Litquake Presents | Kicking the Hornet's Nest: US Foreign Policy in the Middle East

Date and Time

• Wednesday, Oct 15, 2025  7pm - 8:30pm

Location

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Details

Litquake is San Francisco's premier literary festival, bringing together hundreds of authors for a week of readings, discussions, and performances celebrating the Bay Area's vibrant literary culture.

As part of the festival's deep dive into global issues, this event, Kicking the Hornet's Nest, features a crucial discussion on recent Middle East instability.

Kicking the Hornet's Nest

This special event, co-presented with KALW, features UC Berkeley complex systems scientist and historian Daniel Zoughbie. Drawing on vast primary sources, Zoughbie paints a vivid picture of how major nation-states in the Middle East and North Africa have grappled with existential crises, which has allowed terrorist groups to threaten national sovereignty and local conflicts to destabilize world order.

In conversation with Sunni Khalid, NPR's former Cairo bureau chief, Zoughbie will explore how US presidents have shaped the Middle East—often unleashing instability and conflict along the way—and identify the one US president who successfully charted a better course.

Event Details

• Doors Open: 6:45 PM
• Admission: FREE ($10–15 suggested donation)
• Book Sales: Coordinated by Bookshop West Portal
• Note: This event will be filmed by CSPAN.