More than half of the world's oil comes from Persian Gulf states. Political instability
and religious strife here threaten to interrupt the world's economic routines. Two presentations
examine the history of Persia, Iran's attempt to westernize, and the backlash of religiously fervent
Moslems against the West and against each other.

The World's Political Hot Spots series explains the basis of conflicts in some of the world's most
politically sensitive areas. Many of these regions are in today's headlines, and tensions recently
have become violent in virtually all of them. Each presentation covers up to ten centuries of
background, revealing how and why today's problems occur.

Richman (Senior Editor of Cato Institute)