#53 The History of Syria w/ Sean Foley
The Road to Now
Benjamin Sawyer
4.8 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 13 April 2017
⏱️ 41 minutes
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Summary
The Syrian Civil War, which began in 2011, has been one of the most tragic events in recent history. The implications of the situation in Syria stretch far beyond the borders of the country, and the UN estimates that more than 5 million people have fled the country to escape the violence that has claimed that lives of more than 400,000 Syrians. But how did the conflict start? What is at stake for the various factions at war in Syria? And how have foreign countries such as Russia and the United States influenced Syria? In this special edition of The Road to Now, we answer these questions and more in our conversation with Dr. Sean Foley.
Dr. Foley specializes in the contemporary history and politics of the Middle East and the wider Islamic world. He frequently visits Asia and the Middle East, follows events in both regions closely, and speaks Arabic and Bahasa Malaysian. He has published widely and has delivered public presentations to audiences around the world. He has also held Fulbright fellowships in Syria, Turkey, and Malaysia. From April 2013 until January 2014, he lived and traveled extensively in Saudi Arabia.
For more on this episode and any others, please visit our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Today's Ramseur Records album of the week is Samantha Crane's You Had Me a Goodbye. |
| 0:08.0 | Drawing on inspiration from her origins as an Oklahomaan and member of the Choctaw Nation, |
| 0:12.2 | Crane's third collaboration with producer John VanderSlyce is an all-analogue album, |
| 0:16.4 | so you can buy a vinyl copy knowing that no computers were harmed in the process. |
| 0:20.7 | The album features |
| 0:21.5 | beautifully written songs such as Red Sky Blue Mountain, which Crane sings in the Choctaw language. |
| 0:28.3 | To pick up your copy of Samantha Cranes, you had me at Goodbye, please visit ramsar |
| 0:32.8 | Records.com today. |
| 0:40.3 | I'm Ben Sawyer and this is the Road to Now special edition. |
| 0:44.4 | We were talking Bobby and I about the current state of affairs regarding Syria and it occurred |
| 0:50.8 | to us that a lot of people don't understand the background of this. |
| 0:54.3 | And when I say a lot of people, I mean us. |
| 0:57.0 | And so we wanted to sit down and try to give an explainer to the situation in Syria to understand the sides. |
| 1:03.8 | What role does the United States play in this situation? |
| 1:06.1 | What role does Russia play? |
| 1:07.8 | Where to Syria stand historically? |
| 1:10.0 | And what are the forces at work in leading |
| 1:12.0 | to the current civil war that's taking place in Syria? |
| 1:16.0 | Fortunately, at MTSU, my home institution, we have a specialist named Sean Foley, who is an |
| 1:21.9 | associate professor of history in our history department, but also as a specialist on the |
| 1:25.9 | Middle East, and he spent time as a Fulbright scholar in Syria. |
| 1:30.8 | He has a deep understanding of the conflict |
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