POLI SCI 351 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Rashidun, Shia Islam, Harold Lasswell
24 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Politics:
• “Who gets what, when, and how” - Harold Lasswell
o Power: how is it acquired and applied
▪ Diverse interests; scarce resources lead to struggles
▪ Study of power is the study of struggles over power
o Elements of power to study:
▪ Actors, ideas, goals, institutions
MENA - middle east / north africa
In this class: Turkey, Iran, Israel, 22 Arab League countries
History
• Empires - multi-ethnic, multi-religious rule established over large area
• By 6th century, most of Middle East under Byzantine empire (not Arabian
peninsula)
• 7th century rise of Islam
o Mohammed (570-632) becomes prophet of Islam
▪ Recited commands of God into The Quran
▪ Becomes the basis of the religion Islam
• Islam = “submission to one true God”
o Mohammed expands Islamic Ummah (Islamic community)
▪ Converting and conquering
▪ Eventually conquered Mecca
o Mohammed dies, split over succession of him as leader of community
▪ Shi’i / Shiite (adj) … Shi’a (collective noun)
• Leadership should remain in the family of the prophet (Ali)
• ~ 15% of Muslims today
▪ Sunni
• Believe that elites of community should choose best leader
• ~ 85% of Muslims today
o 4 Sunni Successors: “Rightly Guided Caliphs” ruled from 632-661
▪ Established a caliphate (empire)
▪ Spread Islam throughout Levant, North Africa, Spain during their
rule
o The Caliphate (622-750)
▪ Fused religious and political authority
▪ Successive Sunni dynasties move the capital of the Caliphate
▪ “Golden Age of Islam”
• 11th century: rise of “gunpowder empires”
o Through gunpowder, these empires able to conquer and rule
▪ Mughul Empire
▪ Safavid Empire
• Established Iran’s borders
• Persian (Farsi) declared official language
• Shiite Islam established as state’s religion
▪ Ottoman Empire
• Capital in Istanbul
• Ruled most of the Middle East for centuries (foundation on
which modern Middle East is built)
• Expansion rivals the expansion of the Caliphate
• Rules until the 19th century
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