World-renowned historian Peter Frankopan joins Tom and Patrick to dissect the escalating conflict in Iran through the lens of ancient history and shifting civilisations. The Silk Roads author argues the war is less a standalone event and more the continuation of a century-long struggle for control over the “spine of the world” and its vital resources, namely oil.
00:00 – Comparing the war to 9/11
03:50 – History of Western intervention
05:40 – The 100-year struggle for oil
08:17 – American military failures
10:55 – China’s strategic response
15:32 – Russia’s economic gains
19:15 – The decline of NATO
30:57 – The end of global order
Upending international law, decades-long alliances, and the norms of democracy, Frankopan posits that the war has buried multilateralism for good, and is as consequential for geopolitics as either the fall of the Berlin Wall or 9/11.
Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton Dunn
Guest: Peter Frankopan
Producer: Shabnam Grewal
Executive producer: Fiona Leach
Image: Getty
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