For a military clash that didn’t involve that many soldiers, the 1805 Battle of Derna has a lot of symbolic importance. For one thing, it was the final and most decisive battle of the First Barbary War, arguably the first overseas war the United States ever fought (unless you count the 1798-1800 Quasi-War against the … Continue reading Today in North African history: the Battle of Derna ends (1805)
Tag: united states
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Camp David Accords (1978)
A few days ago we passed the anniversary of the Oslo I Accord, US President Bill Clinton’s attempt to foster a durable Israeli-Palestinian peace accord that turned out instead to be a lopsided, unworkable framework that’s fostered nothing but many years of failure and frustration. Today we mark the anniversary of Oslo’s closest antecedent, the … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Camp David Accords (1978)
Using Middle Eastern Christians for Imperial Aims
I'm very excited to bring you our first attwiw guest post! Georgetown University's Joshua Mugler looks at the Trump administration's "defense"of Middle Eastern Christians and places them in the context of similar--and generally cynical--past claims. If you would like to pitch something for attwiw, please email me. And if you enjoy this content, please consider … Continue reading Using Middle Eastern Christians for Imperial Aims
Today in Middle Eastern history: the 1953 Iranian coup
The 1953 CIA- and MI6-backed coup that overthrew Mohammad Mosaddegh is one of the few bits of Middle Eastern history that actually gets overemphasized in the popular consciousness, mostly because relations between the US and Iran are what they are. It’s also not an easy fit in this “today in history” series because, believe it or … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the 1953 Iranian coup
How to Craft a Narrative
There's no Soviet Union anymore, but the principle is the same (from oldenburger.us, via hyperallergenic.com) If you've ever wondered how to go about creating a narrative to drive public perception about a story, I'm here to help. I'd like to start, if I may, with a couple of examples. Back in January, NATO began major … Continue reading How to Craft a Narrative
Fidel Castro, 1926-2016
Fidel Castro is dead. Maybe you've heard. This blog is not devoted to events in or the history of Latin America, as you've presumably figured out by now, and this is for the simple reason that this is a part of the world I just haven't studied apart from the most perfunctory American and world … Continue reading Fidel Castro, 1926-2016
Today in North African history: the burning of the USS Philadelphia (1804)
Stephen Decatur (d. 1820) is one of the US Navy’s first famous heroes, alongside Revolutionary War captain John Paul Jones, and among the earliest American war heroes in general. Technically we should call him Stephen Decatur Junior, so as not to confuse him with his father, who was also an important early American naval officer. But … Continue reading Today in North African history: the burning of the USS Philadelphia (1804)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Iran Hostage Crisis ends (1981)
On this date in 1981 the Iranian government finally released the last 52 of the 66 hostages it took when Iranian students/paramilitaries seized the US embassy in Tehran in November 1979. The Carter administration, when it wasn't busy planning botched rescue operations, spent most of the 444 days those hostages were held captive trying to … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Iran Hostage Crisis ends (1981)
Today in Middle Eastern history: Operation Desert Storm begins (1991)
Although he was America’s good close pal when he was heroically gassing tens of thousands of Iranians throughout much of the 1980s, Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait put him on Washington’s naughty list for several reasons. Chief among them was, of course, the threat he posed to Saudi Arabia and therefore a large portion of the world’s … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: Operation Desert Storm begins (1991)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Eisenhower Doctrine, or: They All Lived Happily Ever After (1957)
The United States enjoys two things more than just about anything else: doing war and making up doctrines about doing war. If you include “domestic” conflicts like the genocide of Native Americans, the United States has been at war for almost its entire existence, and of its 44 presidents, at least a quarter of them … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Eisenhower Doctrine, or: They All Lived Happily Ever After (1957)
The Foreign Exchanges Companion 