
Advertise on podcast: Scholars Unravel Middle East
Rating
4from
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This podcast has
65 episodes
Language
EnglishExplicit
No
Date created
2023/12/03
Latest episode
2026/10/21
Average duration
72 min.
Release period
41 days
Description
217 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
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Check latest episodes from Scholars Unravel Middle East podcast
Red Sea Power Play: Ethiopia & UAE vs. Egypt & Saudi Arabia | S3E5 UME
2026/10/21
Could Ethiopia’s pursuit of a Red Sea coastline turn its domestic conflict into a wider regional war—and why isn’t its existing access through Djibouti enough? Dr. Etana H. Dinka joins Adel Aali to examine Ethiopia’s maritime ambitions, shifting alliances and how the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt could become involved. They also discuss the unfinished peace of 2022, what Western coverage misunderstands about Ethiopia, and why acquiring coastline through force could deepen instability.
📄 Interview transcript & takeaways: COMING SOON
🚩About My Guest Scholar:
Dr. Etana Habte Dinka is an Assistant Professor of African History at the University of Miami. His books include:
--"Interpreting the Ethiopian Revolution: Imperial Heritage and Embattled Statehood"
--"Shadows of History: Nationalism, Violence and State Crisis in Ethiopia"
🚩Related Interviews:
Listen to my 2021 audio podcast interview with Dr. Dinka, "Ethiopia's "avoidable" civil war!"
--Adel Aali
Host & Producer
🚩 Support My Program:
I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
******Chapters:
00:00 Selected Highlights
01:28 Program Introduction
02:20 Guest Introduction
04:02 Could Ethiopia widen the Red Sea crisis?
09:45 How Ethiopia lost its coastline
12:02 Rival powers in the Horn of Africa
17:31 Why isn’t Djibouti enough?
22:04 The UAE’s Red Sea ambitions
26:30 Who in Ethiopia wants its coastline back?
32:02 Would Ethiopia's invasion of Eritrea bring stability?
33:49 Why the Tigray peace agreement failed
43:45 What the West misunderstands about the Horn of Africa
52:09 Can Ethiopia find lasting peace?
1:04:44 Just one point
******
🎶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. Musicpromoted 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.
Iran's Territorial Integrity: Imperial Memory vs. National Identity | S3E4
2026/09/25
Iran—a nation shaped by imperial memory and modern vulnerability.
Not too long ago, Iran was far larger than it is today. European expansion and colonial intervention cut away at its territories—provinces and realms that had long been part of Iran… or were imagined to be.
This is the history of how Iran’s shifting borders shaped the modern state—and how, in turn, the idea of the Iranian homeland continues to be shaped by memory, myth, and identity.
🚩About My 210th Guest Scholar:
My guest is Dr. Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). She is a historian of modern Middle East, with a focus on Iran and its borderlands, the Persian Gulf, and the Ottoman Empire.
She has published extensively on these topics, including books that we discuss in this interview. To learn more about Dr. Kashani-Sabet, you can visit her academic homepage.
Adel Aali
Host
Support My Program:
I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
******Chapters: 02:03 — Guest Introduction
04:05 — Safavid Borders
08:50 — Qajar Territorial Losses
13:24 — Iran and the Persian Gulf
18:05 — Russia and the Iranian Psyche
22:08 — Losing Territory
28:36 — Was Iran Colonized?
33:19 — What Is the Iranian Homeland?
40:12 — Frontier Fictions
44:56 — Ethnicity, Religion and Borders
49:28 — Iran’s National Identity
56:27 — Just One Point: Territorial Vulnerability
******
🎶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. Musicpromoted 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.
Who Made Iran’s 1979 Revolution? Rethinking What “Revolution” Means | S3E1
2026/01/08
Who were the Iranians of the 1979 Revolution? Was it an Islamic revolution?
🚩About My Guest:
Dr. Naghmeh Sohrabi is a professor of Middle East History and the Director for Research at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University.
This interview was initially published in our History Behind News Channel in October 2022, during the Mahsa Amini protests in Iran. She is the author of the book "Taken for Wonder: Nineteenth Century Travel Accounts from Iran to Europe " and numerous articles on Iranian history, politics, and culture.
Her second book project it is tentatively titled “The Intimate Lives of a Revolution: Iran 1979”, which we talk about in this interview. And here is her academic website.
Adel Aali
Host
Support My Program:
I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
******
🎶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. Musicpromoted 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.
