The San Diego World Affairs Council Presents
A Virtual Distinguished Speakers Series Program Featuring
Michael Provence, Ph.D.
Tuesday, February 11th, 2025
10:30am - 12:00pm
Zoom link to be sent to all registrants via the
registration confirmation email.
About this Program
The attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023 opened a new chapter in the turbulence history of the post-Ottoman Levant. A low-grade war between Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel begun on October 8, 2023 exploded in September 2024 with devastating effect on both Hezbollah and the Lebanese population and infrastructure. Shifting power balances in the Levant and beyond contributed to the unexpectedly sudden collapse of the seeming impregnable Assad regime after 14 years of civil war. To understand the outlines of any potential emerging orders in Syria and Lebanon it is crucial to understand the history and forces driving today’s fragmented, yet interrelated Levant. Michael Provence, a specialist in modern middle eastern history, will present via Zoom the broad historical context in which recent developments in Syria & Lebanon have occurred. He will discuss the late Ottoman period, the colonial & post-colonial periods in the Levant, the emergence of Israel, the rise of Assad, the fall of Lebanon into civil war, and the emergence of Hezbollah - including its role as a proxy/client of Iran. A Q&A session will follow his presentation.
Free to members & the public, available via Zoom. Pre-registration required.
About Michael Provence
Michael Provence teaches modern Middle East history, focusing on the 20th century Arab East. He received the B.A in History from U.C. Berkeley in 1994 and the Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2001. During 2017-2018 he was Chercheur Résident (Research Fellow in Residence), Institut d’Etudes Avancées de Nantes, France. In 2010-11 and 2014 Provence was an Alexander von Humboldt fellow at the Zentrum Moderner Orient in Berlin, Germany. In 2024-25 he is a visiting professor at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
He is the author of two books and many articles. The books are The Great Syrian Revolt and the Rise of Arab Nationalism (2005). and The Last Ottoman Generation and the Making of the Modern Middle East (2017). Both available in Arabic and Turkish.
Provence lived and studied over the course of many years in several Middle Eastern countries, particularly Syria and Lebanon between 1998 and 2006. He returns as often as possible.
