A message for Middle Eastern Americans: Don't let U.S. news media or Hollywood tell your story. And don't follow people who read a few books and suddenly become experts. In this program, I bring you the sources of Middle East analysis and history - 177 scholars (and counting) who distill their decades of research into an hour conversation with me to unravel the misperceptions that divide East and West and to clarify our common misconceptions about the Middle East - from its ancient empires to modern nations.
I am Adel Aali, you host (former attorney & startup entrepreneur). My passion is to understand history's trends and transformations, which is deeper appreciation than trivial facts and chronicles. So I ask questions from scholars who've spent their lives investigating the very answers I seek.
This program is a production of History Behind News podcast (now in its 4th season). Subscribe here: youtube.com/@ScholarsUnravelMiddleEast?sub_confirm…
Scholars Unravel Middle East
How did the 1979 Iranian Revolution happen?
Was it an Islamic Revolution?
What are the legacies of the 1979 Revolution for the Iranian people now?
Listen to my interview with Dr. Naghmeh Sohrabi for answers:
🎧bit.ly/HbN-S2E33s
6 months ago | [YT] | 1
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Scholars Unravel Middle East
Iranians have once again taken to streets against the Mullahs regime.
How will the United States and Israel respond?
In this interview, Dr. Vali Nasr answers how Iran's national security has informed Iran's domestic policies for generations.
Watch my interview with Dr. Nasr: 🎞️https://youtu.be/oi-mSXpyfEA
6 months ago | [YT] | 3
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Scholars Unravel Middle East
This is the story of how U.S. sanctions didn't work as intended. In fact, the sanctions may have backfired by crushing protests in Iran.
🎧Podcast: bit.ly/UME-S1E39-USIranSanctions
🎞️YouTube: bit.ly/UME-YT-S1E39-IranSanctions
My guest for this 2024 was Dr. Vali Nasr, a professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center. He has advised the U.S. president, Secretary of State, senior members of Congress and world leaders about foreign policy. He is now the co-director of the SAIS Rethinking Iran Initiative.
1 year ago | [YT] | 4
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Scholars Unravel Middle East
Earlier this week, Pres. Trump announced the halt of U.S. military strikes on Yemen's Houthis.
Did you know that many regional and world powers fought the Yemenis and failed?
Podcast: 🎧 bit.ly/UME-S1E7
YouTube: 🎞️ https://youtu.be/J3UroIrSKlg
You already know why Yemen is geographically important. But did you know that Yemen has been the prize and/or a hotspot for many empires - the Romans, the Persians, the Muslims, the Portuguese, the Ottomans, the English, the Egyptians, the Saudis, and... now the U.S.
In this 2024 podcast conversation, my guest scholar, Dr. Charles Schmitz, explains aspects of Yemen and Houthi history and culture that don't often hear about. For example, Egypt's Nasser thought he could run over Yemen. Instead, he got bogged down in Yemen. As my guest scholar explains, Yemen was Nasser's Vietnam!
Dr. Schmitz is a professor at Towson University, a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute and a Fulbright Scholar, tells us about the Houthis and their historic ties to Iran. When I asked him about the Houthis' military power, he told me that unlike what most analysts think, the Houthis are not a ragtag army!
About the Image:
In this image, Houthis protest against airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition on Sana'a in September 2015. Image by Henry Ridgwell (VOA) - Yemen Fighting Intensifies as Fears Grow of Sectarian Conflict, Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70173511
1 year ago | [YT] | 4
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Scholars Unravel Middle East
Did you know that evidence of polio dates back to ancient times. Egyptian hieroglyphs showed images of children with withered limbs and canes. And the earliest evidence of polio is of a teenage girl who lived 4,000 years ago (burial site in the UAE).
In this blog, I explained the history behind polio's outbreak in America: historybehindnews.com/f/history-behind-petition-to…
Image attribution:
This image is By Fixi, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1705155. Image was slightly cropped to fit YouTube.
1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 1
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Scholars Unravel Middle East
Instead of War, Let's Talk Love & Romance In Syria & Rest of Arab World
►Did you know that there are 60 Arabic words for "love"?
►Did you know that Arab love stories and love poetry date back to before Islam?
►Did you know that romantic love is written about in the Qur'an?
Listen to my conversation with Dr. Hasan: 🎧bit.ly/UME-S1E45
Video of this interview will be published soon in this YT channel.
1 year ago | [YT] | 2
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Scholars Unravel Middle East
srael Lebanon War: A Military Success But Otherwise A Terrible Defeat!
Did you know that Ariel Sharon, Israel's defense minister (and later prime minister), essentially defied and deceived Israel's goverment in order to escalate Israel's war in Lebanon?
I spoke with Dr. Ahron Bregman (King's College London) - a former IDF Major who served in the 1982 Lebanon War and later interviewed Sharon many times.
In this interview (▶️bit.ly/UMEYT-S1E40), he gives us the inside story to Israel's military involvement in Lebaon.
►Image attribution: Ariel (Arik) Sharon and Oded Shamir in Lebanon, 1982. By IDF Spokesperson's Unit, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=144594066.
1 year ago | [YT] | 1
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Scholars Unravel Middle East
In ancient Mesopotamian temples, such as this one in the Third Dynasty of Ur, elaborate feasts were offered to gods.... but who ate all theIn ancient Mesopotamian temples, such as this one in the Third Dynasty of Ur, elaborate feasts were offered to gods.... but who ate all the#ancient food?
The answer reveals temple economy. As Tonia Sharlach explains (watch my interview with her▶️https://youtu.be/R_9BTLlqj74), members of community had the rights to the food in a setup similar to a timeshare arrangement.
#mesopotamia #ancient #ancienthistory #ancientcivilizations #ancientreligions
1 year ago | [YT] | 0
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Scholars Unravel Middle East
The story of the Flood told before the Bible! Gilgamesh caused an uproar in Europe.
Podcast:🎧 bit.ly/UME-S1E42
Translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh in 1872 riled up Christian Europe - embroiling Prime Minister Gladstone and Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Gilgamesh, which was written in cuneiform, is an ancient story that was told and taught in Mesopotamia for 3,000 years. But it was lost to history for more than 2,000 years until 1854.
It's an ancient tale of gods and kingly adventure that weaves through topics familiar to our modern psyches and sensibilities - leadership, violence, quest for mortality, love, homosexuality, environment and religion. It's a wonder why a movie or a Netflix series hasn't been produced about Gilgamesh!
The video of this interview will be posted soon on this channel.
1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 2
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Scholars Unravel Middle East
Did the hijab come from Islam?
No... according to many scholars, hijab was a symbol of class status among the women of the Persian and Byzantine empires long before the advent of Islam.
Listen to my guest scholar tell this history:
🎧 bit.ly/UME-S1E29
#MiddleEast #hijab #Iran
1 year ago | [YT] | 3
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