Public lecture
In recent years scholars of Iran have begun to look beyond Europe and the United States, to examine Iran’s relations with the global South and its role in the global process of decolonization. In this lecture, Dr Robert Steele will discuss his current book project on Iran’s political and cultural connections with Africa in the 1960s and 70s, with a particular focus on the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. He explores the roles of oil, culture, political ideology and religion in facilitating Iran’s engagement in Africa, Iran’s developing security interests in East Africa, and asks why Pahlavi Iran was such an appealing partner to the newly-independent African states.
Speaker and Chair
Dr Robert Steele () is a Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of International History. He is a historian of modern Iran, whose research focuses on the cultural politics of the Pahlavi state, and Iran’s global interactions during the late Pahlavi period. His first book, The Shah’s Imperial Celebrations of 1971: Nationalism, Culture and Politics in Late Pahlavi Iran, was published by I.B. Tauris in 2020. His current book project explores Iran’s interactions with Africa in the 1960s and 70s.
Professor Piers Ludlow is Head of Department of the International History Department at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳.
More about this event
The () teaches and conducts research on the international history of Britain, Europe and the world from the early modern era up to the present day.
Sponsored by the Department's Contemporary International History and the Global Cold War research cluster.