This is a conversation with Jeffrey Karam. He’s Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Lebanese American University and an associate at Harvard’s Middle East Initiative.
He’s also the editor of the book “The Middle East in 1958: Reimagining a Revolutionary Year“, the topic of our conversation.
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Blog: https://thefirethisti.me
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Topics Discussed:
What was so special about 1958? Its legacy in the Middle East and the world
The formation of the short-lived United Arab Republic (between Egypt and Syria), the Iraq revolution, the attempted coup in Jordan, the slide towards more authoritarianism in Iran, the clash between the princes in Saudi Arabia, the collapse of the fourth republic in France etc
The internationalization of the region and the role of the great powers (US, UK, France, USSR)
History as non-linear, connecting different threads
Authoritarianism in the region and the role of the big powers
Asking ‘what ifs’ in thinking about history
1957 in Lebanon (the rigged elections with US support) and the 1958 events
A look into the debates on decolonization, revolutionary nationalism, internationalism, post-colonialism, imperialism, anti-imperialism and state formation
Lessons from 1958 for the present day, the example of Iraq
How hope is linked to the understanding of time
Upcoming book: The Lebanon Uprising of 2019: Voices from the Revolution, co-edited with Rima Majed
Learning about revolutions in revolutionary times
Book recommendations
Coups and Revolutions: Mass Mobilization, the Egyptian Military, and the United States from Mubarak to Sisi by Amy Austin Holmes
Oilcraft: The Myths of Scarcity and Security That Haunt U.S. Energy Policy by Robert Vitalis
The Politics of Art Dissent and Cultural Diplomacy in Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan by Hanan Toukan
The Paranoid Style in American Diplomacy Oil and Arab Nationalism in Iraq by Brandon Wolfe-Hunnicutt
Winning Lebanon: Youth Politics, Populism, and the Production of Sectarian Violence, 1920–1958 by Dylan Baum
Banking on the State The Financial Foundations of Lebanon by Hicham Safieddine
Resources mentioned/that are relevant
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