Desert Politics from Arizona to Arabia, with Natalie Koch

The Gateway - A Podcast from the Middle East

This week we are joined by Natalie Koch, Professor in the Geography and Environment Department at Syracuse University. Natalie is the author of a new book, Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia, published by Verso in January. In the book, Natalie looks at the connections between deserts in the U.S. and the Arabian Penninsula, teaching us to see deserts anew, not as mythic sites of romance or empty wastelands but as an "arid empire," a crucial political space where imperial dreams coalesce.