Inside Jordan's Untold Stories: the Royals, the Americans & the Protests (Video on Spotify) | S2E12
2025/11/21
Is Jordan a stable country? Where do Jordanians practice politics? In protests? Or in the polls and parliament?
In this interview, I discuss the following with my guest:
▶️Were the Hashemite royal family foreigners in Jordan?
▶️Did Jordan’s Hashemites belong to a larger, transnational royal family?
▶️How does the Hashemite royal family’s history impact Jordan’s national identity and nation-building efforts now?
▶️Why Jordanian protesters and cartoonists poke fun of King Abdullah II’s Arabic?
▶️How were tribal protests in Jordan during Ottoman and British rules different than now?
▶️If Jordan is not a democractic country, then how are protests routine in Jordan?
▶️Do Jordanians experience politics in streets as opposed to in parliament and during elections?
▶️Dose criticizing the King of Jordan cross a red line?
▶️What does it mean that Jordan's protesting places are disappearing?
▶️Why do Jordanians protest about water?
▶️Does Jordan coordinate its budget with the U.S.?
▶️How do protests in Jordan compare to other countries, such as protests in Iran or the U.S.?
▶️Why does the government of Jordan promote images of stability and instability?
▶️Why are cartoonists getting arrests in Jordan for alleged terrorism?
▶️Is Jordan essentially a U.S. protectorate?
▶️Is Jordan forever on the brink of a revolution?
🚩About My Guest:
Dr. Jillian Schwedler is a professor of political science at the City University of New York’s Hunter College and the Graduate Center, and also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Crown Center at Brandeis University.
Adel Aali
Host
Support My Program:
I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
******
🎶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. Musicpromoted 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.
Timur: The Minor Warlord Who Conquered Much of Asia | S2E15
2025/11/05
Who was Timur? How did he manage to conquer much of Asia? Did he exercise brutality beyond the imagination of even the Mongols?
What was his vision for his conquered lands? And why is it that the West hardly remembers him in contrast to Genghis Khan, whom the West remembers?
🚩About My Guest:
Prof. Peter Jackson is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at Keele University in Staffordshire, England. His scholarship covers the Mongols, the medieval Islamic world, the Crusades, and relations between Europe and Asia.
His books include:
"From Genghis Khan to Tamerlane: The Reawakening of Mongol Asia" "The Mongols and the Islamic World: From Conquest to Conversion" "The Mongols and the West, 1221–1410" "The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History"In this conversation, Prof. Jackson examines Timur’s rise, conquests, and legacy, distinguishing the historical evidence from the stories constructed around him.
Learn more about Prof. Jackson’s research and publications through his Keele University academic homepage.
Adel Aali
Host
Support My Program:
I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
******
🎶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. Musicpromoted 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.
(Spotify Video) Who are the Druze in Israel, Lebanon and Syria? A History of the Druze. | S2E11
2025/10/20
A secretive religion? A cohesive & strong community spread across several Middle East nations. This is the history of the Druze.
🚩In this interview:
►Who are the Druze?
►Do they practice a secretive religion?
►Can you convert to become Druze?
►Druze in IDF. Druze in Hezbollah. Druze in Asad's army.
►Druze during the Fatimid period.
►Who founded the Druze religion?
►Stories of Druze reincarnations.
►Druze connection to the land.
►Druze in Goland Heights.
►Druze and Alawites in Syria.
►Israel's red line about the Druze.
►Druze in the Israeli military.
►Druze in Knesset.
►How have Druze become part of Jewish community in Israel?
🚩About My Guest Scholar:
Dr. Nir Boms is Co-Director of the Forum on Regional Cooperation, Academic Coordinator at the TAU Workshop on Israel and the Middle East, Research Fellow at the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, Chairman of the Syria Research Forum and the Gulf Israel Policy Forum, and he also teaches the Rothberg School of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
🚩Related Interview:
S4E24 HbN: The Rise & Fall of Bashar al-Assad, an interview with Dr. Lesch
I hope you enjoy these episodes.
Adel Aali
Support My Program:
I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
******
🎶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. Musicpromoted 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.
Who are the Druze in Israel, Lebanon and Syria? A History of the Druze | S2E14
2025/10/08
A secretive religion? A cohesive & strong community spread across several Middle East nations. This is the history of the Druze.
🚩In this interview:
►Who are the Druze?
►Do they practice a secretive religion?
►Can you convert to become Druze?
►Druze in IDF. Druze in Hezbollah. Druze in Asad's army.
►Druze during the Fatimid period.
►Who founded the Druze religion?
