This survey course examines Islam, Islamic Civilization, Islam in comparison with Judaism and Christianity, the decline and fall of the Ottoman Empire, the growth of Western influence, and the rise of Zionism and Arab nationalism. There once was a turtle standing at a respectful distance from a scorpion near to the banks of the Tigris River.
Scorpions only know how to sting and kill.
Further, if I sting, we both would drown. And, he allowed the scorpion to climb aboard. They got about one-half way across when the scorpion could control himself no longer and stung the turtle. As this parable suggests, there is a long history of acrimony and conflict in the Middle East with one result being an often inexplicable theme of self-destructiveness. This course will expand on that theme.