Iranian Azerbaijan, 1945 (email)
  • High-ranking US officials debate recognizing Israel, 1948: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1948v05p2/d252
  • Truman Doctrine address, 12 March 1947 (excerpts, email)

Week of October 5:

[asynchronous, lecture snippets]: Eisenhower and the Cold War

synchronous discussion section:

  • Irwin Wall, “The United States, Algeria, and the Fall of the Fourth French Republic,” Diplomatic History, Vol. 18, pp. 489-510.
  • documents:
  • CIA contemporary analysis, “What We Learned” from 1953 covert operation in Iran”
  • Soviet contemporary analysis–Egyptian/Soviet relations
  • Eisenhower Doctrine (excerpts, email)
  • Kennedy 1957 Algeria speech (excerpts, email)

Week of October 12:

[asynchronous, lecture snippets]: Realigning Middle Eastern International Relations

synchronous discussion section:

Week of October 19:

[asynchronous, lecture snippets]: Regional Instability

synchronous discussion section::

  • Noam Kochavi, “Insights Abandoned, Flexibility Lost: Kissinger, Soviet Jewish Emigration, and the Demise of Détente,” Diplomatic History, pp. 503-530.
  • documents

Week of October 26:

[asynchronous, lecture snippets]: The Regional Effects of the Iranian Revolution

synchronous discussion section:

Week of November 2:

[asynchronous, lecture snippets]: Gulf War and Beyond

synchronous discussion section::

  • Lawrence Freedman & Efraim Karsh, “How Kuwait Was Won: Strategy in the Gulf War,” International Security, pp. 5-41.
  • documents
  • Gulf War chronology

Week of November 9:

[asynchronous, lecture snippets]: Beyond the Cold War

synchronous discussion section:

  • Mark Schafer and Stephen G. Walker, “Democratic Leaders and the Democratic Peace: The Operational Codes of Tony Blair and Bill Clinton,” International Studies Quarterly, pp. 561-583.
  • Benny Morris and Ehud Barak, “Camp David: An Exchange,” New York Review of Books, 13 June 2001.
  • Hussein Agha and Robert Malley, “Camp David: Tragedy of Errors,” New York Review of Books, 9 Aug. 2001.
  • Dennis Ross, “Camp David: An Exchange,” New York Review of Books, 20 Sept. 2001
  • Kosovo Timeline

Week of November 16:

[asynchronous, lecture snippets]: The W. Bush Years

synchronous discussion section:

  • Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States Executive summary
  • Kevin Woods, James Lacey, and Williamson Murray, “Saddam’s Delusions: The View from the Inside,” Foreign Affairs, May/June 2006.
  • Ronald Bruce St John, “’Libya Is Not Iraq’: Preemptive Strikes, WMD and Diplomacy,” Middle East Journal, pp. 386-402.

Week of November 23: [one class only per college schedule–asynchronous only]

[asynchronous, lecture snippets]: The Obama Years

Week of November 30:

[asynchronous, lecture snippets]: Trump & Biden

synchronous discussion section:

documents TBA

Week of December 7: presentations

[asynchronous, lecture snippets]: The Iran War

due Dec. 19: Final Examination

Learning objectives for this course include: (1) ability to read and interpret key historical sources; (2) ability to determine how important themes in U.S.-Middle Eastern relations change over time; (3) ability to present key historical arguments orally. Item (1) will occur throughout the course; item (2) will occur in the midterm and final examination; item (3) will occur in the oral presentation.

This course follows all applicable college policies; see more in: https://www.brooklyn.edu/registrar/bulletins/