►Stories of Druze reincarnations.
►Druze connection to the land.
►Druze in Goland Heights.
►Druze and Alawites in Syria.
►Israel's red line about the Druze.
►Druze in the Israeli military.
►Druze in Knesset.
►How have Druze become part of Jewish community in Israel?
🚩About My Guest Scholar:
Dr. Nir Boms is Co-Director of the Forum on Regional Cooperation, Academic Coordinator at the TAU Workshop on Israel and the Middle East, Research Fellow at the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, Chairman of the Syria Research Forum and the Gulf Israel Policy Forum, and he also teaches the Rothberg School of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
🚩Related Interview:
S4E24 HbN: The Rise & Fall of Bashar al-Assad, an interview with Dr. Lesch
I hope you enjoy these episodes.
Adel Aali
Support My Program:
I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
******
🎶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. Musicpromoted 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.
Dodgers to Damascus, Alamo to Middle East | S2E13
2025/08/21
From major league baseball to major league Middle East.
🚩In this interview:
►An all-American guy
►Tommy Lasorda & baseball's nerve-racking lesson for a scholar of Middle East
►It's important to cry!
►Does empathy compromise objectivity?
►Alamo & Middle East
►Clash of civilizations
►Pres. Trump's letter to Pres. Assad
►Dr. Lesch's relationship with Pres. Assad
►Pres. Assad in Russia.
►A scarred championship ring and its lesson for a scholar of Middle East
🚩About My Guest Scholar:
Dr. David W. Lesch is the Ewing Halsell Distinguished Professor of History in the Department of History at Trinity University. He received his PhD in Middle East History from Harvard University. He has had 17 books published on a variety of Middle East topics and has over 140 publications overall.
In this interview, we discuss "Dodgers to Damascus", a biography of Dr. Lesch's fascinating life as written by Catherine Nixon Cooke, in which she narrates his "Journey from Baseball to the Middle East".
🚩Related Interviews:
S4E24 HbN: The Rise & Fall of Bashar al-Assad, an interview with Dr. Lesch
S1E44 UME: Love & Romance In Syria & Rest of Arab World, an interview with Dr. Abla Hasan
I hope you enjoy these episodes.
Adel Aali
Support My Program:
I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
******
🎶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. Musicpromoted 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.
How Pro-Monarchy Mullahs Became Anti-Shah Revolutionaries | S2E12
2025/07/28
Does Iran need reform or another revolution? History of Iran's two & half 20th century revolutions answers that question.
🚩In this interview:
►Iran's Constitutional Revolution, 1905-11
►Clergy vs. intellectuals
►Iran's fundamental law
►Dividing Iran into two - Russian and British empires
►Russian 1905 Revolution & the Young Turk Revolution of 1908
►"Innocence" of Iran's Constitutional Revolution
►Comparing Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution to Iran's Constitutional Revolution of 1905-11
►Transformation of Iran's clergy from the 19th century to 1979
►Have the clergies' attempts to Islamicize Iranians worked?
►Were Iran's Revolutions betrayed?
►Why hasn't Iran experienced another successful revolution since 1979?
►The French Revolution or Edmund Burke Reforms - which is the right course for Iran's future?
🚩About My Guest Scholar:
My guest is Dr. Abbas Amanat, professor Emeritus of History at Yale University. He has written extensively about early modern and modern history of Iran, the Middle East, the Muslim world and the Persianate world. In this interview, we discuss Dr. Amanat's forthcoming book: Solar Calendar and the Place of Nowruz in the Iranian Cultural Identity.
This interview is based on chapters from "Iran: A Modern History", one of Dr. Amanat's many books that I have read and recommend. By the way, Dr. Amanat's latest book is the "The Caspian World: Connections and Contentions at a Modern Eurasian Crossroads".
🚩Related Interviews:
►S2E5 UME: Iranian New Year's Geopolitical and Mythological History, Dr. Abbas Amanat, Yale University
►S5E31 HbN: Iran's Grand National Security Strategy, Dr. Vali Nasr, Johns Hopkins University
I hope you enjoy these episodes.
Adel Aali
Support My Program:
I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
🎶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. Musicpromoted 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.
Kings and Ayatollahs: Iran's National Security | S2E11
2025/07/02
Alone in the Middle East! Imperial Iran… Safavids, Qajars, and even the Pahlavis - alone in the Middle East. And then, the Ayatollahs. Again, Iran alone in the Middle East.
🚩In this interview:
►What is it about Iran and its history that separates it from the rest of the Middle East?
