Speakers: Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Brysac
Presented by the Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies and Civilizations at Boston University
"Kingmakers" is the story of how the modern Middle East came to be, told through the lives of the Britons and Americans who shaped it. Some are famous Lawrence of Arabia and Gertrude Bell); others infamous (Harry St. John Philby, father of Kim); some forgotten (Sir Mark Sykes, Israel’s godfather, and A. T. Wilson, the territorial creator of Iraq); some controversial (the CIA’s Miles Copeland and the Pentagon’s Paul Wolfowitz). All helped enthrone rulers in a region whose very name is an Anglo-American invention. As a bonus, we meet the British Empire’s power couple, Lord and Lady Lugard (Flora Shaw): she named Nigeria, he ruled it; she used the power of the Times of London to attempt a regime change in the gold-rich Transvaal. The narrative is character-driven, and the aim is to restore to life the colorful figures who for good or ill gave us the Middle East in which Americans are enmeshed today. In this lecture, Shareen Blair Brysac and Karl E. Meyer will explain how Britain and America changed regimes, implanted thrones and reshaped two oil-favored nations. They will discuss key characters such as Gertrude Bell, A.T. Wilson, General Edmund (Tiny) Ironside, and Kermit Roosevelt, grandson of Theodore and savior of the Shah.
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