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Recorded | The Middle East Part 2; Its Past, Present and Future Importance presented by Jerry Reser – Winter 2021

Previously recorded class.

 

You will be sent the link to a private playlist of all recorded sessions of this class.

DESCRIPTION

YouTube Recording – You will be sent a link to a private playlist containing all 5 sessions from Winter 2021 within 48 hours during standard office hours.

NOTE – This is part 2 of a series that includes classes from Fall 2020 and Fall 2021 which are both available for purchase.

In the Fall 2020 session, the discussion featured topics related to the myths and realities held by the west about the Middle East and then turned to the cultural cross-pollination resulting from multiple migrations of ancestral people through and to the area. These classes covered the Middle East historical period between antiquity and the Current Era (CE = year 1 AD).
This Winter 2021 session will continue discussions about how the Middle East evolved during the period 1 AD to 1935 AD. In this time, numerous events occurred that brought groups and unique personalities into the Middle East, each introducing new ideas and influences, and all playing their part in the foundation of today’s politics and societies. While the period is long, there are time/event markers that hold significance, and these will be the basis for each class discussion.
In the first class we will begin a bit before the year 1 and continue to about 500 — a period of new empires and power centers, a new religion and changes brought about by Hellenistic and Persianate cultural influences. The next class will deal with the period 500–1000 — the emergence of Arabian empires and Islamic maturation. Following this, we will look at the period of 1000–1453 — and the impacts of early Europe and the Crusades, and the arrival of Turkic-Mongol empires. After that, growing European interests during the period 1500–1850 will take center stage as we discuss an era of external exploration and thalassocracy (i.e. naval or commercial supremacy over a large area of sea or ocean), colonialism, and mercantilism in the Middle East. The final class of this session will look at the period 1850–1935 and delve into the outside pressures and internal realignments that shaped and propelled the early-20th-Century Middle East forward.

Class Fee: $30

Instructor: Jerry Reser entered the Navy after college and retired after 27 years with the rank of Captain. He holds degrees from Kansas State University, University of Southern California, the Naval War College and the DOD Chinese language program. Following retirement, Jerry lived eight years in Saudi Arabia working as program manager for a Saudi Ministry of Defense and Saudi Air Force think tank. For another five years, he lived in Lebanon and traveled extensively in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. He is currently doing historical research into US and world events in the post–WWII period of 1946–1952.

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