U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE ARAB REVOLUTIONS: THE RISE OR DECLINE OF AMERICAN POWER?

Robert G. Rabil
Lifelong Learning Society Distinguished Professor of Current Affairs
2012-2013
Recipient of the LLS 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award

DESCRIPTION: This course examines the socio-political environment of the Middle East in the aftermath of Arab revolutions. It investigates the successes and failures of these popular movements and their ramifications for Arab societies and Israeli and American national security. It questions the aspirations, actions and ideological drivers of these popular movements in juxtaposition to what has happened thus far on the local, regional and international levels. In so doing, it looks at certain issues consequential for U.S. national interest, with the aim of reevaluating Arab revolutions and gauging U.S. influence in the Middle East. At the same time, the course probes the unique opportunities and challenges offered by the changing political context, and whether or not the United States has redefined its priorities for the region in relation to the new developments and policies by transnational, regional and international actors.

EIGHT LECTURES:

1. The United States and the Pakistan-Saudi Relationship: A nuclear transfer?
   
2. The United States and al-Qaeda: Reassessing the jihadi threat?
   
3. Russia, Israel and Arab Revolutions: The new Tsar in the Middle East?
   
4. The Iranian-Saudi Axis of Power: Defining a new regional order?
   
5. Jordan: The coming revolution?
   
6. Morocco: The soft revolution?
   
7. The Muslim Brotherhood and Salafism: Reassessing Islamism’s transformation
   
8. The United States and the Greater Middle East: The decline or rise of American power?

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Dr. Robert G. Rabil holds a Masters in Government from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University. He served as Chief of Emergency for the Red Cross in Lebanon, and was Project Manager of the U.S. State Department-funded Iraq Research and Documentation Project. He has written extensively on Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, U.S.-Arab Relations, reform in the Arab world, radical Islam and terrorism. Dr. Rabil is a frequent speaker at major university campuses throughout the country. He lectures and participates in forums and seminars sponsored by the U.S. government, including the U.S. Army and the National Intelligence Council. He currently is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and was recently conferred with an honorary Ph.D. in humanities from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.