Who REALLY Made the Modern Middle East - with Simon Sebag Montephiore

The modern Middle East is often mischaracterized as a mere product of Western colonial border-drawing, ignoring the profound agency of local actors who shaped the region’s trajectory. Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of *The Cauldron*, argues that the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent rise of regional powers—such as the Saudi monarchy and the Iranian state—were driven by internal dynamics rather than external mandates. The 1979 Iranian Revolution serves as a pivotal turning point, demonstrating how Ayatollah Khomeini utilized anti-Western sentiment and Islamism to consolidate power and influence the broader Arab world. This shift contributed to the erosion of the region’s historical multi-ethnic and multi-sectarian diversity, replacing it with rigid, often fragile, nation-states. Understanding these historical currents is essential to grasping the contemporary geopolitical landscape, where regional powers increasingly operate with autonomy, independent of traditional great-power interference.