Lecture 17; The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: In this lecture, we consider the Soviets' invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and their occupation of that country over the next decade. First, we establish that the Carter and Reagan administrations responded to the Soviet offensive by forging closer ties with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and by sending military aid to the Afghan Mujahidin. We then focus more closely on the Reagan administration's covert program of recruiting tens of thousands of young men from across the Muslim world to join the anti-Soviet struggle in Afghanistan. This is the lecture in which Osama bin Laden makes his debut, as the scion of a wealthy Saudi family who comes to Afghanistan to partake of the Afghan jihad, working loosely in tandem with an unsuspecting CIA. We close with the Soviet Union's withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989 and with the civil unrest that continued to wrack that country into the mid-1990s. For more information, visit The United States and the Middle East Web Page

March 14, 2004

Lecture 16; Era of limits -Energy Crises of the 1970s: In this lecture, we revisit the years 1973-1979-an era book-ended by two drastic increases in the price of Middle Eastern oil-with a special focus on the energy issue. For the first time in the post- World War II era, Americans had to face the fact that petroleum-the life blood of their precious way of life-was a finite resource increasingly under the control of Middle Eastern governments. Ordinary Americans responded to this realization with bewilderment, anger, and an exaggerated sense of impotence and victimization. Under the surface, however, the oil shocks of the 1970s were forcing the societies of the industrialized West to make crucial adjustments that would soon render them less dependent on Middle Eastern oil. By decade's end, it was the oil-producing nations of the Middle East, much more than the nations of the industrialized West, that faced a new and daunting era of limits. For more information, visit The United States and the Middle East Web Page

March 7, 2004

Lecture 15; The Iranian Revolution and the Hostage Crisis: In this lecture, we examine the Iranian revolution of 1978-1979, in which a quarter century of simmering resentment against the United States suddenly boiled over. We begin with the breakdown of public authority in Iran in 1978 and with the Carter administration's incomprehension and vacillation in the face of the crisis. We then discuss the establishment of the revolutionary Iranian government and see how the administration's attempts to gain influence with that regime inadvertently aroused the suspicions of Iranian students, who seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran. We learn how the extended captivity of the American hostages, along with Carter's disastrous attempt to rescue them, all but ensured Carter's failure in his bid for reelection in 1980. But we end with a somewhat more positive assessment of Carter, noting his ultimate success in bringing the hostages home safely. For more information, visit The United States and the Middle East Web Page

February 22 and 29, 2004

Discussion of issues at UUFR and Planning Session for Summer Programs: With the change in minister coming this summer, the Adult Religious Education group has been asked to consider doing two services this summer. These sessions will be devoted to discussin the issues surrounding the building program and ministerial change and planning and responding to this request.

February 15, 2004

Lecture 14; Carter and Camp David: This lecture deals with President Jimmy Carter's efforts, in the late 1970s, to broker an Arab-Israeli peace settlement. It begins by Discussing Carter's initial determination to achieve a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and all its major Arab adversaries, including the Palestinians. We then consider Anwar Sadat' s dramatic trip to Israel in 1977 and the resulting redirection of the peace process onto a bilateral Egyptian-Israeli track. From here, we proceed to Carter's hosting of the Camp David summit meeting of 1978 and the ensuing peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. Finally, we assess the achievements and shortcomings of the Camp David process, taking note of the divergent ways in which Arabs, Israelis, and Americans have interpreted that experience.

February 8, 2004

Presentation on Tuskegee Airmen

February 1, 2004

Lecture 13; The Yom Kippur War and Kissinger's Diplomacy. In this lecture, we examine America's response to the Yom Kippur War of 1973. We begin by discussing Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's determination to regain the Sinai Peninsula from Israel and his unsuccessful efforts to achieve this goal through diplomacy. We then discuss Sadat's decision to join with Syria in waging war against Israel, paying particular attention to Egypt's and Syria's divergent war aims. After describing the ensuing Yom Kippur War, we recount Henry Kissinger's efforts to gain control over the crisis while excluding the Soviet Union from Arab-Israeli peacemaking. Finally, we discuss Kissinger's diplomacy in the immediate postwar period and explore its legacy for future Middle East peacemaking efforts, especially the Camp David peace process of the late 1970s.

