Episode notes
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…
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
-
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:…
-
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…
-
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…
-
16 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 3 min
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 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…
-
11 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 6 min
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 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…
-
9 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 34 min
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 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…
-
6 Oct 2026 · 53 minNew
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…
-
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…
-
3 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 13 min
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 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…
-
1 Sep 2026 · 58 min
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 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.…
Take it with you
The Melo app keeps playing with the screen off, works in the car and on your watch, wakes you to your station, and browses the whole catalogue offline. Free, no ads, no account.
