The U.S. in the Middle East Since 1945

Ever since Truman stationed soldier in Iran to protect WWII oil supplies, the United States has maintained a presence in the Middle East. American troops and intelligence personnel have been continuously deployed to countries ranging from Israel to Afghanistan over the past 65 years. Foreign relations historian Jeremi Suri examines the causes behind America’s increased cultural, military and economic  role in the region, its influence on the Middle East and its implications for the United States.

Jeremi Suri is E. Gordon Fox Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and winner of the university's Class of 1955 Distinguished Teaching Award and Dorothy and Hsin-Nung Yao Teaching Award. In 2007, Smithsonian Magazine named him one of America's "Top Young Innovators" in the humanities and sciences. He is author of several books including American Foreign Relations since 1898 and Henry Kissinger and the American Century. Suri is a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians.