This course is intended to achieve three purposes. First, to introduce the modern history of West Asian Countries, including Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Egypt. Second, to provide a series of international and regional themes or lenses through which the politics of these countries can be interpreted. These are explored through a series of events. Third, to direct attention to the specific constellation of national, societal, and individual level phenomena of these countries through the application of a schematic network toolkit.