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Home > France and the United States in the Middle East from 1945 to Today

France and the United States in the Middle East from 1945 to Today

Center: 
Nantes
Program(s): 
Nantes - Study in Nantes
Discipline(s): 
Political Science
Course code: 
PO 340
Terms offered: 
Spring
Credits: 
3
Language of instruction: 
French
Instructor: 
Dr. Sylvie de la Foye
Description: 

This course will explore the different aspects of French and American foreign policy in the Middle East since World War II up to today.  The two allied countries have often had diverging approaches under the 4th Republic, during the de Gaulle era, and more recently.  The course will approach these studies from a political, military and diplomatic point of view.

Prerequisites: 

None

Method of presentation: 

Lecture format and commentary on historical documents.

Required work and form of assessment: 

Attendance and participation (10%), written project (25%), mid-term (25%) and final exam (40%).

content: 
  1. General introduction
  2. The 4th Republic and the Truman Administration faced with the partition of Palestine in 1947
  3. France and the United States during the first Arab-Israeli conflict of 1948
  4. The Franco-British Intervention in Suez in 1956 and the American reaction
  5. The dissensions of de Gaulle and Johnson: France and the United States faced with the War of Six Days
  6. The disagreements of Pompidou and Nixon during the Arab-Israeli conflict of October 1973
  7. The differences between Paris and Washington over the Middle East from Camp David to the present situation.
Required readings: 

De la Foye, Sylvie and Yves-Henri Nouailhat. Les Etats-Unis et l’islam, Armand Colin, Paris, 2006, reprinted in 2009.

Recommended readings: 
  • Enderlin, Charles. Paix ou guerres : Les secrets des négociations israélo-arabes, 1917-1997, Stock, Paris, 1997
  • Enderlin, Charles. Le rêve brisé : Histoire de l’échec du processus de paix au Proche-Orient, 1995-2002, Fayard, Paris, 2002
  • Enderlin, Charles. Les années perdues : Intifada et guerres au Proche-Orient, 2001-2006, Fayard, Paris, 2006
  • Rulleau, C. and P. Balta. La politique arabe de la France de de Gaulle à Pompidou. Sindbad, 1973.
  • Saint-Prot, C. La France et le renouveau arabe : De Charles de Gaulle à Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, Copernic, Paris, 1980

Students also are encouraged to consult various articles that have appeared in Relations Internationales, Politique étrangère et Foreign Affairs. Some examples include:

  • de la Foye, Sylvie. « L’administration Nixon et le conflit israélo-arabe (1969-1974)», Relations Internationales, n° 94, été 1998
  • Hoffman, Stanley. « La France, les États-Unis et le conflit israélo-arabe. Différences et asymétries, 1967-1971 », Politique étrangère, n° 5-6, 1971.
  • Nouailhat, Yves-Henri. « Les divergences entre la France et les États-Unis face au conflit israélo-arabe de 1967 à 1973 », Relations Internationales, n° 119, sept-oct 2004.

Source URL: http://www.iesabroad.org/study-abroad/courses/nantes/spring-2013/po-340