Cold War Middle East

Class begins with a collaborative source analysis activity in which students examine a political cartoon (Source A) related to tensions in the Middle East. Depending on students’ familiarity with political cartoons, the teacher may want to model how to analyze the cartoon with the whole class by identifying its central message and supporting visual details. Students work in small groups to determine the cartoon’s message and record their observations on a graphic organizer. Next, students examine a series of Middle East conflict case studies (Sources B-D) to determine the level of threat (High, medium, or low) posed by each situation. Teachers may encourage students to explain their determinations using evidence from the case studies. Lastly, students develop recommendations for action for each case study depending on their assigned level of threat. Actions may include ideas such as sending military troops, stopping trade with a country, or helping support other forces in the region.