Ba‘thist Iraq through Archives (S. 15, Ep. 13)
From POMEPS Middle East Political Science Podcast by Marc Lynch
June 4, 2026 · 44 min
About this episode
Samuel Helfont joins Marc Lynch to discuss Ba‘thist Iraq through Archives and its implications for understanding authoritarianism.
On this week's episode of the podcast, Samuel Helfont of the Naval War College at the Naval Postgraduate School joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new edited volume, Ba‘thist Iraq through Archives: Reflections, Explorations, and Opportunities (co-edited with Lisa Blaydes). This volume brings together leading scholars to take stock of what we have learned from over a decade of research using the Ba'thist archives, contributing to a new understanding of Iraq's history, with wider implications for understanding authoritarianism in general. They also discuss Helfont's book, The Iraq Wars: A Very Short Introduction. *Please note that the Samuel Helfont joins the podcast in a personal capacity as an academic and not as a representative for the Navy or the US Government.* Music for this season’s podcast was created by Feras Arrabi. You can find more of his work on his website Music and Sound at www.ferasarrabi.com. POMEPS, directed by Marc Lynch, is based at the Institute for Middle East Studies at the George Washington University and is supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York.
People in this episode
Host: Marc Lynch
Guest: Samuel Helfont
Topics covered
- Ba'thist archives
- Iraq history
- authoritarianism
- political science
- scholarship
Keywords
- Ba'thist archives
- Iraq history
- authoritarianism
- Samuel Helfont
- Marc Lynch
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Naval War College, Naval Postgraduate School, Institute for Middle East Studies, Carnegie Corporation of New York
Books & works: Ba‘thist Iraq through Archives: Reflections, Explorations, and Opportunities, The Iraq Wars: A Very Short Introduction
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