Empire to Nation: The Modern Middle East in the Long Twentieth Century

The national borders in the Middle East were designed primarily to serve the interests of imperial powers at the end of World War I. Despite this background, these arbitrary lines have proved to be remarkably resilient. This talk will describe how these borders were drawn, how they became entrenched in the twentieth century, and the relationship between the origins of the modern Middle East and the recent war in Gaza.
 

About the speaker

Reşat Kasaba is an expert in the history and politics of the Middle East and has taught undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Washingon for over 30 years. He is the author of A Moveable Empire: Ottoman Nomads, Migrants and Refugees and the editor of Cambridge History of Modern Turkey. He is also Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Washington and former Director of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies (2010-2020).