HIST 211 Pandora’s Box: 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the United States

From the Cold War to the War on Terror this course will examine the United States’ involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East since 1980. Among other things we will look at the connections between the events of 9/11 and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This class is an inquiry into the historical implications of these and other protracted US engagements from North Africa to Syria and from Somalia to Pakistan. Ultimately, we will use these events as a lens to pose a series of questions about empire, nation and national identity both in the US and in the Middle East.