81. The Graveyard of Empires

**Binge the entire series ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com** In November 1977, Egyptian President Sadat shocked the entire Arab world by boarding a flight to Israel. After refusing to acknowledge its existence, Egypt was seeking to make peace with its neighbo ...  Show more

**Binge the entire series ad-free by joining the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com** How did the oil crisis totally transform the wealth of the Gulf states and alter the power balance of the Middle East? Who was Egypt’s underrated president, Sadat? How did water cannons destroy Isra ...  Show more

In August 2021, Afghanistan's capital city Kabul, was captured by the Taliban. With scenes of panic, anarchy, and chaos splashed across every major news outlet - it marked the final moments of the War in Afghanistan. With more than 123,000 individuals evacuated by the US Coalitio ...  Show more

Is it possible that the Taliban of today are more fanatical than before? American and Coalition troops recently fought a bitter, 20-year war against them following the seismic events of 9/11. On August the 15th we mark the end of that conflict, two years after the last Western ...

In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to support the rise of communism in the country, beginning a series of constant conflict that Afghanistan still faces today. It’s also had huge impacts on our geopolitical climate today - to fight Russian communism, the US backed and ...  Show more

“A war begun for no wise purpose.” This description of the First Anglo-Afghan War, fought in the early-mid 19th Century, could stand as an epitaph for most conflicts in the region since. William Dalrymple has written extensively about the history of Afghanistan and he joins Domin ...  Show more