In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Fawaz Gerges about continuous Western involvement in the Middle East. They discuss misconceptions of the Middle East, role of colonialism, Iran and Turkey being exceptions to foreign colonial involvement, Arab Nationalism, Civilizations and colonialism, political Islam, and many more topics.

Fawaz A. Gerges is Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and holder of a Professorship in Contemporary Middle East Studies. He was also the inaugural Director of the LSE Middle East Centre from 2010 until 2013.

He earned a doctorate from Oxford University and M.Sc. from the London School of Economics. He has taught at Oxford, Harvard, and Columbia, and was a research scholar at Princeton and the chairholder of the Christian A. Johnson Chair in Middle Eastern Studies and International Affairs at Sarah Lawrence College, New York.

His special interests include Islam and the political process, social movements, including mainstream Islamist movements and jihadist groups (like the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda), Arab politics and Muslim politics in the 20th century, the international relations of the Middle East, the Arab-Israeli conflict, state and society in the Middle East, American foreign policy towards the Muslim world, the modern history of the Middle East, history of conflict, diplomacy and foreign policy, and historical sociology.

His recent books include Making the Arab World: Nasser, Qutb, and the Clash That Shaped the Arab World, ISIS: A History, Contentious Politics in the Middle East: Popular Resistance and Marginalized Activism beyond the Arab Uprisings, The New Middle East: Protest and Revolution in the Arab World , Obama and the Middle East: The End of America’s Moment? and The Rise and Fall of Al-Qaeda. He is also the author of several recently acclaimed books: Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy, and The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global. He is the author of the latest book, The Great Betrayal: The struggle for freedom and democracy in the Middle East.

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