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As the Middle East wakes up to an unnerving new normal following the signing of the M.O.U., Aimen and Thomas turn their attention to something truly cutting edge: the AI Arms Race that is rapidly transforming the Gulf into the front lines of a truly global U.S.-China confrontation. Aimen and Thomas discuss: Iran’s drone attacks on Gulf data centres. AI in missile defence and military targeting. The physical infrastructure behind cloud computing. Cheap Gulf energy and rapid data-centre construction. The UAE–Saudi competition for AI leadership. Sheikh Tahnoon, G42 and MGX. Saudi Arabia’s…

CONFLICTED

by Message Heard · English · History

An ex-Al Qaeda jihadi turned MI6 spy and a former monk turned filmmaker, have been embedded at the heart of conflicts in the Middle East. Together Aimen Dean and Thomas Small unpack the realities of war, fundamentalism and their global implications through first-hand experience.

More from CONFLICTED

  1. 7 Jul 2026 · 59 min

    Guns, Greed and the Making of Modernity

    In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas discusses the true foundations of modernity with Clifton Crais, author of The Killing Age: How Violence Made the Modern World. Clifton explains: The Mortecene as an alternative to the Anthropocene Why global violence accelerated after 1750 How firearms destabilised traditional political orders The role of credit and debt in expanding slavery Global complicity beyond a simple West-versus-rest narrative The industrial destruction of whales, elephants and bison Vodun and other religious responses to predatory power What muskets can teach us about drones…

  2. 3 Jul 2026 · 36 min

    Undiscovered: The Battle of Qala-i-Jangi

    In this special episode, we bring you an exclusive audio episode of ‘Undiscovered’ the new YouTube-first documentary series from Conflicted’s executive producer and Message Heard founder, Jake Warren. Jake sits down with the legendary journalist Robert Young Pelton to discuss the infamous battle of Qala-i-Jangi, which he experienced first hand, and how it changed the war on terror forever. In this episode they discuss: How Robert became a journalist and documentarian Robert’s documentary ‘Heavy D and The Boys’ Meeting and spending time with General Dostum The rumours and myths about General…

  3. 30 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 4 min

    The Bastard Children of Neoliberalism

    In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas sweats his way through a personally revealing exchange with Quinn Slobodian, Professor of International History at Boston University and the author of Hayek’s Bastards: The Neoliberal Roots of the Populist Right. Quinn explains: Friedrich Hayek’s “knowledge problem” and his defence of markets over central planning. Hayek’s later theory of cultural evolution, inherited institutions, and the limits of universal market society. The split between “cultural Austrians” at George Mason University and “racial Austrians” around the Mises Institute. Murray…

  4. 8 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 23 min

    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 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,…

  5. 6 Oct 2026 · 53 min

    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 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…

  6. 2 Oct 2026 · 57 min

    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 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…

  7. 29 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 4 min

    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 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:…

  8. 24 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 10 min

    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 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…

  9. 22 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 24 min

    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. 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…

  10. 17 Sep 2026 · 1 hr

    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 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…

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