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The Making and Breaking of the Modern Middle East

In this episode, renowned experts Barnaby Rogerson and Eugene Rogan, and chair Aaqil Ahmed, take a deep dive into the watershed moments that helped make and, at times, break the modern Middle East, a diverse region that is both incredibly culturally rich and yet fragile from the effects of empire and past and present power rivalries.

About the Speakers

Barnaby Rogerson

Barnaby Rogerson is an author, publisher and journalist. Together with his partner Rose Baring, he runs Eland Publishing, which specializes in keeping the classics of travel literature in print. He has also written dozens of travel articles, book reviews and historical essays on various North African and Islamic themes, for Vanity Fair, Cornucopia, Conde Nast Traveller, Geographical, Traveller, Guardian, Independent, Telegraph, House & Garden, Harpers & Queen and the TLS.

Eugene Rogan

Eugene Rogan

Eugene Rogan is Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at the University of Oxford, where he has taught since 1991. An American citizen, he grew up in Europe and the Middle East, returning to the US for university study in Columbia and Harvard. He is author of The Arabs: A History (2009; 2nd ed. 2017) and The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East (2015). In 2017 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy.

About the Chair

AAQIL AHMED

Aaqil Ahmed

Professor Aaqil Ahmed is the former Head of Religion and Ethics at both the BBC and Channel 4. He is currently a Media, communications and diversity consultant and a Professor in media. Aaqil is a Non Executive Director of a number of organisations including The Advertising Standards Authority, OFCOM and The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales.