This course will survey the shifting balance of power, both economic and
military, between Europe and eventually the U.S., on the one hand, and
the Middle East and North Africa, on the other.

Topics to be covered will include: the Islamic conquests of the seventh
and eighth centuries; the Crusades, the Reconquista and the battle for
the Mediterranean; the Rise of the Ottoman Empire and the conquest of the
Balkans; the Hapsburg/Ottoman struggle; the impact of the new global
economy; European imperialism and industrialism; "Underdevelopment,"
independence or neo-colonialism.