Middle East 201

The students take over

They have faithfully attended my Middle East 101 and my Middle East 201 class for more than a year and a half. They have diligently done the reading, watched the documentaries, pored over the source documents, come to class prepared, participated in the discussions, and thrown themselves into learning about the politics and history of the Middle East with a curiosity and a diligence that puts undergraduates around the world to shame. Some of them even met me in Morocco for a real-world study tour.

My students, I have decided, are ready.

Ready for what?

To do my damned job for me.

Last week, I told them that I was so preoccupied with the destruction of the global economy that I just couldn’t keep up with all the news from the Middle East. So I asked if they’d do me a solid: “Homework,” I called it. Just for a week, I stressed.

And what do you know: They came through for me. They wrote today’s newsletter. And tomorrow’s, too, because they did such a good job that I can’t fit everything into a single newsletter. Maybe even Wednesday’s.

The following report comes to you courtesy of the Cosmopolitan Globalist’s new Middle East analysts. I’ve edited these so that they all fit together stylistically, and I’ve added a few of my own thoughts, too. But this is 99 percent their work. You can see why I’m proud of them.

Thank you, Class!