CONFLICTED

Taiz: The Yemeni City That Refuses to Surrender

We welcome back friend of the show Baraa Shiban, who was recently on the front lines in Yemen. The Houthis have surrounded Taiz once again. Can the city that has defied Y

We’re Addicted to Security, and It’s Destroying Us

In this latest Conflicted Conversation, Ruben Andersson, professor of social anthropology at Oxford University's Department of International Development, discusses his ne

Adrian Wooldridge: Can Liberalism Save Itself?

In this latest Conflicted Conversation, journalist Adrian Wooldridge discusses his latest book Centrists of the World Unite: The Lost Genius of Liberalism. For deeper di

The Real Geopolitics of Sudan’s Civil War

Sudan’s civil war has become a regional proxy struggle, with the UAE, Egypt, Iran, Turkey and other powers backing rival armed camps as the country fragments under the pr

The Middle East Braces for Escalation

The war is widening, diplomacy has stalled, and the Middle East is once again sliding towards escalation as the relationship between Israel and the Gulf states grows clos

Carlos the Jackal: The World’s First Super-Terrorist

In this latest Conflicted Conversation, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Joby Warrick tells Thomas all about his latest book The Jackal: The Rise and Fall of Carlos, the

The Houthis Are Winning — Here’s Why

Aimen's away this week. But not to worry! Sitting in his seat is Mohammed al-Basha: a Yemeni-American analyst with over twenty years of experience. Basha is the perfect p

1453: The Catastrophe That Ended Rome

In this latest Conflicted Conversation, historian Anthony Kaldellis of the University of Chicago discusses his new book 1453: The Conquest and Tragedy of Constantinople.

Globalisation Made Global Jihad Possible

In this week’s Conflicted Conversation, UCL associate professor Philip Cunliffe makes a provocative case: far from being polar opposites, global Islamism and American uni

Saudi Arabia’s Yemen Disaster

Every region-watcher was stunned over past week as the anti-Houthi forces in Yemen suffered an extremely brutal reversal—with global consequences. Aimen lifts up the curt

Re-Interrogating 9/11: A 25th Anniversary Debate

To commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Aimen and Thomas take a deeper, wider look at the historical, ideological, and geopolitical context on either sid

The End of the Nation State?

Where did the nation-state come from—and what happens if the conditions that made it powerful are now disappearing? Thomas discusses these questions and much more in thi

The Battle for Taiwan

In this Conflicted Conversation, journalist Chris Horton talks about his new book Ghost Nation: The Story of Taiwan and Its Struggle for Survival. Chris explains: Why

Trump's Strangulation Strategy

Aimen's prediction on 4 August came true, and in the intervening weeks the United States have ramped up the economic pressure on the Iranian regime. The question is: how

Simon Sebag Montefiore: How the Modern Middle East Was Made

In this Conflicted Conversation, Simon Sebag Montefiore returns to the show, this time to talk about his new book The Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East. Sim

The Rise of the Offshore World

In this Conflicted Conversation, Ian Kumekawa (a fellow of Harvard University and a lecturer at MIT) talks about his book Empty Vessel: The Story of the Global Economy in

The Battle for Yemen Begins Again

Yemeni researcher and political analyst Baraa Shiban (and dear friend of the show) is back not only to give us an update on Yemen now that the civil war (and Saudi Arabia

Libya: The Return of the Arab Strongman?

Turning their attention away from Iran and toward another Middle Eastern hotspot, Aimen and Thomas explain the course of events in Libya since the Arab Spring. Seismic po

The Crusades: What Was Really Going On?

In this Conflicted Conversation, Nicholas Morton discusses his new book The Crusader Storm: A Global History of the Wars for the Middle East. Associate Professor in Hist

Slavery and Islam: The Whole Story

In this Conflicted Conversation, Justin Marozzi discusses his new book Captives and Companions: A History of Slavery and the Slave Trade in the Islamic World. Justin tr