Why the Middle East has been at war for 5,000 years

In this thoughtful conversation, host Danny Rosenberg sits with longtime friend and historian Ramon Rico, Georgetown-trained, deeply curious, and gifted at connecting distant past to present. Together they trace the Bronze Age collapse, the Sea Peoples, the rise of iron and empire, the formation of early Jewish identity through trauma, and the layered peoples and powers of the Levant. The discussion moves with quiet precision from tin trade routes and Hittite-Egyptian rivalry to the enduring geographic and human patterns that still shape the region. Listeners leave with clearer historical perspective and a more grounded sense of why these lands have long been both crossroads and contested ground.

Question for the comments

How has learning about the Bronze Age collapse or the formation of early identities changed the way you read headlines or hold conversations about the Middle East?

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