►Who was Reza Shah and why is he so important to Iran's modern history?
►What was the last Shah's primary national security fear?
►Have the Ayatollahs continued the Pahlavis' national security strategies?
►If not, in what respects are the Ayatollahs' national security strategies different than the Pahlavis'?
►If so, in what way are they similar?
►What is forward defense?
►What is scared defense?
►What was the Shah's green plan?
🚩About My Guest Scholar:
Dr. Vali Nasr is a professor and former dean of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, where he is now the co-director of the SAIS Rethinking Iran Initiative.
Dr. Nasr has advised world leaders, business leaders, and senior American policymakers, including the U.S. President, Secretary of State, senior members of Congress, and presidential campaigns.
In this interview, we discuss his latest book, Iran's Grand Strategy: A Political History.
🚩My Recommendations:
►2003 and Iran-US Failed Diplomacy: a discussion of Dr. Nasr's The Dispensable Nation - American Foreign Policy in Retreat
►How U.S. Sanctions On Iran Backfired On America: a discussion of Dr. Nasr's How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare
►Ayatollahs of Iran: Dr. Nasr explains Iran's Byzantine government structure
►History of Hijab in Iran: a conversation with Dr. Janet Afary
I hope you enjoy these episodes.
Adel Aali
Support My Program:
I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
🎶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. Musicpromoted 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.
The Mongols, Their Empire, and the Middle East | S2E10
2025/06/13
The Mongols built the largest contiguous land empire in history, yet their story is often reduced to conquest and destruction. In this interview, Dr. Timothy May examines how the Mongols transformed tribal societies into a unified empire, why their armies consistently defeated larger opponents, how they governed the lands they conquered, and what their rule meant for the Middle East. The conversation also explores how later generations remembered the Mongols—and why many of the ideas we hold about them deserve a second look.
🚩About My Guest:
Dr. Timothy May is a professor of Central Eurasian History in the University of North Georgia. He is a specialist on the history of the Mongol Empire. and is the author or editor of several books on this subject, including the following
"The Mongol Art of War" "The Mongol World""The Mongol Conquests in Human History ""The Mongol Empire""The Mongols"
*****
Chapters:
00:00 Highlights
02:55 Introduction
04:45 From Tribal Warriors to a Mongol State
09:07 Creating a Mongol Identity
13:33 Meritocracy and the New Elite
17:53 Building a Nation Under Arms
19:56 Why the Mongols Kept Winning
22:49 Training Mongol Generals
31:54 The Mongols Were Outnumbered
36:51 Mongol Destruction: Truth and Myth
40:47 Were the Mongols Unusually Brutal?
43:27 Persia, Memory, and Mongol Rule
48:18 Were the Mongols Good Rulers?
52:18 Mongol Rule in the Middle East
54:52 Loyalty, Betrayal, and Reward
56:30 Pragmatism, Trade, and Wealth
1:00:36 What Happened to the Mongols?
1:02:25 The End of Mongol Rule in the Middle East
1:04:07 From Mongols to Tatars
1:06:26 Why the Mongols Faded from History
Support Our Program:
We rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
******
🎶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. Musicpromoted 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.
Kashmir's History - A Podcast Not Possible In India! | S2E9
2025/05/30
Did you know that up to the Partition of India in 1947, Kashmiri Muslims lived in conditions that very much resembled serfdom? Exploitation of Kashmiri Muslims was particularly notable during the Dogra Dynasty, which ruled the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1846 to 1947.
In this interview, I bring historical perspective to conflicts and crises about Kashmir by asking my guest scholar the following questions:
►Is Jammu and Kashmir different than Kashmir?
►Who are Kashmiris?
►Why did Persian missionaries visit Kashmir?
►What happened to Kashmir after the Mughal Empire?
►What does it mean that Kashmir was a princely state?
►Did the British introduce a more egalitarian system in Kashmir? If so, why?
►Why Kashmir was an autonomous region under British rule and until recently in the Republic of India?
►Why is Kashmir called the Indian Administered Kashmir?
►How did Kashmir become a part of India?
►What was the Kashmir massacre that happened in 1947?
►How are Kashmiris 'othered' in India?
►What is it about Kashmir that makes it different from all other Indian states?
►Is Kashmir an integral part of India?
►Would my guest scholar be able to freely talk about Kashmir's history in India?