January 24, 2004

Lecture 12; The Nixon Doctrine and the Middle East: In this lecture, we discuss the Nixon Doctrine of 1969 and its specific applications to the Middle East. A general response to the relative decline in American power occurring in the 1960s, the Nixon Doctrine called for greater reliance on regional "cops on the beat"--powerful pro-Western governments that could protect American interests in various parts of the world, thus obviation the need for direct U.S. military intervention. Two Middle Eastern nations, Iran and, to a lesser extent, Saudi Arabia, quickly came to be seen as Washington's "cops on the beat." Although Nixon initially intended to keep the Arab-Israeli conflict on a separate policy track, by the early 1970s, Israel, too had become an American ally within the meaning of the Nixon Doctrine.

January 17, 2004

Lecture 11; The Six-Day War: In this lecture, we discuss the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, which dramatically altered the political, strategic, and psychological landscape of the Middle East. We begin by outlining the disputed status of the Strait of Tiran, showing how the interaction of that issue with inter-Arab rivalry created the crisis that ultimately led to war. We then recount Nasser's challenge to Israel's maritime rights in the Strait of Tiran and consider U.S. efforts to manage the resulting crisis. After briefly describing Israel's lopsided victory in the ensuing war, we discuss the diplomatic and political fallout from the war, paying particular attention to the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 242 and to the war's devastating impact on Nasserist Arab nationalism.

January 10, 2004

Lecture 10; Johnson -- Taking Sides: In this lecture, we see how Kennedy's effort to balance competing interests in the Middle East, already faltering by late 1963, collapsed altogether under Lyndon B. Johnson, who gave up on even attempting a balanced approach. Returning to the three policy areas discussed in the previous lecture, we see how Johnson assumed a frankly partisan stance, siding openly with the shah of Iran against his internal opposition, with the conservative Arab regimes against Nasserist Egypt, and with Israel against the Arab states as a whole. We end by taking note of America's emerging strategic alliances with Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel, alliances that would become more extensive and formalized under President Richard M. Nixon.

January 3, 2004

Holiday weekend: "Current Events," featuring "Uncovered: The Whole Truth About The Iraq War"

December 21, 2003

A discussion of Current Events

December 14, 2003

Lecture 9; Kennedy - Engaging Middle Eastern Nationalism: In this lecture, we examine John F. Kennedy's attempt to de-emphasize overt Cold War themes in U.S. policy toward the Middle East--an effort aimed at gaining the trust of Middle Eastern nationalists and, thus, paradoxically, at improving America's Cold War position. In three major policy areas, Kennedy performed a careful balancing act. He tempered public support for the Shah of Iran with quite encouragement of Iranian reformers; he sought good relations with radical nationalists, such as Nasser, as well as with conservative monarchs, such as Jordan's King Hussein; and he combined pledges of support for Israel's security with pressure on Israel to make concessions to its Arab neighbors. In each case, Kennedy achieved some measure of success in the first two years of presidency, only to falter in his third and final year, leaving a far less promising situation to his successor.

December 7, 2003

Lecture 8; The Suez Crisis and Arab Nationalism: In this lecture, we discuss the Eisenhower administration's responses to the Suez crisis of 1956 and to the subsequent surge in Nasser's regional popularity. We begin by describing the diplomatic maneuvers leading to Nasser's nationalization of the Suez Canal Company in July 1956. Then, after outlining the Eisenhower administration's initial reaction to Nasser's move, we examine Britain's , France's, and Israel's military invasion of Egypt and Eisenhower's suprisingly forceful-- and successful -- opposition to the operation. Next, we discuss Eisenhower's attempts to fill the perceived vacuum created by Britain's failure to forge a collation of pro-U.S. Arab regimes capable of countering Nasser's growing regional influence. We end with the U.S. intervention in Lebanon in 1958 and Eisenhower's subsequent decision to mend fences with Nasser.

November 30, 2003

Thanksgiving weekend: A discussion of current events.

November 23, 2003

Lecture 7; Eisenhower, the Cold War, and the Middle East: In this lecture, we examine Dwight D. Eisenhower's response, in the years 1953-1956, to the challenges posed by indigenous Middle Eastern Nationalists, who often resisted Eisenhower's efforts to enlist the countries of the Middle East in the Cold War. We first consider Iran, where in 1953, the Eisenhower administration colluded with the British government to achieve the overthrow of Muhammad Mossadeq's nationalist regime. We them move to the Arab world, where Washington faced a more formidable adversary in Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, whom Eisenhower was reluctant to confront directly. We examinee how the Eisenhower administration tried to win Nasser over by hastening the decolonizaton process and taking a more "even-handed" position on the Arab-Israeli conflict. But these measures failed to arrest Nasser's drift toward the Soviet orbit, prompting the administration to adopt a far less tolerant attitude toward the Egyptian leader in the spring of 1956.

