Beirut Marine Barracks Bombing, 1983 Artwork

StocktonAfterClass

Ron Stockton was a professor of political science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn for 48 years. His specialty was non-western politics and political change. He taught classes on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Religion and Politics, the Politics of Revolution, Non-Western politics, and American politics. He also taught in the Honors Program, focusing upon foundational readings from the 18th and 19th centuries. He has an interest in religion and politics and in the role of religio-ethnic groups in the political system. The listener can anticipate talks on Arab-Americans, Jews, African-Americans, the Scots-Irish, and Evangelicals. He has lectured and written on American politics, public opinion, and voting behavior and on the role of religious organizations and ideologies in the political system. There will be occasional discussions of books and films that address serious issues. And he has lectured and published and even taught a class on gravestones, especially those of different ethnic and religious groups such as Muslims, African-Americans, Jews, and Native Americans. The goal of the podcast series is to provide analysis and commentary by a political scientist to explain and make accessible political, historical, and cultural developments in the United States and around the world, and to give the listener analytical tools to understand those developments. It is also to entertain the listener.

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StocktonAfterClass

Beirut Marine Barracks Bombing, 1983

April 01, 2025 • Ronald Stockton

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There is a new book on the bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut in 1983. 241 people were killed as they slept. It was the greatest single-day death toll for the Marines since Iwo Jima. The decision to put these Marines in Lebanon in the middle of a civil war was veery controversial. The Joint Chiefs and the National Security Council were on opposite sides.

Jane and I attended a talk on this incident by the author of the book. I was able to ask a question which was really me quoting myself as I discussed this incident with the Naval reserve unit in Detroit just after the bombing. I asked the author to assess my words to them. If you are interested in Lebanon or this incident, or U.S. involvement in this conflict you might find this podcast of interest.

Sorry I was not able to attach the music.