Episodes
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This episode is about the later stages of the Ottoman period, with the focus on Syria and especially Iraq.
Most important sources for the episode (for more specific info you can e-mail me):
Yitzhak Nakash - The Shi'is of Iraq
TRIPP C. Irak: een geschiedenisANSCOMBE F.F. State, faith, and nation in Ottoman and Post-Ottoman LandsBAYLY C.A. The Birth of the modern world 1780-1914.
DALE S. The Muslim Empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and MughalsMCDOWAN D. A modern history of the KurdsMCHUGO J. Syria a recent history.SIMONS G., BENN T. Iraq: from Sumer to Saddam.
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We discuss the history of Iraq and Syria in the first half of the 20th century.
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Missing episodes?
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A long overdue explanation why this podcast narrates history backwards.
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We discuss the 50s and 60s. What explains the turbulence of this period, as opposed to the longevity of the Assad- and Saddam-regimes?
Sorry if the audio is leaky sometimes: there is something wrong with my microphone. I'll have it fixed.
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If we say the Iraq war was a mistake, we must consider the alternatives. What would Iraq be like with Saddam or his son still in power? We now discuss the rule of Hafez al-Assad and Saddam Hussayn. We compare their strategies and ask whether Machiavelli would have approved of them.
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We talk about the Iraq war, its immediate consequences, and its effect on Syria.
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This is the story of the Arab Spring in Syria and Iraq, and how it turned to another Long Winter.
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In our third series, we set out to discover Syria and Iraq. We tavel by podcast so it's perfectly safe. And free. Enjoy.
Sources for the series (others may be added to later episodes):
The Oxford history of IslamThe New Cambridge History of Islam HARDY R. The Poisoned Well. Empire and its legacy in the Middle EastSIMONS G., BENN T. Iraq: from Sumer to Saddam. HOURANI A. De geschiedenis van de Arabische volkenKADRI A., MATER L. Syria: from national independence to proxy warSCHWARTZ S. The Other Islam. Sufism and the road to global harmonyANSCOMBE F.F. The Ottoman Gulf: The Creation of Kuwait, Saudia Arabia, and QatarSTONE N. De beknopte geschiedenis van TurkijeTRIPP C. Irak: een geschiedenisVALTER S. La construction nationale syrienne : légitimation de la nature communautaire du pouvoir par le discours historiqueVAN DE MIEROOP M., A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000 - 323 BCMARR P. The Modern History of IraqANSCOMBE F.F. State, faith, and nation in Ottoman and Post-Ottoman LandsMCDOWAN D. A modern history of the KurdsMCHUGO J. Syria a recent historyBAYLY C.A. The Birth of the modern world 1780-1914BODANSKY Y. Secret History of the Iraq WarROBERTSON J. Iraq: a historyBOURKE S. Het Midden Oosten. Van de prehistorie en het Babylonische koninkrijk tot de opkomst van de islamBRYCE T. Ancient Syria. A three thousand year historyCHARLES RIVER EDITORS. The Greatest Civilizations of Ancient MesopotamiaCHARLES RIVER EDITORS. The Sassanid Empire: The History and Legacy of the Neo-Persian EmpireBefore the Arab Conquest and Rise of IslamDALE S. The Muslim Empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and MughalsNYDELL M.K. De Arabische cultuur leren kennen en begrijpen.
HEIRMAN MARK, Oosterse dagen, Arabische nachten.
LEWIS B. Het Midden-Oosten: 2000 jaar culturele en politieke geschiedenis.
HOLLAND T. Het vierde beest: God, de strijd om de wereldmacht en het einde van de oudheid. DULMERT R. Bonbons voor mevrouw Assad: achter de linies van het Syrische regime.
PAUWELS L. Geschiedenis van de Koerden: de strijd van een volk voor een eigen staat
CORNILIE B. In de schaduw van Saddam: het Koerdische experiment in Irak.
SCHUTTEN H. De val van Saddam
GALBRAITH P. Het einde van Irak: hoe Amerikaanse incompetentie een oorlog zonder einde teweeggebracht
LESCH D. The new lion of Damascus: Bashar a-Asad and modern Syria
NAKASH Y. The Shi'is of Iraq
DUMAS V. Syrië en de hyena's van DamascusSTERN J. ISIS: the stat of terrorDE BRABANDER L. Het Koerdisch UtopiaIf you want more specific notes, you can e-mail me.
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In this last episode on Iran, we talk about one of the most important peoples you probably never heard of: the Elamites.
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"Power doesn't come from a badge or a gun. Power comes from lying... lying big and getting the whole ×××× world to play along with you." (Quote from sin city)How does that work? Check out this episode and find out...
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The Persians, and especially the Achaemenids, have for centuries been presented as the ultimate "other". Corrupt, decadent, freedom-hating...
In this episode, we look how accurate these stereotypes fit the real thing. The episode owes a large debt to professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones' excellent work (and several others), which takes many new findings and weaves them into a fascinating new narrative. I advise you all to buy it, of course. Other sources are on my Facebook page.
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We talk about Alexander the Great, and how he (may have) conquered the Achaemenid Persian empire.
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In the next episode, we'll talk about how Alexander the Great managed to conquer the Persian empire.
In this one, we'll see why we will probably never know that.
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We discuss how Seleucus managed to win the "funeral games" after the death of Alexander the Great, and found the biggest empire of his time: the Seleucid dynasty.
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We talk about the predecessors to the Sasanian empire. Their approach was completely different, but in a way, perfectly adopted to the lands of Iran.
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Omnipresent magic. Religiously sanctioned inbreeding. Extreme decadence. Lots of war elephants. A royal family that commits genocide on itself. Welcome to the world of Sasan.
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Today, we discuss the religion that dominated Iran until the Muslim Conquests: Zoroastrianism. As we shall see, this faith bears many resemblances to Twelver Shiism, the sect that would be embraced by the Buyid dynasty soon after it emerged, and not long after the Islamization of Iran really got underway. These similarities may not be entirely coincidental. Zoroastrianism also left a mark on other world religions. It had many followers in Arabia during the lifetime of the Prophet Mohammed. After the Muslims conquered Persia, both religions would co-exist there for centuries. That was bound to leave a mark.
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Don’t you just hate politics? As Manu Chao sang, and as anyone watching House of Cards will confirm: Politic kills. politic needs cries, politic needs ignorance, politic needs lies… Many religions have thrived by cozying up to the establishment of their day. There are few that consistently hold politics in contempt the way Shiism does. This may well be a big part of its appeal. But what would happen, if such a creed became state religion itself? Wouldn’t that be a fun experiment…
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In today’s episode, we talk about the legacy of the period before the advent of the Safavids, and the transformation of Iran into a Shia state. Among other things, we discuss the rise of Sufism, the resilience of Persian culture and the “Shiite century”. We also give ample attention to the fascinating cult of the Assassins: if you are writing a fantasy novel, you may want to include these people.
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In the last episode, we talked about the fall of the Safavids, the most important Muslim dynasty Iran has ever had. Today, we shall discuss their rise. It was they who turned Iran into a Shiite state, and not through kind persuasion.
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