CONFLICTED

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 Yemen's tyrants for generations hold out against another devastating siege?

For mind-expanding Q&A's with Aimen, join the CONFLICTED COMMUNITY here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Baraa and Thomas discuss:

• Baraa's eyewitness journey into besieged Taiz along its treacherous mountain supply route.
• Life under siege: ruined streets, sniper fire, shelling and hospitals running short of supplies.
• Displaced families, makeshift schools and the children dreaming of justice.
• Taiz's defiant celebration of Yemen's 1962 republican revolution.
• From Rasulid capital to republican stronghold: Taiz's turbulent history.
• Taiz's political traditions: Nasserists, Socialists, Islamists and resistance to the Imamate.
• Outgunned defenders confronting Houthi artillery, drones and Iranian support.
• The fall of Al-Turbah and the battle for Mocha, Bab al-Mandab and Taiz's supply routes.
• The Saudi-backed counteroffensive and whether Taiz can survive without outside help.

Find Baraa on X: https://x.com/BShtwtr

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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In this latest Conflicted Conversation, Ruben Andersson, professor of social anthropology at Oxford University's Department of International Development, discusses his new book Age of Security: The Rise of a Global Obsession.

For deeper dives and world-class Q&As with Aimen Dean, join the CONFLICTED COMMUNITY here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠

Ruben and Thomas explore:

• How security replaced politics
• Why failed security breeds more security
• The border crackdown that fuels illegal migration
• How neoliberalism hollowed out social order
• Sweden’s slide into gang violence
• When Big Tech became Big Security
• China and the rise of the Paranopticon
• How surveillance blurred civilian and military life
• Why Covid made us surrender freedom so easily
• Can we escape the politics of fear?

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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

For deeper dives and world-class Q&As with Aimen Dean, join the CONFLICTED COMMUNITY here: ⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm⁠⁠⁠

Adrian and Thomas explore:

• Why liberalism is in crisis — and whether it can reinvent itself
• Modernity, permanent change and the birth of the liberal world
• Erasmus, tolerance and the case for a “chastened liberalism”
• Hobbes, individualism and whether liberalism misunderstands human nature
• John Stuart Mill, moral formation and the need for cultural elites
• Power, authority and how liberal distrust became a “democracy of disdain”
• Meritocracy, elite failure and the rise of the examination class
• Identity politics, minority rights and the limits of anti-majoritarian liberalism
• America, China and the unraveling of the liberal international order
• Can liberalism recover its moral foundations without Christianity?

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small .

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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 pressure of war. But while the RSF’s foreign support has drawn intense scrutiny, the forces sustaining Sudan’s army — from Islamist networks to drones, money and weapons supplied from abroad — have received far less attention.

For mind-expanding Q&A's with Aimen, join the CONFLICTED COMMUNITY here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Aimen and Thomas discuss:

• Why Sudan has become everyone’s proxy war
• The UAE, the RSF — and the case against the usual narrative
• Who is really backing Burhan’s army?
• How the Muslim Brotherhood returned through Sudan’s war
• Iran, Turkey and the drone war changing the battlefield
• The hidden regional contest between Egypt and Ethiopia
• Did Sudan’s army use chemical weapons?
• Can the outside powers stop the war they helped sustain?

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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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 closer while pressure on Iran is mounting at sea, in the air, and across its network of regional allies.

For mind-expanding Q&A's with Aimen, join the CONFLICTED COMMUNITY here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Aimen and Thomas discuss:

• The failure of the latest US-Iran diplomacy at the UN and the growing risk of renewed escalation.
• Israeli claims of renewed Iranian nuclear activity at Pickaxe Mountain and the wider nuclear question.
• The secret Abu Dhabi meeting and the emerging Saudi-UAE-Israeli security alignment.
• The war in Yemen, the Houthi advance, and Saudi plans for a major counter-offensive.
• Pakistan’s growing military role in Saudi Arabia and the significance of the Mecca Pact.
• The widening regional front: Somaliland, al-Shabaab, Eritrea, Europe, and security around the Bab al-Mandab.
• Iraq after the US troop withdrawal and the future of Iran-backed militias across the region.
• The Strait of Hormuz, pressure on Iran’s economy and aviation, and the attempted FlyDubai terrorist attack.

Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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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 World's First Super-Terrorist.

