The United States and the Middle East: 1914 to 9/11

By: Salim Yaqub, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Salim Yaqub

At the dawn of World War I, the United States was only a rising power. Our reputation was relatively benign among Middle Easterners, who saw no imperial ambitions in our presence and were grateful for the educational and philanthropic services Americans provided. Yet by September 11, 2001, everything had changed. The United States had now become the unquestioned target of those bent on attacking the West for its perceived offenses against Islam. How and why did this transformation come about? And how did each of the factors that make the Middle East so complex contribute to this transformation?

This series of 24 lectures by an award-winning scholar is a narrative history of U.S. political involvement in the Middle East from World War I to the present day. Presented from a historian's balanced perspective, it will strengthen your ability to place today's headlines into historical context, evaluate what is most likely to happen next, and understand those oncoming events when they occur.

Step by step, with attention to the viewpoints and motivations of each nation and leader involved, the lectures explore

• growing American involvement in the Middle East;
• the ongoing quest for political independence and self-mastery by Middle Easterners;
• the difficulty the United States has experienced in weighing diverse and conflicting objectives in the region, especially as the cold war against the Soviet Union intensified; and
• the increasing antagonism between Americans and Middle Easterners that came to such a shocking culmination on September 11, 2001.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2003 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2003 The Great Courses

have and will listen to again and again

countless memorable moments. clear and concise depiction of events over the last 100 years in the middle East.

Great book!

This is one of my favorite history books of all times. I have listen to it at least three times. It is such a good historical context that sheds light on where we are today.

Very thorough American involvement in the Middle East.

I deeply enjoyed listening to profesor Salim Yaqui, I learned much from each lecture, given clearly and unbiased.

Just what I needed, concise and cohesive

I was worried because the other reviews seemed ambivalent about this lecture. Some pointed out the bigotry and others the performance(?) of the professor.

Now that I've heard it myself, I can say with confidence that I love it. I listened to it on 1.25 speed and it was perfect. I honestly don't get what the problem is, that people think his delivery is bad. I thought maybe he had an accent, but he speaks perfect English with sophisticated vocabulary.

With regard to the content, it was an excellent introductory level. I am in no way pursuing a career in this field, so I wouldn't want the lectures to have too rigorous details. It happens in other lectures, where the professors themselves are too immersed in their own subject field. But this one focuses on the big picture, while throwing in fun stories here and there.

It was just perfect for filling in the Middle Eastern blanks in my the west-oriented knowledge.

suggestion to lengthen series

ended too abruptly... needed two or more lectures in order to bring us through bush and obama, and set the possible reordering of middle east

great non-partisan commentary

a wonderfully informative and objective lesson that spans the course of topics and highlights many factors that have produced the current sociological and political trends in the Middle East.

Great topic; disappointing lecturer

The topic was fascinating. The lecturer however was subpar. His pace was somewhat slow and stilted, but more disappointingly his approach to the topic became increasingly lopsided as the lecture progressed. I like to think I am a balanced person who tries to see all perspectives--this topic offered many opportunities to present both sides (the Israeli and Palestinian conflict for instance). Unfortunately, this lecturer seemed more focused on convincing listeners that the United States is bad and Israel is worse, than on objectively presenting a balanced view of history. While I realize that he has opinions, I don't think that should get in the way of a complete discussion of relevant viewpoints.

Excellent! But...

This was a great lecture series, and I fully recommend it with one caveat: at times, the speaker uses complex sentence structures that further complicate the already complex nature of the material. It's not incomprehensible, but when absorbing materially aurally it helps the listener when sentences are put forth simply. Now I love a good dependent clause as much as the next person, but when you're getting up to four or five, and you're offering parenthetical asides - and interjections here and there - and we have unfamiliar names and less than familiar settings (which even a decent knowledge of middle eastern geography (disregarding the many changes to the boundaries (vacillating as they do))), cogent delivery is key. <--satire. Don't let this dissuade you though. It was a very revealing overview. Just don't expect to listen at 1.5x speed.

So much information on a complicated topic

In today's political environment, I've been pondering what caused the regression of women's rights in Afghanistan and Iran (look at some of the lost pictures from the 70s). I realized that I know very little about the history of these two countries beyond our interactions with them over the last 20 years.

This series was a perfect overview. Mr. Yaqub has an interesting speech pattern which others have noticed can be a bit distracting. I find reviews stating that he's biased against Israel to be exaggerated and seem to be more tied to the fact that he points out criticisms of Israel along with all of the other countries involved in these conflicts over the last 100 years.

Don't miss this fantastic overview

Loved every minute. The lecturer takes incredibly dense material and makes it understandable and accessible to laymen while avoiding boring those with stronger backgrounds in the field of MES.I listened on my daily bus rides and before going to bed, although the lecturer's story-telling ability and his way of presenting the material often kept me from falling asleep. I only wish this course were longer than 12 hours.