Audio/Video Blog

Juan Cole on Napoleon and Bush

August 25, 2007

At this New America event, Juan Cole discussed his new book, Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East and the relevance and lessons of Napoleon’s expedition in Egypt to the current American occupation of Iraq. New America Foundation/American Strategy Program Director Steve Clemons offered introductory comments and moderated the robust discussion that followed Cole's presentation.

Juan Cole is a professor of Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan, the President of the Global Americana Institute, and the publisher of Informed Comment, a blog that specializes in providing translations and commentary on the modern Middle East.

Cole ridicules Bernard Lewis about ten minutes into the talk. At about an hour into the presentation, he fudges his 2003 position on Iraq. Reminder: Cole did not oppose the Iraq war, seeing it as a "noble enterprise."