F2F Oil, Arms, Empire and the War on Iran
History & World Affairs | Registration opens 9/2/2026 12:00 AM
China, Russia, or maybe narcoterrorists, but Iran? The US bombing of Iran shocked most Americans. Why did an alliance, formed during WWII, dissolve into open hostility in 1978 and war in 2026? In this class, we will consider the three factors that defined the rise and fall of the alliance: Iran’s location between rival empires in Russia and the Middle East, the region’s vast oil resources, and an arms race in which Iran seeks nuclear weapons. Is war the most effective way to manage Iran’s threat to its Persian Gulf neighbors, Israel, and the United States?
- Image courtesy of Shutterstock
Mark Lytle
Presenter
Mark Lytle, PhD (LLI) is the Lyford Paterson Edwards and Mary Gray Edwards Professor Emeritus of Historical Studies at Bard. In addition to his biography of Rachel Carson and America's Uncivil Wars, a history of the 60s era, he is the author of the recently published The All-Consuming Nation: Pursuing the American Dream Since World War II (Oxford).