The Syrian Civil War didn’t begin in 2011; it began centuries earlier. Dr. Roy explores how the legacy of empire, the carving up of the Middle East after World War I, and repeated Western interference destabilized Syria and Iraq long before the Arab Spring. Along the way, Dr. Roy connects the dots between the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Sykes-Picot Agreement, the CIA’s 1949 coup in Damascus, the rise of pan-Arabism, and the creation of ISIS. 

Takeaways:

• Why the Arab Empire’s collapse and the rise of the Ottoman Empire set the stage for modern fragmentation.
• How the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement divided the Middle East into artificial borders serving European interests.
• The British and French betrayal of Arab independence after World War I - and the creation of Iraq, Syria, and Jordan as “made-up” states.
• How the CIA’s 1949 assassination of Syria’s democratically elected leader shattered the country’s early democracy.
• The rise and fall of pan-Arabism and the short-lived United Arab Republic (1958-1961).
• U.S. and Soviet competition for influence in the region during the Cold War, including coups and proxy wars. 
• How the 2003 Iraq War, U.S. sanctions, and failed interventions paved the way for ISIS’s emergence.
• The Syrian Civil War, the refugee crisis, and how global powers continue to fuel instability today.

Resources & References:

• The Sykes-Picot Agreement 
• Treaty of Versailles 
• The Balfour Declaration
• CIA Coup in Syria 
• United Arab Republic Constitution 
• Eisenhower Doctrine 
• The Six-Day War
• Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)
• Iraq War (2003-2011)
• Arab Spring (2010-2011)

Beyond the podcast: 

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