What was the Carter Doctrine? How did the fall of the Shah of Iran affect U.S. military policy in the Middle East? Did America take sides in the Iran-Iraq War?

We love to get your answer to these questions:

Before listening to this episode, did you know that the United States supported Saddam Hussein in his long war against Iran?
Do you believe that America should continue to intervene in Middle East conflicts? Or should America leave the area alone and let the countries of the Middle East fight their own battles and reach peace on their own terms - terms that are dictated by the limits of their own internal resources?

⁠click here to answer⁠

This question form will expire on Wed., Feb. 7, 2024.

My guest for this episode, which was recorded in early January 2024, is Dr. Andrew Bacevich, co-founder and Chairman of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He is Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History at Boston University. He is a graduate of West Point, a Vietnam War Veteran, and a retired colonel of the US Army.

Dr. Bacevich is the author, co-author, or editor of more than a dozen books, including the following:

The New American Militarism,
The Limits of Power,
Paths of Dissent: Soldiers Speak Out against America’s Forever Wars, and
America’s War for the Greater Middle East

If you enjoyed this episode with Dr. Bacevich, then you should definitely listen to my conversation with Dr. Vali Nasr about America's failed diplomacy in the Middle East. He is a former Dean of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, and as advised senior American policymakers, including the President and the Secretary of State. He is the author of The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat. I spoke with in S2E25 of the History Behind News⁠ podcast.

I hope you enjoy these episodes.

Adel Aali

Host, ⁠Unravelling the Middle East⁠

Host, ⁠History Behind News Podcast ⁠

Unravelling the Middle East podcast is a production of the History Behind News program.

Music attributions:

1. Opening and closing music of the program:

Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011.

Music available on at ⁠⁠https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/⁠⁠

Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED)

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program.

2. Background music to guest introduction:

The Desert | The Grand Score

⁠⁠https://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.html⁠⁠

The Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | ⁠⁠https://creatorchords.com⁠⁠

Music promoted by ⁠⁠https://www.free-stock-music.com⁠⁠

Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

⁠⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠ The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.

3. Background music to promoting History Behind News episodes:

IMAGE: Middle East map by ⁠MapChart.net:⁠ ⁠https://www.mapchart.net/world.html⁠. License is CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED ⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/⁠.

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