For many years, I have taught an intensive course on Islam and the geopolitics of the Middle East at several seminaries in the United States and Canada. I continue to teach that course at Columbia International University, in Columbia, SC and at Denver Seminary. Since June 2016, I started teaching this course, free of charge, to non-seminarians who are eager to make more sense of Islam and the Middle East. Those who take the course do some required readings and attend 44 hours of class time, which we cover in five days and a half. In this course we cover most of these topics: