Scholars Unravel Middle East
Adel Aali, History Behind News Program
178 scholars (and counting) distill decades of research into an hour conversation, to unravel the misperceptions that divide East and West and clarify our common misconceptions about the Middle East - from its ancient past to its present developments.
I am Adel Aali, your host. This program is a production of History Behind News podcast (now in its 5th season). Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/@ScholarsUnravelMiddleEast?sub_confirmation=1
I am Adel Aali, your host. This program is a production of History Behind News podcast (now in its 5th season). Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/@ScholarsUnravelMiddleEast?sub_confirmation=1
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 15, 2024 • 38min
S1E12: How did the mighty Sasanian Empire fall to the Muslim Arabs? Debunking widely accepted history!
►How did the mighty Sasanian Persian Empire fall to the Muslim Arabs?
►What happened in the Persian Empire on February 9, in the year 628?
►How did the Sasanian royal attempt to retake Iran from the Muslims?
►Where is the tomb of the heir to the Sasanian throne - the last Sasanian King of kings, the last pre-Islamic Shah of Iran?
🚩About My Guest:
Dr. Khodadad Rezakhani is a lecturer and a senior research fellow at Leiden University. He is a historian of Global Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, with a focus on Central and West Asia from 500-700 CE. His research focuses on the Sasanian and Early Islamic economy of the Near East.
📽️Subscribe to our YouTube channel
🖱️Support Our Program:
We appreciate your financial support of our program.
https://historybehindnews.com/support
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.
Image attribution:
Map of the Sasanian Empire at its greatest extent in 621 CE. The Sasanian Empire
lasted from 624 to 651 CE. This map reflects the Persians conquest under
Shahanshah (King of kings) Khosrow II (570-628, r. 590 & 591-628). No
Iranian Shah had achieved such immense territorial gains since Cyrus the Great
(600 BCE to 530 BCE). This map is provided by Keeby101: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Keeby101, on Wikipedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sasanian_Empire_621_A.D.jpg#/media/File:Sasanian_Empire_621_A.D.jpg, under license CC BY-SA 3.0 ttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Reflective effect has been added to the bottom portion of the map, and its
edges have been rounded.
Derafsh Kaviani: Sasanian royal standard that was derived from a mythological Iranian
blacksmith-turned-hero (Kaveh) against a demon-like foreign ruler. Public
Domain image.
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:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. 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.
Mar 14, 2024 • 47min
S1E11: Achaemenid & Sasanian Empires - Persians or Iranians? Peoples Included & Excluded. Historian Explains
Were the Achaemenid and Sasanian Empires Persian or Iranian? What's the significance of these terms in the context of the past? How about now? Or in the 20th century, when Persia officially changed its name to Iran?
Were ancient tribes of Ukraine an Iranian people?
🚩About My Guest:
Dr. Khodadad Rezakhani is a lecturer and a senior research fellow at Leiden University. He is a historian of Global Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, with a focus on Central and West Asia from 500-700 CE. His research focuses on the Sasanian and Early Islamic economy of the Near East.
📽️Subscribe to our YouTube channel
🖱️Support Our Program:
We appreciate your financial support of our program.
https://historybehindnews.com/support
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.
Image attribution:
A Haft-Seen table in honor of Nowruz at the White House (Mon., Mar. 20, 2023)
The Haft-Seen is an arrangement of 7 symbolic items, about which you can read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haft-sin
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:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. 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.
Mar 1, 2024 • 29min
S1E10: Were Ancient Middle Easterners Warlike & Violent? How Do We Know So Much About People Who Lived 4,000 Years Ago!
Habits, health, beer parties, careers, raising kids, and personal crises – stories of ancient Mesopotamians told through more than half a million clay tablets. They say, “The past is a foreign country.” This is true. Also true are the similarities of modern and ancient people.
🚩About My Guest:
Dr. Amanda Podany is a professor of History at Cal Poly Pomona. She has authored many books, including the following:
Brotherhood of Kings: How International Relations Shaped the Ancient Near East, and
Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East.
🎧History of America's Conspiracy Theories
Listen to this amazing episode at the History Behind News podcast.
📽️Subscribe to our YouTube channel
🖱️Support Our Program:
We appreciate your financial support of our program.
https://historybehindnews.com/support
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.
Image attribution:
"Soldiers, ivory, Mari, Syria." Image by ALFGRN, provided on Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 2.0 license.
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:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. 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.
Feb 29, 2024 • 42min
S1E9:How Successful Diplomacy Worked in Ancient Middle East - It Required 5 Essential Elements
Before powerful empires could conquer faraway lands, the Middle East was a peaceful region, where sophisticated diplomacy averted wars with neighbors and established trade between distant kingdoms. And the absence of foreign intervention contributed to peace in the ancient Middle East.
🚩About My Guest:
Dr. Amanda Podany is a professor of History at Cal Poly Pomona. She has authored many books, including the following:
Brotherhood of Kings: How International Relations Shaped the Ancient Near East, and
Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East.
🎧History of America's Conspiracy Theories
Listen to this amazing episode at the History Behind News podcast.
📽️Subscribe to our YouTube channel
🖱️Support Our Program:
We appreciate your financial support of our program.
https://historybehindnews.com/support
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:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. 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.
Feb 16, 2024 • 31min
S1E8: Is Yemen the Graveyard of Empires? Yemen Was "the Vietnam" of Which Country? Are the Houthis a Ragtag Army? Do They Need Iran's Help?
The Ottomans, Portuguese and British have fought over Yemen. And through it all, the Zaydi Imamate has been there - since the 9th century. These are the roots of the Houthis - Shia Muslims who practice a different Shi'ism than Iran. As important as their religions beliefs may seem, including their association with Iran, as you will learn in this episode, it's more about geopolitics and power than anything else.
My guest for this episode is Dr. Charles Schmitz, a professor at Towson University and a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute.
He is a specialist on the Middle East and Yemen. He started his academic career as a Fulbright Scholar and an American Institute for Yemeni Studies fellow in Yemen in the early 1990s, studying the country’s engagement with the International Monetary Fund’s reforms and the rise of Yemen’s oil economy. During the 2000s, Dr. Schmitz worked for the defense of Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo Bay while also heading the American Institute for Yemeni Studies. His current research interests include the political economy of development in Yemen, international law, international governance and failing states, and the sociology of contemporary Yemeni society.
Dr. Schmitz has authored many publications, including the following:
"Huthi Visions of the State: A Huthi Republic With an Unofficial Imam", which is a part of 2022 book The Huthi Movement in Yemen: Ideology, Ambition and Security in the Arab Gulf,
Weighing the Tribal Factor in Yemen's Informal Politics, and
Dictionary of Yemen.
Subscribe here to get Adel's take in your inbox.
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.
Image: Vectorized version of the Houthi Ansarullah "Al-Sarkha" banner. Arabic text, by lines: الله أكبر (Allah is the greatest) الموت لأمريكا (death to America) الموت لإسرائيل (death to Israel) اللعنة على اليهود (a curse upon the Jews) النصر للإسلام (victory to Islam). By RuneAgerhus (Own work) on Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
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:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. 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.
Feb 15, 2024 • 36min
S1E7: Who Are the Houthis of Yemen? What Did Their Leader Admire About Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini? What Did They Admire About Egypt's Nasser?
The Ottomans, Portuguese and British have fought over Yemen. And through it all, the Zaydi Imamate has been there - since the 9th century. These are the roots of the Houthis - Shia Muslims who practice a different Shi'ism than Iran. As important as their religions beliefs may seem, including their association with Iran, as you will learn in this episode, it's more about geopolitics and power than anything else.
My guest for this episode is Dr. Charles Schmitz, a professor at Towson University and a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute.
He is a specialist on the Middle East and Yemen. He started his academic career as a Fulbright Scholar and an American Institute for Yemeni Studies fellow in Yemen in the early 1990s, studying the country’s engagement with the International Monetary Fund’s reforms and the rise of Yemen’s oil economy. During the 2000s, Dr. Schmitz worked for the defense of Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo Bay while also heading the American Institute for Yemeni Studies. His current research interests include the political economy of development in Yemen, international law, international governance and failing states, and the sociology of contemporary Yemeni society.
Dr. Schmitz has authored many publications, including the following:
"Huthi Visions of the State: A Huthi Republic With an Unofficial Imam", which is a part of 2022 book The Huthi Movement in Yemen: Ideology, Ambition and Security in the Arab Gulf,
Weighing the Tribal Factor in Yemen's Informal Politics, and
Dictionary of Yemen.
Subscribe here to get Adel's take in your inbox.
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.
Image: Vectorized version of the Houthi Ansarullah "Al-Sarkha" banner. Arabic text, by lines: الله أكبر (Allah is the greatest) الموت لأمريكا (death to America) الموت لإسرائيل (death to Israel) اللعنة على اليهود (a curse upon the Jews) النصر للإسلام (victory to Islam). By RuneAgerhus (Own work) on Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Image is set in a green background, but no changes are made to the image.
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:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. 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.
Feb 9, 2024 • 47min
S1E6: MAGA, Reclaiming History and the Need for Intellectual Communities - Lessons From the Middle East
Middle East reclaims the glories of its past - real and imagined. As you'll note in this episode, colonialism derailed the history of Middle East. And now its despots, representatives, clerics, and the masses reach for history to continue what they believe should be their paths.
Interestingly, despite the repression of most Middle East countries, vibrant intellectual communities have flourished there in which they discuss history, philosophy and other subjects. Unfortunately, such communities are lacking in the United States.
Do you think we can create intellectual communities in America outside the university environment? If so, how?
Or do you think they are not necessary?
Click here to answer this question.
This question form expires on Wed., Feb. 14, 2024.
My guest for this episode is Dr. Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi of Princeton University. He is professor and chair of Near Eastern Studies. He is the Director of Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies.
He has written many books, including Islam and Dissent in Post-Revolutionary Iran. He has coedited a special issue of Radical History Review, and has written extensively on the topics of social theory and Islamist political thought in different journals and book chapters. Currently, he is working on a project on Mystical Modernity, a comparative study of philosophy of history and political theory of Walter Benjamin and Ali Shariati.
To learn more about Dr. Ghamari-Tabrizi, you can visit his academic homepage.
Thanksgiving:
You can listen to our episode about Thanksgiving here: https://bit.ly/HbN-S3E46
25% Monthly inflation:
You can listen to our episode about Argentina's soring inflation, new president (who wields a chainsaw) and economic crisis here: https://bit.ly/HbN-S4E6
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.
Image:
2500 year celebration of the Persian Empire. Iran, Oct. 1971. (Public Domain).
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:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. 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.
Feb 8, 2024 • 1h
S1E5: What Is Political Islam? And Why Would the Books of A Prominent Shia Muslim Philosopher Be Banned in the Islamic Republic of Iran?
Does history have a meaning? Christianity demands a meaning - because human life is not in vain. And Islam is similar. But our perception of history has changed in the last 300 years. It has become more secularized. Interestingly, political Islam is a product of that process.
After you have listened to this episode, please share your thoughts regarding the following questions:
Do you think that people in the non-western world are not yet ready to exercise their democratic rights, and that they need guided democracy?
Does this proposition makes sense for our time - the 2020s - as it may have back in the 1950s, 1960s or the 70s?
Click here to answer this question.
This question form expires on Wed., Feb. 14, 2024.
My guest for this episode is Dr. Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi of Princeton University. He is professor and chair of Near Eastern Studies. He is the Director of Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies.
He has written many books, including Islam and Dissent in Post-Revolutionary Iran. He has coedited a special issue of Radical History Review, and has written extensively on the topics of social theory and Islamist political thought in different journals and book chapters. Currently, he is working on a project on Mystical Modernity, a comparative study of philosophy of history and political theory of Walter Benjamin and Ali Shariati.
To learn more about Dr. Ghamari-Tabrizi, you can visit his academic homepage.
Listen to my prior conversation with Dr. Ghamari-Tabrizi: https://bit.ly/HbN-S2E42s
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.
Image:
1980 Iranian Stamp honoring Dr. Ali Shariati. (Public Domain)
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:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. 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.
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/.
Feb 2, 2024 • 32min
S1E4: America's Middle East Military Strategy After 9/11. Was War Our Only Option?
Losing an American ally & the Carter Doctrine!
In yesterday's conversation with Dr. Bacevich, we discussed
how America's military strategy transitioned from fighting Nazis and fascists, and later fighting proxy wars against communists, to fighting in the Middle East. In this episode, Dr. Bacevich tells us about the fall of America's prime ally in the Middle East - the Shah of Iran. And he explains the Carter Doctrine, including the irony of America's military potentially supporting the Islamic Republic of Iran!
He'll also talk about our Middle East wars against terrorism - America's wars for more than 20 years!
I ask him these questions:
in response to 9/11, aside from war (actually two wars), did America have other military options?
Also, has our military presence in the Middle East paid off?
We love to get your answer to these questions:
Do you think fighting Middle East terrorists in open wars, such as we did after 9/11, or how Israel is conducting its war against Hamas now, is the effective way to stop terrorism?
And if not, then, how do you think we should stop terrorism, particularly in the Middle East?
click here to answer
This question form will expire on Th., Feb. 8, 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
Also, listen to History for Ms. Haley at S4E5 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:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. 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.
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/.
Feb 1, 2024 • 36min
S1E3: What Happened in 1979? How Did America's Military Get Sucked Into the Middle East After Vietnam?
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:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. 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.
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/.
