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...and Collective Memory in the Middle East by Kim Ghattas
The bestselling author tells the gripping story of the real roots of the Middle East Sunni-Shia conflict in the 1979 Iran Revolution that changed the region forever.
Black Wave is a paradigm-shifting recasting of the modern history of the Middle East, telling the largely unexplored story of the rivalry between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran--a rivalry born out of the sparks of the 1979 Iranian revolution--that has dramatically transformed the culture, identity, and collective memory of millions of Muslims over four decades. Like George Packer did in The Unwinding, Kim Ghattas follows everyday citizens whose lives have been affected by the geopolitical drama, making her account both immediate and intimate.
Most Americans assume that extremism, Sunni-Shia antagonism, and anti-Americanism have always existed in the Middle East, but prior to 1979, Saudi Arabia and Iran were working allies. It was only after that year--a remarkable turning point--that Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia began to use religion as a tool in their competition for dominance in the region, igniting the culture wars that led to the 1991 American invasion of Iraq, the September 11th terrorist attacks, and the rise of ISIS.
Ghattas shows how Saudi Arabia and Iran went from allies against the threat of communism from Russia, with major roles in the US anti-Soviet strategy, to mortal enemies that use religious conservatism to incite division and unrest from Egypt to Pakistan. Black Wave will significantly influence both perception of and conversation about the modern history of the Middle East.
I can’t recommend this book more highly. It’s a must read for those who wish to know how and why the situation in the Middle East came to be, and for those, especially in the US, who think they know why. Chances are, they don’t.
Beginning with a short history of the Middle East, from the fall of the Ottoman Empire to the dethronement of the Shah of Iran, the book then moves on to the creation of Israel. It was on land that Palestinians had lived on for centuries, creating a shift in Arab thinking. They needed something to unite the Arab people, and a stronger focus on religion seemed to do the trick. Unfortunately, it would bring about an intellectual and cultural darkness that would slowly engulf the Arab world.
1979 seems to have been the focal point, with the rise of the Ayatollah and the oppression brought on by the Saud family of Saudia Arabia. Both countries would be transformed, and then, spreading that transformation, one country at a time, would bring darkness and oppression.
First to go would be Syria and Lebanon, the “black wave” inundating Beirut, a city once known as the Paris of the Middle East. The ravages of sectarianism would continue, moving into Pakistan and Afghanistan. Unaware, or unmindful that Saudi money was behind most of the trouble, the US would make matters worse with the invasion of Iraq. Sadaam’s removal would unleash all the pent-up anger and religious zeal and allow Iran’s power to grow.
Egypt’s story is probably the cruelest of all. It’s ill-fated revolution was crushed by Saudi Arabian money, it’s final ruler, Sisi, little more than a Saudi puppet.
Isis would bring things full circle. Its Islamic State would be compared to the founding of Saudi Arabia in 1926, as both would be born through the destruction of the past and much of the present.
( Mount TBR 2020 Book Links )
The bestselling author tells the gripping story of the real roots of the Middle East Sunni-Shia conflict in the 1979 Iran Revolution that changed the region forever.
Black Wave is a paradigm-shifting recasting of the modern history of the Middle East, telling the largely unexplored story of the rivalry between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran--a rivalry born out of the sparks of the 1979 Iranian revolution--that has dramatically transformed the culture, identity, and collective memory of millions of Muslims over four decades. Like George Packer did in The Unwinding, Kim Ghattas follows everyday citizens whose lives have been affected by the geopolitical drama, making her account both immediate and intimate.
Most Americans assume that extremism, Sunni-Shia antagonism, and anti-Americanism have always existed in the Middle East, but prior to 1979, Saudi Arabia and Iran were working allies. It was only after that year--a remarkable turning point--that Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia began to use religion as a tool in their competition for dominance in the region, igniting the culture wars that led to the 1991 American invasion of Iraq, the September 11th terrorist attacks, and the rise of ISIS.
Ghattas shows how Saudi Arabia and Iran went from allies against the threat of communism from Russia, with major roles in the US anti-Soviet strategy, to mortal enemies that use religious conservatism to incite division and unrest from Egypt to Pakistan. Black Wave will significantly influence both perception of and conversation about the modern history of the Middle East.
I can’t recommend this book more highly. It’s a must read for those who wish to know how and why the situation in the Middle East came to be, and for those, especially in the US, who think they know why. Chances are, they don’t.
Beginning with a short history of the Middle East, from the fall of the Ottoman Empire to the dethronement of the Shah of Iran, the book then moves on to the creation of Israel. It was on land that Palestinians had lived on for centuries, creating a shift in Arab thinking. They needed something to unite the Arab people, and a stronger focus on religion seemed to do the trick. Unfortunately, it would bring about an intellectual and cultural darkness that would slowly engulf the Arab world.
1979 seems to have been the focal point, with the rise of the Ayatollah and the oppression brought on by the Saud family of Saudia Arabia. Both countries would be transformed, and then, spreading that transformation, one country at a time, would bring darkness and oppression.
First to go would be Syria and Lebanon, the “black wave” inundating Beirut, a city once known as the Paris of the Middle East. The ravages of sectarianism would continue, moving into Pakistan and Afghanistan. Unaware, or unmindful that Saudi money was behind most of the trouble, the US would make matters worse with the invasion of Iraq. Sadaam’s removal would unleash all the pent-up anger and religious zeal and allow Iran’s power to grow.
Egypt’s story is probably the cruelest of all. It’s ill-fated revolution was crushed by Saudi Arabian money, it’s final ruler, Sisi, little more than a Saudi puppet.
Isis would bring things full circle. Its Islamic State would be compared to the founding of Saudi Arabia in 1926, as both would be born through the destruction of the past and much of the present.
( Mount TBR 2020 Book Links )