For deeper dives and world-class Q&As with Aimen Dean, join the CONFLICTED COMMUNITY here: ⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm⁠⁠

Joby explains:

• Carlos the Jackal: From Venezuelan Marxist to Global Terror Icon
• Wadi Haddad, the KGB and the Birth of International Terrorism
• Dawson’s Field and the Rise of Made-for-TV Terror
• How the Media Created the Myth of “Carlos the Jackal”
• OPEC 1975: Gaddafi, Ransom Millions and Carlos’s Biggest Coup
• Carlos Inc: How Dictators Turned Terrorism Into a Hired Service
• From Carlos to Bin Laden: The Shift From Marxism to Jihadism
• Joby Warrick Meets Carlos: Unrepentant After 30 Years in Prison

Find Joby on X: https://x.com/JobyWarrick

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small .

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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 person to help us understand better the larger forces at work in the Yemen Civil War — with consequences for the entire world.

For world-class Q&A's with Aimen, join the CONFLICTED COMMUNITY here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Basha and Thomas discuss:

• How the Houthis Smashed Yemen’s Western Front in Just Seven Days
• Inside the Houthi Machine: From Mountain Rebels to a Revolutionary State
• Abdul-Malik al-Houthi: The Hidden Leader His Followers Treat Like a Sacred Authority
• How Gaza Supercharged Houthi Recruitment, Weapons and Global Ambition
• Why Yemen’s Anti-Houthi Forces Keep Falling Apart
• Tareq Saleh: The Warlord Who Embodies Yemen’s “Game of Thrones”
• Saleh Co-Opted the Tribes — the Houthis Are Trying to Crush Them
• Could the Houthis Take All of Yemen — and Would Yemen Survive It?

Find Basha on X: https://x.com/BashaReport

And on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bashareport

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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

For deeper dives and world-class Q&As with Aimen Dean, join the CONFLICTED COMMUNITY here: ⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm⁠

Anthony explains:

• Why the ‘Byzantines’ were really Romans
• The Roman state’s extraordinary longevity
• Constantinople’s strategic importance
• The rise of the Ottoman state
• Ottoman slavery, the devşirme, and the janissaries
• Romans, Italians and Turks living side by side
• Venice and Genoa’s role in the East
• Ottoman cannon and the myth of Orban
• Why the siege was not inevitable
• The enslavement and dispersal of the Romans
• How ‘Byzantium’ was reinvented after its fall

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small .

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In this week’s Conflicted Conversation, UCL associate professor Philip Cunliffe makes a provocative case: far from being polar opposites, global Islamism and American unipolarity were born of the same globalised order. But what happens when that order starts to fall apart? And is today’s rising New Left inadvertently fighting to save the liberal-imperial system it says it wants to destroy?

For deeper dives and world-class Q&As with Aimen Dean, join the CONFLICTED COMMUNITY here: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm

Philip and Thomas discuss:

• How U.S. unipolarity and globalisation reshaped the world after the Cold War
• Why Cunliffe thinks ‘global Islam’ is a distinctly modern political phenomenon
• How early state-seeking Islamism gave way to transnational Islamism and jihadism
• Why neoliberal globalisation weakened state sovereignty and boosted Islamist networks
• The strange overlap between liberal humanitarianism and jihadist causes
• How the CIA, Afghanistan and Syria blurred the line between ally and enemy
• Why the new American Left could revive the logic of liberal interventionism over Israel
• What comes after the decline of American empire: sovereign nation-states or rival new blocs?

Find Philip on X: https://x.com/thephilippics

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small .

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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 curtain of inter-Gulf politics to help Thomas understand better what went wrong, and why Saudi Arabia's confused foreign policy may deserve the lion's share of the blame.

For mind-expanding Q&A's with Aimen, join the CONFLICTED COMMUNITY here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Aimen and Thomas discuss:

• Did Iran dupe Saudi Arabia?
• How the Houthis humiliated their rivals
• Mocha falls: Bab al-Mandab exposed
• Saudi Arabia’s oil lifeline gets hit
• Why Yemen’s anti-Houthi coalition imploded
• The bitter Saudi-UAE divorce
• Has Qatar reshaped Saudi foreign policy?
• Why Trump refused MBS’s rescue call

Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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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 side of that momentous world-changing event.