November 16, 2003

Lecture 6; Truman and the Creation of Israel: In this lecture, we consider Truman's role in the creation of the state of Israel in the period 1945-1949. We learn that Truman, against the recommendations of most of his foreign policy advisors, gave crucial support to the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, first by endorsing the 1947 United Nations partition plan, then by extending immediate recognition to Israel when it declared its independence in 1948. As we recount these events, we consider competing explanations for Truman's support for Zionism: To what extent was Truman motivated by humanitarian considerations, by domestic political concerns, or by Cold War strategizing? We then examine some of the consequences of Israel's creation, in particular, the dispossession of the Palestinian people and the resulting decline in America's reputation in the Arab world.

November 9, 2003

Second of a two-part presentation by Bo Chagnon on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), a proposed trade agreement that will impose NAFTA-Like conditions upon all of the nations of the Western Hemisphere (with the exception of Cuba). Part 2 -- Two videos produced by Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community (UUJEC): "Trade Secrets - The Hidden Costs of the FTAA" (16 minutes) and "Is Free Trade Fair Trade?" (20 minutes), followed by discussion.

November 2, 2003

First of a two-part presentation by Bo Chagnon on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), a proposed trade agreement that will impose NAFTA-Like conditions upon all of the nations of the Western Hemisphere (with the exception of Cuba). Part 1 -- Bill Moyers' "Trading Democracy - The Other Chapter 11" -- 1-hour video, followed by brief discussion. The video reveals something about NAFTA, the Precursor to the FTAA.

October 26, 2003

Lecture 5; Origins of the Cold War in the Middle East: For more information, visit The United States and the Middle East Web Page. This lecture deals with the rise of Cold War tensions in the Middle East in the late 1940s. After establishing the strategic importance of the Middle East to Washington's efforts to contain the Soviet Union, we examine Harry S. Truman's response to three Cold War Crises that erupted in the region: the Turkish straits crisis of 1945-1946, the Iran crisis of 1946, and the crisis stemming from Britain's financial abandonment of Greece and Turkey in 1947. This last crisis, we learn, resulted in the issuing of the Truman Doctrine-- a crystallization of American thinking that would guide Cold War policies for a generation. Finally, we examine the evolution of U. S.-Saudi relations in the late 1940s, culminating in Truman's formal pledge in 1950 to defend the oil-rich kingdom from possible Soviet attack.

October 19, 2003

U.S. and the Middle East During World War II. From The United States and the Middle East: 1914 to 9/11. This is a 30-minute video tape followed by 30-45 minutes of discussion. For more information, visit The United States and the Middle East Web Page In this lecture, we see how the entry of the United States into World War II fundamentally altered Americans' conception of the Middle East. For the first time, U.S. officials saw the geopolitical orientation of the Middle East as vital to American national security--a view of the region that persists to this day. We start by examining U.S. wartime strategy in the Middle East, noting that during the war U.S. military forces occupied large portions of the Middle East, turning Iran into an area for invading fascist Italy. We then consider U.S. responses to the nationalist aspirations of Middle Easterners struggling to free themselves from European imperial domination. Tradition and economic interest predisposed Americans to look favorably on such aspirations, but the imperative of defeating the Axis powers usually trumped Washington's anticolonialist impulses.

October 12, 2003

The United States and the Middle East: 1914 to 9/11, Lecture The Interwar Period. Because official U. S. involvement in the Middle East was minimal during the interwar years, this lecture focuses on nonofficial ties between Americans and the Middle East. We begin with the "Arabesque" craze that swept American popular culture in the 1920's, partly the result of the belated publicity surrounding Col. T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and his wartime exploits. We learn how films such as The Sheik; songs such as "The Sheik of Araby"; and dances such as the "hootchie-coochie" were aimed at satisfying the jazz age appetite for all things Arabian. As we proceed into the 1930's our focus shifts to the activities of private oil prospectors in Saudi Arabia and to the growing activism of American Zionists in response to Hitler's persecution of German Jews.

