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 geschiedenis ANSCOMBE F.F. State, faith, and nation in Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Lands BAYLY C.A. The Birth of the modern world 1780-1914. DALE S. The Muslim Empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals MCDOWAN D. A modern history of the Kurds MCHUGO J. Syria a recent history. SIMONS G., BENN T. Iraq: from Sumer to Saddam ..read more

We discuss the history of Iraq and Syria in the first half of the 20th century ..read more

A long overdue explanation why this podcast narrates history backwards ..read more

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 ..read more

We talk about the Iraq war, its immediate consequences, and its effect on Syria ..read more

This is the story of the Arab Spring in Syria and Iraq, and how it turned to another Long Winter ..read more

In this last episode on Iran, we talk about one of the most important peoples you probably never heard of: the Elamites ..read more

"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 ..read more

We talk about Alexander the Great, and how he (may have) conquered the Achaemenid Persian empire ..read more

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 ..read more