Brian Stewart -- Where Do Our Times Fit In History?
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What historical context does Brian Stewart use to frame today’s big wars?
And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You're just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. And today, Brian Stewart, the award-winning author and former foreign correspondent, is with us to well, to talk a little bit about history in terms of the big stories of our time. So we'll do that. Right after this.
Hello once again, welcome to uh Wednesday of another busy week here on the bridge and uh I'm excited to do today's program because my old friend, colleague Brian Stewart is with us. So uh welcome to the program once again, Brian. You've been on here more than a few times, but it's been a little while. After Peter. After a very successful uh and best selling book on the ground. Which came out last year, still selling. lots of you know, stories about your career and putting stories in context, talking about the business of journalism and um and what you've seen over your time. So congratulations on that bo uh book. It's been uh uh rewarded with much praise and uh And and and mentions in the honors list, so good for you.
Well, very nice to hear that. Thank you, Peter.
So the object of of today is not to deal up to the moment with the stories of today. But to put the big stories of our time into some context in terms of Where they land? in the world of history. Um and there's three basically three areas I want to cover. I want to cover the Iran war. I want to cover uh the Russia Ukraine war. And I want to cover the Canada US trade war. And the relationship um between our two countries. But I'm gonna save that one to the end and start with um well start with the Iran war. Uh You know, you you've covered conflicts uh in different parts of the world over your uh distinguished career as a foreign correspondent. But when you look at this one. What do you see? Where where do you place it in the uh I don't know, the lexicon of the history of conflict?
Well, it certainly is a momentous war because a lot of things are being tried out that are very new, but also It's a continuing continuation to some extent of a seemingly endless drama in the Gulf region of the Middle East. I you know, Peter, my My first memory ever of a newscast was when I was a little kid about five years old in Montreal and my mother was listening to news on the radio. This would have been about nineteen forty seven, maybe forty eight. And the newscaster was saying something about a grenade was thrown into a marketplace in Gaza. And I said to my mother Mum, what what's a grenade and and what's a Gaza? And th that's all those years have gone by and still the story, the region is aflame, issues are not settled, uh wars of different natures are breaking out.
Um Th this one is is a very, very peculiar war, but also at the same time very familiar. And what it most reminds me of is the Great Suez Crisis. Uh I don't know whether how many uh It the listeners will remember that clearly now, but in nineteen fifty six uh Egypt uh nationalized the Suez Canal, the the ultimate of choke points of maritime shipping, right? Uh England and France went into a complete frenzy because that was their basic historical link, it was their canal they had built and then the colonial era had controlled. And together they um they uh went into an alliance secret alliance with Israel to attack Egypt. And they attacked Egypt in October and November of nineteen fifty six. А комплект секрет вор.
illegal war in e almost every way you could possibly think of and a complete fiasco and disaster. Uh it was a disaster because the public were cheerful at the thought of war at the beginning, but like so many great powers, they had utterly mis you know mis underestimated their foe, their enemy. They thought they would march into Egypt and just carve it like soft cake. Of course. Israel got what it wanted, which was advanced into the Sinai Peninsula, but when France and uh England, uh Britain, sorry, uh uh landed on the shores, Port Suez Suez Uh they they were met by very strong resistance and it was very clear their insane plan that they would march on to Cairo and end the war because the Egyptians would give up easy.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What historical context does Brian Stewart use to frame today’s big wars?
0:00–12:15
2
How does Stewart compare the Iran‑Iraq conflict to the 1956 Suez Crisis?
12:15–23:55
3
Why does Stewart say the Russia‑Ukraine war mirrors past under‑estimated conflicts?
23:55–29:01
4
What lessons does Stewart draw from the Canada‑US trade war for future policy?
29:01–34:19
5
How does the guest view the shifting Canada‑US relationship in a post‑Suez world?
34:19–39:44
6
What does Stewart predict for global alliances after America’s current turmoil?
39:44–44:30
7
How does the discussion tie the rise of AI fears to historical patterns of crisis?
44:30–44:36
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge
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Your Turn -- What Canada Means To You, and The Ranter On The Trade War