The Middle East has rarely been absent from the world's headlines since the end of World War Two. Next to East-West relations, its conflicts have provided the most intractable set of issues in international affairs. Surprisingly prior to 1945, the US was viewed as a benign and philanthropic power by middle easterners. However, over the past seventy years, the United States has become the unquestioned target of those bent on attacking the west, and Anti-Americanism is a pervasive feature of modern Middle East public opinion. How and why did this transformation come about? This class will offer a history of U.S. political involvement in the Middle East from World War II to the present day, from Iran in the 1950s, through the Arab-Israeli conflicts, the Gulf War of 1991 and the devastation of 9/11 and contemporary Gaza. Lecture style class with question and answer time.