Civil wars, proxy wars, cold wars, hot wars. Economic collapse, the collapse of civil societies and governments. Hunger, torture, disease.

Many parts of the world seem to be falling apart in 2020, but even then, the Middle East is its own special case.

To talk about the state of one of the world’s most turbulent regions, Steven Cook joins us. Cook is the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

He recently wrote an overview for Foreign Policy magazine that captures much of what’s going on—“The End of Hope in the Middle East”

Recorded 9/10
How bad are things really?
How Western powers created a sectarian system in Lebanon
Who is fighting on the ground in Libya?
Russian mercenaries and air assets
Iraq as America’s original sin of the current troubles, and why that’s wrong
How Saddam held Iraq together
Fragmentation of the Middle East
Is Saudi Arabia as stable as it seems?
The importance of having a vision for the future

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War, Death, and Financial Collapse in the Middle East