Markus Daechsel (Royal Holloway)
The Historian and the Pakistan Crisis

Vanessa Martin (Royal Holloway)
The Historian and the Invasion of Iraq in 2003
This talk focuses on the expertise and generic skills of history. It looks at their relevance and significance in the context of the period 2002-3 leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It addresses the question of why the British government was not adequately informed, and so not adequately prepared, for the violence that followed the invasion. In pursuit of an answer, it makes reference to the evidence given to the current Iraq inquiry, particularly with regard to a seminar in Downing Street that included expert historians and the Prime Minister on 19th November 2002. It then goes on to show how the power structure of Iraq as between the Sunni and Shi’a Arabs especially, and the historical evolution of that structure, made the violence inevitable.

This event has been recorded and is now available as a podcast at the following URL:
http://backdoorbroadcasting.net/2010/01/the-historian-and-the-public/