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Researcher and former government minister Ali Allawi explains why King Faisal I of Iraq was such a seminal figure in the making of the modern Middle East and why his impact is still felt today, 80 years after his death. Faisal organised the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire with the help of Lawrence of Arabia, represented the Arab cause at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference and was the king of the first independent state of Syria and first king of Iraq. Allawi gives the first full account of his dramatic life and assesses his impact on the Middle East.

Allawi is a research professor at the University of Singapore and a former civilian minister of defence and minister of finance in the post-war Iraq government. He was recently named the world’s fourth top thinker by Prospect magazine.

Here he talks to critic, journalist and broadcaster Bidisha.