Episode 2 in our series Six Years That Made the Middle East, looks at 1948. This was the year that Israel became a state, but there is a wider story to be told when it comes to the Middle East. The rise, fall, and persistence of colonialism, or at least the perception of colonialism in the Middle East, must be understood if we want to grasp the true significance of 1948 and what followed.

In this episode, we look at the interwar period for the larger Middle East, the beginning of independent states, and the deliberate intentions of some European powers to foster dysfunctionality in these new nations that they previously ruled.

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