Crises in the East : the origins of authoritarianism from 1949 onwards

Taking up a two centuries-long analysis of crises in the East, this year's lecture begins with an essential epistemological clarification. The nature of the interrelations between East and West - how the two interact on the terrain of the Middle East - requires, first and foremost, a reading through the eyes of the central actors of the states. A large part of the analysis is also devoted to identifying the salient events and facts. Unlike in other areas or periods of history, the past is far from over for our contemporaries, so we must first patiently establish sequences showing the major inflections of these crises and, within them, accurately reconstruct the games played by each player. Two elements reinforce this methodological postulate : the accelerated movement of these societies constantly upsets these countries - suffice it to remember that the population tripled between 1945 and 1970 - and that each crisis seems to be the breeding ground for the next, creating a hyper-events effect. By adopting an approach that aims to identify the part played by each individual, in multiple fields, it becomes possible to reconstruct the crises of the Orient.