Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East

Black Wave examines how the modern Middle East unraveled beginning with 1979, the year of the Iranian revolution. Kim Ghattas weaves together history, geopolitics, and culture to explore the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran that emerged from that pivotal moment and was fueled by American policy. Once allies and twin pillars of US strategy in the region, Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran became mortal enemies after 1979. The two nations used and distorted religion in a competition that extended beyond geopolitics. Their war for cultural supremacy fed intolerance, suppressed cultural expression, and encouraged sectarian violence across Egypt, Pakistan, and beyond. This rivalry contributed to Iran's fatwa against author Salman Rushdie, the assassination of intellectuals, the formation of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the September 11th terrorist attacks, and the rise of ISIS. Ghattas draws on extensive historical research and on-the-ground reporting to introduce individuals whose lives were altered by these geopolitical events over four decades, including a Pakistani television anchor, an Egyptian novelist imprisoned for his writings, and journalist Jamal Khashoggi, murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The book was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2020.