Join the CONFLICTED COMMUNITY here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Aimen and Thomas discuss:

• Was 9/11 an ending as well as a beginning?
• The myth of the peaceful 1990s
• America inherited a geopolitical mess after the USSR's collapse
• America as a revolutionary power
• Could preserving Middle Eastern monarchies have prevented later disasters?
• Al-Qaeda and liberal globalisation
• Jihadism amid the wreckage of earlier promises
• Was the War on Terror a rupture or an acceleration?
• Bin Laden’s selective use of history
• History without a puppet master

Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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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 this wide-ranging Conflicted Conversation with award-winning novelist and essayist Rana Dasgupta, whose new book After Nations: The Making and Unmaking of a World Order sets out to explain where our world order came from and where it could be going.

Rana explains:

• The origins of the modern nation-state and the decline of universal sacred empires
• Louis IX, the Crown of Thorns and the sacralisation of the French state
• How Enlightenment political theology transformed God, sovereignty and individual rights
• Industrialisation, mass democracy, welfare states and the political power of workers
• Liberalism, populism and the changing relationship between elites and mass democracy
• The origins of international law in empire, property rights and global capitalism
• Why the postwar rules-based international order is now weakening
• The East India Company, Silicon Valley and the rise of quasi-sovereign corporate power
• China as an alternative model of state power and control over private capital
• Climate change, mass migration and whether the nation-state can survive a new ‘nomad century’

Find Rana on X: x.com/byranadasgupta

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small .

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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 China wants Taiwan and why the island is vital to control of the western Pacific.
• Taiwan’s strategic position in the First Island Chain between China, Japan and the Philippines.
• How a Chinese invasion, blockade or maritime quarantine of Taiwan could unfold.
• Why a war over Taiwan could devastate global trade and the world economy.
• What Taiwan’s fall would mean for US power, Japan and the Philippines.
• Why Taiwan is an independent democracy but still officially called the Republic of China.
• Who the Taiwanese are: Indigenous peoples, Hoklo, Hakka and post-1949 mainlanders.
• How martial law, dictatorship and democratisation created modern Taiwanese identity.
• Why the Kuomintang, once Communist China’s enemy, is now Taiwan’s most Beijing-friendly major party.
• Whether Taiwan could eventually choose closer integration with China through democracy rather than war.

Find Chris on X: www.x.com/heguisen

Visit Chris’s website: www.chrishortonwriter.com

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small .

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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 with the IRGC react? The war re-escalated over the weekend, and as the Iranian people began to make their feelings felt, all indications are that peace is farther away than ever.

Aimen and Thomas discuss:

• Operation Economic Outcast: US sanctions and regional trade restrictions tighten Iran’s economic isolation.
• Strait of Hormuz: US demining, Gulf oil exports and Iran’s new underwater drone threat reshape the naval war.
• Iran’s economic crisis: collapsing rial, inflation, shortages and possible unrest increase pressure on the IRGC.
• UAE-Iran trade: Dubai’s historic commercial role shrinks as Gulf states join Washington’s economic campaign.
• US strategy in the Gulf: Trump administration cohesion, long-term military deployment and growing concern about China.
• Iran escalation risks: attacks on Gulf infrastructure, domestic repression and renewed US-Iran fighting.
• Tactical nuclear weapons: Aimen warns the conflict could cross the nuclear threshold if escalation continues.

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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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.

Simon explains:

• How Britain and France tried — and often failed — to shape the post-Ottoman Middle East
• Why Sykes–Picot is a misleading shorthand for the region’s modern borders
• How Atatürk, Nasser and other Middle Eastern leaders remade the region through their own choices
• The violent shift from Ottoman pluralism to nationalist, more homogeneous states
• Why Nasser’s charisma produced a powerful Arab myth but a disastrous authoritarian model
• Why traditional monarchies in Morocco, Jordan and the Gulf often outlasted revolutionary republics
• How America became the Middle East’s dominant anti-imperial imperial power after Europe’s retreat
• Why militias, parastates and insurgencies make “total victory” in today’s Middle East so elusive

Find Simon on X: x.com/simonmontefiore

Visit Simon’s website: www.simonsebagmontefiore.com

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small .

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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 One Ship.

