David Wight of the University of North Carolina Greensboro joins Marc Lynch on this week’s podcast to discuss his book, Oil Money: Middle East Petrodollars and the Transformation of US Empire, 1967-1988. The book is an expansive yet judicious investigation of the wide-ranging and contradictory effects of petrodollars on Middle East–US relations and the geopolitics of globalization. (Starts at 00:50). Simon Mabon of Lancaster University discusses his new book, The Struggle for Supremacy in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia and Iran (Starts at 31:06). In this book, Mabon presents a more nuanced assessment of the rivalry [between Saudi Arabia and Iran], outlining its history and demonstrating its impact across the Middle East.
Music for this season’s podcast was created by Myyuh. You can find more of her work on SoundCloud and Instagram.
You can listen to this week’s podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or SoundCloud: