Gary Sick aboard Air Force One with President Jimmy Carter, January 1978. Courtesy of the Jimmy Carter Library

My name is Gary Sick. I'm the acting director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University. I'm here talking about Iran because of the many years I spent in Washington, D.C., focused on Iran and the Persian Gulf. I began my career as a professional naval officer serving in the Middle East. When I first went to Washington, I worked in the Department of Defense. Then I was shunted off to the White House to serve on the National Security Council staff for about six years. During that time I was the principal person on the staff looking at issues involving the Persian Gulf, my area of specialization. While I was there—and I hope it wasn't my fault—the Iranian revolution and the hostage crisis both took place. As a result, I had a very intensive postgraduate education in Iranian and Persian Gulf politics. In 1981, I left the government and went to Columbia University in New York City, where I wrote a book about these events, entitled All Fall Down: America's Fateful Encounter with Iran. I then joined the Ford Foundation. While I am currently largely independent, I have maintained my long association with Columbia.

In this series of three lectures, I will discuss several topics of interest—at least to me. First, I will talk about the Iranian revolution. As I was very much a part of the events surrounding the revolution, I will offer some personal views on what happened and how it happened. For longer than I like to admit, I have also been associated in one way or another with U.S. foreign policy in the Persian Gulf. Next, I will give a quick summary of how that policy evolved, where it came from, and what changes have taken place. Third, it's hard to work in a region like the Persian Gulf without becoming aware of the relationship between culture and politics. Islam provides a fascinating and absolutely crucial element if you want to understand the politics of the region. I will focus in particular on Iran's Islamic regime, which has attempted to adapt its own view of Islam to a view of world politics.