1979 - Year Zero in the Middle East

1979 - Year Zero in the Middle East

Mondays 1-3pm

Starts 2nd March

6th April is a Holiday - Easter Monday

(David Halliwell)

7 week course £63.00

1979 was a watershed year — a moment when multiple crises erupted at once and reshaped the entire Middle East. In this course, David traces the toxic combination of events that unfolded that year and triggered decades of upheaval, rivalry and transformation across the Muslim world.

We will explore:

• The fall of the Shah of Iran and the birth of the Islamic Republic

• The siege of Mecca and the shockwaves it sent through the region

• The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and how it drew global powers deeper into the region’s struggles

• The rise of Iran–Saudi rivalry for leadership of the Islamic world

• The cultural, social and religious shifts that followed

• The personalities, ideologies and forces that redefined the modern Middle East

This seven-week course is ideal for anyone seeking to understand the key events and long-term consequences that shaped today’s Middle Eastern politics, identities and conflicts.

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