October 5, 2003

The United States and the Middle East: 1914 to 9/11, Lecture 2: Wilson and the Breakup of the Ottoman Empire. (This is a 30-minute video tape followed by 30-45 minutes of discussion. For more information, visit The United States and the Middle East Web Page In this lecture, we discuss President Woodrow Wilson's actions in the Middle East during and immediately following World War I. We begin with U.S. policy toward the Middle East during the war, paying special attention to three major issues; the Armenian crisis, Zionism, and European imperialism. We then proceed to the immediate postwar period, in which the same three issues continue to define Washington's approach to the Middle East. In examining both wartime and postwar American policy, we see how Wilson's attachment to the principle of national self-determination, and the ethnocentrism with which he defined the concept, drove his efforts to shape the postwar settlement in the Middle East. The lecture ends with the U. S. Senate's rejection of Wilson's internationalist vision and with America's withdrawal from active involvement in world politics.

September 28, 2003

The United States and the Middle East: 1914 to 9/11, Lecture 1 A Meeting of Two Worlds, (This is a 30-minute video tape followed by 30-45 minutes of discussion. For more information, visit The United States and the Middle East Web Page. The first lecture establishes the thematic and historical underpinnings of the whole course. After setting forth our four main themes---increasing American power, indigenous political aspirations, conflicting interests and goals, and rising mutual antagonism-- the lecture briefly outlines the political situation in the Middle East before the First World War, describing the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the growing military, political, economic, and cultural encroachment of the European powers into the empire. We then discuss American's private interactions with Middle Easterners up to 1914, paying particular attention to the activities of American Protestant missionaries. Next we describe America's growing international assertiveness following the Spanish American War of 1898. We end with the outbreak of World War I and deliberations over the political fate of the Middle East.

September 21, 2003

The Terror of History Lecture Eleven The Birth of the Inquisition (This is a 30-minute video tape followed by 30-45 minutes of discussion. In Lecture Eleven, we study the birth of the Inquisition in the 1220s as a response to the spread of Catharism in late twelfth-century Languedoc. The lecture analyzes the meaning of the Inquisition in medieval culture and the historiographical debate on whether inquisitorial practices marked a significant shift in the treatment of heretics, Jews, women, and lepers. The lecture looks at the arguments for the emergence of exclusionary discourses and the creation of "otherness." The lecture concludes with a brief examination of the heresy of the Free Spirit, its implications for lay piety, new forms of sexuality, and the growing intolerance of the Church and Christian people in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries.

September 7, 2003

Terror of History Lecture Ten: The Church under Attack (This is a 30-minute video tape followed by 30-45 minutes of discussion. In Lecture Ten, we look at the emergence of specific heresies in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Europe. The lecture explores the social and economic conditions in southern France that led to the rise of heterodox movements. In particular, the lecture describes the beliefs of Waldensians and Cathars. Describing Cathar beliefs, the lecture focuses on the role of asceticism and dualism in Western thought and the longstanding influence of Manichaean doctrine on European culture. The lecture continues by providing a review of the demise of the Cathars or Albigensians in the early thirteenth century and the rise of Fraticelli heretical movements in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries

August 31,2003

Current Events

August 24, 2003

The Terror of History Lecture Nine: Heresy and the Millennium (This is a 30-minute video tape followed by 30-45 minutes of discussion. In Lecture Nine, we shift from a discussion of mysticism to an examination of the place of heresy and apocalyptic beliefs in Western Europe between 1000 and 1650. The lecture defines different types of heresies in the Christian tradition and seeks to uncover the ancient roots of the rnillenarian tradition in the West. This lecture also provides a taxonomy of the different types of rnillenarian movements that emerged in the West from the beginning of the Christian era onward. Finally, the lecture compares heretical and apocalyptic movements and assesses the significance of these movements in the development of Western culture.

July 27, August 3, 10 and 17, 2003

Gospel Music: The roots of some Gospel music lie in country and bluegrass rhythms and lyrics while others come from the experience of African Americans. Escape from earthly trials and suffering is a common theme. In the first session, we will listen to several gospel music tunes from the country and bluegrass traditions and explore the meaning and impact of lyrics which offer hope for a relief from all of earths trials and tribulations. The second week we will listen to some contemporary gospel artists and see if the message has changed. In the third week we'll take a look at some of the scenes from the movie "O Brother Where Art Thou" which used Gospel music to help portray life during the depression. In the forth week we'll listen to some of the traditional tunes from Afro-American Spiritual music. Led by Tom Atkinson.