Middle East Politics and Security
UndergraduateMUR-POL3342025
Course information for 2025 intake View information for 2024 course intake
Register the way social and cultural trends impact Middle East politics and security. Map the events that formed the region's modern states. Follow the rise of religious radicalism. Address the War on Terror and the demonstrations of the Arab Spring.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- Subject may require attendance
- Enrol by
- 20 July 2025
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 13 weeks
- Price from
- $2,125
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Middle East Politics and Security
About this subject
On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:
- Articulate a critically engaged understanding of important moments, events and ideas in the development of modern Middle East politics and security issues.
- Discuss the relationships between modern Middle East politics and security issues and underlying cultural, social, and religious trends in the region and to broader forces such as imperialism, conflict, and radicalism.
- Argue whether these trends and forces make the Middle East unique or exceptional.
- Evaluate contested interpretations of history, culture, politics and security including their strengths and weaknesses
- Communicate clearly and coherently both orally and in writing.
- People, Society and Politics
- Religion, Ethnicity, Gender and Class
- Empires and Imperialism
- States and Nationalism
- The Cold War and the US as Hyperpower
- Political Economies
- Conflict in the Region
- Political Change and Reform
- Political Islam
- Religious Radicalism and Terrorism
- Securities and Insecurities - the Arab Spring and Daesh (ISIS)
This unit covers key issues in Middle East politics and security today. The first part addresses regional complexities in terms of people, society, politics and geopolitics. The second part examines nationalism; the emergence of the modern states; the origins of conflict; and debates around political change and reform, including the role of political Islam and the emergence of religious radicalism. The final part considers contemporary challenges: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; ‘war on terror’; Arab Spring; and the emergence of groups such as Daesh/Islamic State.
Please Note: All students studying at Murdoch University will need to complete the compulsory unit, Murdoch Academic Passport (MAP100), which only takes 2-3 hours to complete online. Find out more: http://goto.murdoch.edu.au/MurdochAcademicPassport.
- Workbook 1 (30%)
- Workbook 2 (30%)
- Invigilated Exam (40%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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- 27
- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
- 26
Entry requirements
Others
To enrol in this subject, you must have passed a minimum of 12 credit points at 100-level.
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
Bachelor of Global Security (Terrorism and Counterterrorism Studies)
UndergraduateMUR-BGS-DEG
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