
Black Wave
Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry that Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East
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Narrated by:
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Kim Ghattas
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Nan McNamara
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By:
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Kim Ghattas
Kim Ghattas delivers a gripping account of the largely unexplored story of the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, born from the sparks of the 1979 Iranian revolution and fueled by American policy.
With vivid story-telling, extensive historical research and on-the-ground reporting, Ghattas dispels accepted truths about a region she calls home. She explores how Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran, once allies and twin pillars of US strategy in the region, became mortal enemies after 1979. She shows how they used and distorted religion in a competition that went well beyond geopolitics. Feeding intolerance, suppressing cultural expression, and encouraging sectarian violence from Egypt to Pakistan, the war for cultural supremacy led to Iran's fatwa against author Salman Rushdie, the assassination of countless intellectuals, the birth of groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon, the September 11th terrorist attacks, and the rise of ISIS.
Ghattas also introduces us to a riveting cast of characters whose lives were upended by the geopolitical drama over four decades: from the Pakistani television anchor who defied her country's dictator, to the Egyptian novelist thrown in jail for indecent writings all the way to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
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The book lays out the modern history of the initial development of the Sunni – Shia (Saudi-Persian) confrontation the author claims had its present-day origins in the late 1970s. The book, though, is so much better than my simplified statement on the present-day status of the clash. It provides the reader with an analysis of the individual people and their political circumstances that ignited these great theocratic and philosophical arguments and then lays out how those opinions brought about mass movements by large numbers of peoples, as well as the results of those human trends and their effect on World Order. The author goes even further to then explain how the autocratic power brokers took advantage of the trends and came to power and how they held that power; or not. The historic tale reads like a cliff hanger. The book is a page-turner. For example, the manner in which the author Ghattas, demonstrates how the Shia-Alawis axis came into being is both dramatic and serendipitous. Great read; and even better literate study that will provide an understanding of forces emanating from the middle east and effecting World Order.
Sunni Shia Divide and the World Order
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Indispensable.
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Loved it!
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Revealing and Enlightening
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Highly recommend if you're interested in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and/or Iranian history since 1979.
Excellent Overview of the Modern Middle East
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The book is accurate, extremely well researched and will be a great source of knowledge for those who wish to catch up on the last fifty years of the Muslim history in a short time. The narration was pleasant and I remained glued to listening thus finishing it under 5 days.
If Soren Kierkegaard’s words that “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” are of any relevance, this book provides just the adequate past and context.
50 Years of Contemporary Islamic History
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So you think you know the Middle East?
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An engrossing an educational experience
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Interesting introduction
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Ghattas should have read the book!
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