Abstract
The Middle East went through turbulent political and socio-economic changes during the second half of the 20th century which fundamentally affected not only geostrategic situation of the region but in some cases also had the significant impacts on global politics. The issues such as decolonization, military conflicts, religious radicalism and extremism, and last but not least the oil shocks have shaped the current international relations. The course will help students to understand the basic aspects of the development of the Middle Eastern region since modern history to the present time. Students will also gain the opportunity to get to know political contexts of the area and also a number of other specific phenomena of development (the influence of religion, various ideologies, gender, etc.) of this very important world region.