The History of the Middle East helps explain its current situation, and provides a foundation for thinking about how it may develop. This lecture proposes a framework for understanding today’s region, by reviewing geography, colonial legacies, oil wealth, individual leaders, and other factors. It identifies recurring regional patterns that play out differently across individual countries. Particular topics include a discussion of why democracy has proven weaker in the Middle East than the state of economic development might suggest, and how the various waves of colonisers have contributed to the mosaic of ethnicities and religions. The lecture concludes by using Iran as an illustrative case study of how all these factors can play out at a local level, inviting discussion of how the same factors have played out differently in other countries. This is a Zoom class, so you may enjoy it along with others in the Sports Council classroom, or in the comfort of your home if you wish.