A Reflection on the MENA region
Before this class, my knowledge was lacking in understanding the nuances of the relationships between MENA states, political tendencies, and the overall history of the MENA region. While I had a basic understanding of all of these, I lacked a cohesive understanding of the region. While I have only scratched the surface within the region, I feel that I have a more cohesive picture of the Middle East, understanding the greater complexities of what makes this region unique. I also better understand the creation of the region and how that has resulted in the prolonged issues of the region. It may sound simple, but looking at this region through the traditional paradigms of international relations theory is most important. Many people view the states of this region as unique, often behaving differently than other states in the international community. However, by the end of this class, it has become clearer that this region can be at least mostly described using a variety of inte