🚩About My174th Guest: Dr. Hafsa Kanjwal is a historian of modern Kashmir, and the author of Colonizing Kashmir: State-building Under Indian Occupation, a book that we discuss in this interview. She is a professor of South Asian History in the Department of History at Lafayette College, where she teaches courses on the history of the modern world, SouthAsian history, and Islam in the Modern World.
Dr. Kanjwal also tells us something highly unexpected about her other book (seepodcast image): A Fate Written OnMatchboxes.
I hope you enjoy these episodes.
Adel Aali
Support My Program:
I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
🎶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. Musicpromoted 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.
Ibn Khaldun and Genghis Khan: Civilizations, Tribes and Empires | S2E8
2025/05/14
Why do great civilizations weaken—and how do tribal peoples rise to build new empires? Dr. Jack Weatherford explains Ibn Khaldun’s theories of civilization, tribal solidarity, and the forces that bring powerful societies down. We then turn to Genghis Khan: his conquests, his protection of individual religious freedom, and the women who helped govern the Mongol Empire.
About My Guest
Dr. Jack Weatherford is an American anthropologist and professor emeritus at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. His scholarship examines tribal societies and their influence on world history, with particular attention to Genghis Khan and the Mongols.
His books include "Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World", "Genghis Khan and the Quest for God: How the World’s Greatest Conqueror Gave Us Religious Freedom", and "The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire".
You can learn more about Dr. Weatherford by visiting his academic homepage.
In this conversation, Dr. Weatherford also reflects on his decades in Mongolia, the people who shaped his research, and his efforts to recover overlooked accounts of the empire’s women.
Adel Aali
Host
Support My Program:
I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
******
🎶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. Musicpromoted 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.
Allah Before Muhammad: Pre-Islam Arabia's Real Story | S2E7
2025/04/21
Did you know that Allah had daughters? Did you know that before Muhammad, tribes of Arabia already believed in Allah? And if so, then, what did Muhammad offer them?
In this interview, I discuss the following about pre-Islamic Arabia:
►a hotbed of monotheistic religions
►What is Henotheism?
►the high God and the intermediary gods
►Allah and his daughters
►Kaaba's history: water, idols and a meteor
►Kaaba - a big business
►Quraysh - powerful tribe than upended Arabia's tribal traditions
►reenvisioning Yahweh and Allah
►Did Muhammad bring a new religion to Arabia?
►What was Muhammad's "wow factor"?
►Why is Medina so important to the history of Islam and Arabia?
🚩About My Guest:
My guest is Dr. Reza Aslan, a scholar of religion and Distinguished Professor at UC Riverside. He serves on the board of trustees for the Chicago Theological Seminary and The Yale Humanist Community. He is an Emmy and Peabody-nominated producer and a recipient of the prestigious James Joyce award.
Dr. Aslan has authored several books, including the following:
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville, and No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, which we discuss in this episode. The 20th anniversary edition of this book will publish on Sept. 2, 2025.
🚩Other Related Interviews:
►Polytheism vs Monotheism & How Polytheism Ended - From City States to Persian Period |S1E33-34
Video: https://bit.ly/UME-YT-S1E33-34
Audio: https://bit.ly/UME-S1E33
I hope you enjoy these episodes.
Adel Aali
Support My Program:
I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
🎶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. Musicpromoted 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.
The History of the Turkic Peoples: Language, Migration and Turkicization |S2E6 UME
2025/04/02
The Turkic peoples did not descend from a single, unified ethnic population. Their history is largely the story of how Turkic languages spread across Eurasia—and how diverse peoples became Turkic-speaking over centuries.
In my interview with Dr. Peter Golden, we trace this history from the first Turkic empires and the migrations of the Oghuz and Seljuks to the Khazars, Mamluks, Safavids and Ottomans.
We also examine how language—not ancestry alone—helped create the many Turkic peoples who inhabit the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe today.
🚩About My Guest:
Dr. Peter Golden is a professor emeritus of history, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University. He has published extensively on the history of the Turkic peoples, including the following books:
"An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples""Central Asia in World History""Studies on the Peoples and Cultures of the Eurasian Steppes""The World of the Khazars: New Perspectives"
Adel Aali
Host
Support My Program:
I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
******
🎶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. Musicpromoted 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.
Podcast reviews
Read Scholars Unravel Middle East podcast reviews
Hamvatan 2024/04/01
Great!
Just like his other podcast, this is thoughtful and insightful. Using historians who are experts in their area of interest and asking questions common...
john snow65 2024/02/26
Western perspective
If this was a relationship, this would be called “mansplaining.” They try to explain my peoples ideologies, motives, and history through a western len...
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