• Offered by Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies
  • ANU College ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
  • Classification Advanced
  • Course subject Middle Eastern & Central Asian Studies
  • Areas of interest Arab and Islamic Studies, Middle East Studies
  • Academic career PGRD
  • Course convener
    • Prof James Piscatori
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Offered in First Semester 2018
    See Future Offerings

The Persian Gulf is a contested political terrain. The security of regional countries is influenced by a complicated web of strategic, political and cultural variables. It is also a key focus for the national security strategy of the United States. Notwithstanding the diversity of the region, the countries within it face a unique set of social, political, and economic challenges, particularly in comparison to other developing regions. The central focus of the course will be the forces for continuity and change in the Gulf, and the interaction of domestic and external actors and factors shaping the Gulf security environment. It will review internal political and economic trends, the dealings of Gulf states with each other, and their relations with the United States. It will then discuss the role and interests of the United States in the region, and the implications for the United States and its alliance partners of regional developments in the Gulf and surrounding areas. It will conclude with an examination of political and security developments and the regional outlook following the removal of the Saddam Hussein regime.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Identify domestic and external actors and factors shaping the security environment of the Gulf;
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of the global strategic importance of Gulf energy reserves;
  3. Demonstrate an understanding of the security perceptions of the United States and regional countries, and the challenges they face;
  4. Discuss and debate critically the ideas and theories that have been advanced to understand Gulf politics, political economy and international relations, and to deal with core unresolved regional issues; and
  5. Discuss and debate alternative futures for the region, their strategic implications and prospects for developing regional security architecture.

Indicative Assessment

Major essay (60% of the total assessment), assessing several of LOs 1-5 depending on the essay topic chosen; and a final examination (40% of the total course assessment), assessing all five of LOs 1-5.

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

130 hours of total student learning time made up from: a) 24 hours of seminars; and b) 106 hours of online activities, practice exercises, readings and assessment.

Fees

Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.  

If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.

Student Contribution Band:
1
Unit value:
6 units

If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.  Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.

Units EFTSL
6.00 0.12500
Domestic fee paying students
Year Fee
2018 $3660
International fee paying students
Year Fee
2018 $5160
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.

First Semester

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
3254 19 Feb 2018 27 Feb 2018 31 Mar 2018 25 May 2018 In Person N/A

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