Who REALLY Made the Modern Middle East - with Simon Sebag Montephiore
Summary
Host Dan Seaver interviews historian Simon Sebag Montefiore about his book *The Cauldron*, which challenges the narrative that Western powers solely shaped the modern Middle East. Montefiore emphasizes the agency of local actors, tracing history from the Ottoman Empire’s collapse and Saudi Arabia’s founding to the 1979 Iranian Revolution. He argues that internal dynamics, rather than just foreign interference, drove the region’s transformation into its current complex geopolitical landscape.
Topics discussed
Introduction: Sunni-Shia cooperation and Khomeini's impact
Housekeeping: Live taping announcement and election context
Book overview: Agency of Middle Eastern actors vs. outsiders
Modern power shifts and Route One sponsorship
Historical framing: Why 1900 matters more than 1917
Saudi Arabia: Abdulaziz and the creation of the third state
Debunking myths: Western influence vs. local agency
Ottoman decline: From reform to the genocidal Three Pashas
Promotion: For Heaven's Sake podcast on Jewish dilemmas
Minority persecution: The decline of Egypt's cosmopolitan society
The slow purge: Disappearance of Middle Eastern Christians
Nation-state construction: Western mandates and artificial borders
Syria and Lebanon: French mandates and sectarian divisions
Jordan's creation: Abdullah's kingdom and Churchill's approval
Iran's history: Reza Shah, WWII occupation, and the Shah's rise
The Shah's fall: Modernization, corruption, and social unrest
The 1979 Revolution: Khomeini's return and consolidation of power
Khomeini's strategy: Merging Islamism with anti-Zionism
Part 1 conclusion and Israel Votes event promotion
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