BG 1 - June, 2023

Black Wave by Kim Ghattas

The June book for Group 1 was Black Wave by Kim Ghattas who is a Dutch-Lebanese award-winning journalist and author.  The book is an examination of how the modern Middle East unraveled and how it started with the pivotal events in 1979 (the Iranian Revolution, the siege of Mecca, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan).

The book tells the broad story of the past forty plus years of the Middle East through (historically important) people from across the region with accounts of how their thoughts and beliefs were influenced/impacted by the increasingly conservative Islamist narrative.

The author questions “What happened to us?” because she explains that the Middle East countries were different in the past (before 1979).  According to her, prior to 1979, Saudi Arabia and Iran were working allies.  It was only after the 1979 events, they began to use religion as a tool in their competition for dominance in the region, igniting the culture wars.  Unfortunately, this “Black Wave” of extremism and violence continues today.

There were too many events and people who were involved in them.  As you could imagine, the book is quite complex.  However, the author does a really good job of weaving together history, geopolitics, and culture in the region.  The book group participants were glad to have read this book.  We were so inspired and had wonderful discussions.  It seems there is no way out from “Black Wave”.  However, the author sounds optimistic about the future, and we also agreed with her.