• Offered by Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies
  • ANU College ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
  • Course subject Middle Eastern & Central Asian Studies
  • Areas of interest Arab and Islamic Studies, Middle East Studies
  • Academic career UGRD
  • Course convener
    • Prof James Piscatori
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Co-taught Course
  • Offered in First Semester 2019
    See Future Offerings

The Gulf is contested political terrain. Even its very nomenclature – ‘Persian’ or ‘Arab’/’Arabian’ – is subject to controversy.  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 other regional and extra-regional powers. It will, finally, consider broader concerns such as over food security, water scarcity, and dependence on migrant workers.

Learning Outcomes

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

Upon successful completion of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills 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, 4000 words (50%) Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3 & 4
Final examination, 3 hours (40%) Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5
Oral presentation, 10 minutes (10%) Learning Outcomes 4 

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Workload

130 hours of total student learning time made up from:
a) 24 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 2 hours of seminars per week; and
b) 106 hours of independent student research, reading and writing

Requisite and Incompatibility

To enrol in this course you must have completed 144 units of the Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours)-Arts and Social Science (APHAR), or be currently studying Bachelor of Arts (Honours) (HARTS or HART2) or Bachelor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies (Honours) (HMECA). You are not able to enrol in this course if you have previously completed MEAS8113.

Specialisations

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
2019 $3660
International fee paying students
Year Fee
2019 $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
4975 25 Feb 2019 04 Mar 2019 31 Mar 2019 31 May 2019 In Person N/A

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