Ian explains:

• The offshore global economy: where loopholes, ships and responsibility slip beyond ordinary jurisdiction
• From Little Toot to rusting barges: how industrial capitalism lost its confident postwar world
• Sweden’s socialist shipyards, private tax dodges, and the strange birth of the Vessel
• Containerisation’s hidden cost: how global trade hollowed out Manhattan’s working waterfront
• The Falklands War, Thatcherism, and the private infrastructure behind imperial sovereignty
• New York’s floating prison: mass incarceration meets offshore legal ingenuity
• Wall Street goes offshore onshore: banks, deregulation and International Banking Facilities
• Neoliberalism, legality and injustice: when the modern economy makes the immoral lawful

Visit Ian’s website: www.iankumekawa.com

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced by Thomas Small and edited by Lizzy Andrews.

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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’s role in it) are heating up again, but also to give Thomas a much-deserved dressing down for not going far enough to hold Jeremy Hunt to account for his role in the Stockholm Agreement.

Baraa explains:

• The collapse of the 2022 Yemen truce and renewed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and Red Sea shipping
• The Yemen battlefield map: Houthi control of Sanaa, Hodeidah and the northwest versus government-held south and east
• The strategic importance of Marib and Hadramaut, including Saudi-trained National Shield and Emergency Forces
• Mocha, the Giants Brigades and the impact of the UAE withdrawal on anti-Houthi military capabilities
• The Stockholm Agreement and how the 2018 ceasefire strengthened long-term Houthi leverage
• Why the Houthis are escalating now and how renewed fighting serves Iran’s regional strategy
• Houthi links with the IRGC, Hezbollah and Iraqi militias, including operations and financial networks in Iraq
• Saudi war aims, the Mecca Accords and the emerging Saudi–Turkey–Pakistan security architecture

Follow Baraa on Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/baraashiban/⁠

Follow Baraa on X: ⁠https://x.com/BShtwtr⁠

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm⁠

Find us on X: ⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced and edited by Thomas Small .

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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 political events are underway in that sad country, which has been riven by civil war and political division for over fifteen years.

They discuss:

• The difference between East and West Libya
• First Libyan Civil War: state collapse and militia fragmentation
• NATO intervention and Western short-termism
• Khalifa Haftar: from Gaddafi officer to eastern strongman
• Second Libyan Civil War: Operation Dignity and divided government
• Libya proxy war: Egypt, UAE, Russia, Turkey and Qatar
• Libyan oil politics: NOC, Central Bank and Haftar’s leverage
• U.S.-backed Libya deal: Saddam Haftar, Dbeibah and Pakistan mediation

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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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 History at Nottingham Trent University, Nicholas reframes the Crusades as one part of a much larger transformation of the medieval Middle East, driven above all by Seljuk-Turkmen expansion, Byzantine contraction, Fatimid decline and the fragmentation of political power.

Nicholas explains:

• The Seljuk-Turkmen transformation of the medieval Middle East
• Why the Crusades were not the region’s main event
• Dandanqan, nomadic warfare and the rise of Seljuk power
• Abbasids, Fatimids and fragmented government before the First Crusade
• Manzikert, Byzantine civil war and the Turkish conquest of Anatolia
• Frankish-Turkish rivalry, alliances and shared warrior culture
• Crusader violence and Christianity’s uneasy relationship with holy war
• Nizari Ismailis, Seljuk civil wars and competing Muslim priorities
• Damascus and Byzantium as key powers in Crusader geopolitics
• The Middle East as a crossroads of trade, ideas and cultural exchange

Follow Nicholas on X: https://x.com/NicholasMorto11

On Bluesky: @nicmorton.bsky.social

On Instagram: @Nicholas Morton

And his You Tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MedievalNearEast

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced by Thomas Small and edited by Lizzy Andrews.

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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 traces the long, varied history of slavery in the Islamic world, arguing that slavery could sometimes offer remarkable paths to freedom and power, but that these exceptions never erased the violence of capture, ownership and exploitation—or the uneasy entanglement of abolition with Western imperialism.

Justin explains:

• The scale and longevity of slavery in the Islamic world
• The spiritual status of enslaved people in early Islam
• The Quran, manumission and the legal regulation of slavery
• The Islamic conquests and the expansion of slave-taking
• Anti-black racism and the Zanj Revolt in Abbasid Iraq
• Concubines, eunuchs, and sexual slavery
• Mamluks, Janissaries and elite forms of servitude
• Christian and Muslim slave-raiding across the Mediterranean
• Ottoman abolition and its entanglement with Western imperialism
• Modern slavery, Daesh and hereditary servitude in Mauritania

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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