Countries and the Forces of History
This course nominally is concerned with the period beginning in 1980. That is, from the Iranian Hostage Crisis (November 1979) and Jimmy Carter’s State of the Union message (January 1980) where he asserted the Persian Gulf region would be regarded as a vital American interest having more or less equal standing with New York or Washington.
This will not be a detailed account of battles, tactics, or strategy. These are not topics of any interest to me. I want to know generally why are humans always at war and, specifically, how we got ourselves into an utterly pointless, fruitless, and possible unending war for which there is no plausible exit strategy.
It is also a free-flowing exploration across the sweep of human history to find a way to conceptualize America’s current adventure in the Greater Middle East with long-term historical trends and precedents. Along the way we will explore issues like nations, nationalism, warfare, professional armies, mercenaries, and religious fanaticism.
