COUNTERPOD

Ian and Edmund discuss U.S. negotiations on Iran and Ukraine-Russia; the British government’s approach to freedom of speech; Marco Rubio’s speech at the Munich Security Conference; and youth radicalization by ISIS and other terror groups. 

Ian and Edmund discuss CEP’s ARCHER project and recent concert in Washington D.C. featuring music composed during the Holocaust; their concerns about the situation in Syria and ISIS detainees; U.K security issues and the Cyber Security Bill; and options for the new U.S. Board of Peace. 

In the first episode of Season 6, Edmund and Ian discuss Hamas financial networks; the shocking fallout from the UK West Midlands Police ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans; the crackdown on the Iranian protests and proscribing the IRGC; and how legacy legislation is exposing veterans in Northern Ireland to lawfare. 

In an end-of-year special Ian Acheson and Edmund Fitton-Brown unpack four major security and extremism issues: the Operation Kenova findings on the IRA agent “Stakeknife” and what they reveal about Northern Ireland’s dirty war; the renewed U.S. effort to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization; the fallout from the banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a UK football ma...

In this episode Edmund and Ian assess new UK police advice on revealing the ethnicity of suspects to quell community tensions; the impact of calls for the recognition of a Palestinian state; Palestine Action as a terrorist organzation; and Mexican drug cartels. 

In this episode Ian and Edmund discuss stability in Colombia; Epping illegal immigration protests and policing in the UK; trade deals and the terrorist insurgency in the Sahel; and the recent spotlight on the UK’s definition of Islamophobia. 

In this episode Edmund and Ian discuss the UK's 9/11 - the 7/7 terrorist attacks on their 20th anniversary; the current proposals for Gaza following Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington; the proscribing of Palestine Action as a terrorist group in the UK; and the 'lovely' UN Charter 80 years after its creation.

Edmund and Ian discuss Iran, Israel, the U.S. and the ’12-day war’ and ask - who’s in charge: Trump or Netanyahu? They also assess the fallout from Glastonbury; Syria and sanctions; and CEP’s report on Islamist antisemitism. 

Ian and Edmund discuss violent unrest in Ballymena, Northern Ireland; the conflict between Israel and Iran; Ian’s high-profile review of security in U.K prisons; and the tenth anniversary of the Islamic State terrorist attacks in Tunisia - ending on an optimistic note.  

S5 E1 Ian and Edmund kick-off the new season with a look at incidents involving football crowds in Liverpool and Paris; the Houthi threat to Red Sea shipping; Ian’s rapid review ( published by the Counter Extremism Project ) of prison security the growing threat from ideology; and last month’s flare-up between India and Pakistan. 

In this season's finale, Ian and Edmund discuss why the US State Department may drop bounties on Taliban leaders; the anniversary of the Islamist terrorist truck attack in Stockholm; options for the US-Iran nuclear talks; and the release from a UK mental hospital of a convicted terrorist connected to the London 7/7 bombings.

Ian and Edmund discuss the Oklahoma City bombing on its 30th anniversary; the murder of Ronan Kerr, a police officer in Omaha, Co. Tyrone; antisemitism in Australia; and the association of music and anti-extremism - but they start with flatulence laws versus gun legislation - and it isn’t even an April Fool’s. 

This week Ian and Edmund question Oman’s role as a mediator; discuss a U.K. report from the Commission for Countering Extremism; assess the protests in Gaza by citizens opposed to Hamas; and explain the National Crime Agency’s Annual Threat Assessment. 

Ian and Edmund discuss the importance of a new report on October 7 by a House of Lords group; the debate in the U.S. over Mahmoud Khalil; the boycott of St Patrick’s Day by Sinn Fein and others; and the implications of the U.S. airstrikes on the Houthis. 

Edmund and Ian discuss Pakistan’s extradition of Mohammad Sharifullah to US on terrorism charges; the arguments for and against changing the UK’s definition of terrorism; the latest and worrying developments in Syria; and the UK’s vulnerability to vehicle-ramming as a means of terrorism. 

Edmund and Ian are back for a new season and to probe the UK's approach to defining Islamophobia; discuss the Russian security service shooting of an IS-inspired terrorist; explain UK and Irish government exploratory talks to engage dissident Republican terrorists; and consider diplomacy in the era of Donald Trump.

The U.K. Home Office’s leaked and much-ridiculed Counter Terror ‘sprint’ document; Donald Trump’s latest pronouncements on Gaza and the fragility of the hostage deal; why the Distinguished Conduct Medal was awarded to Eric Glass in Norther Ireland; and why former South African president Jacob Puma’s daughter was charged with inciting terrorism. And, crucially - the Super Bowl and the Tush Push. 

Ian Acheson and Edmund Fitton-Brown discuss the anniversary of the IRA’s terrorist attack in London’s Docklands in 1996. They also discuss the under-reported terrorist attack in the otherwise stable Oman; Mexican drug cartels, organized crime, and the Texas border; the latest on the Gaza hostage swap and IDF activity in the West Bank; and the latest on the Orebro College attack in Sweden. 

Ian Acheson and Edmund Fitton-Brown discuss the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the launch of CEP's major new initiative ARCHER at House 88, based at the former home of the Commandant of Auschwitz. They also discuss the jail sentence given to Axel Rudakubana in the U.K. and a changing Saudi Arabia. They end with "Never," a moving poem by Holocaust survivor Elie Wies...

Ian Acheson and Edmund Fitton-Brown discuss what the Hamas-Israel ceasefire deals means for peace and reconstruction, the hostages and the ‘metrics’ of prisoner-hostage exchange. They also look at the investigation by The Times and United Against Nuclear Iran into a UK charity and Iranian regime-backed extremism, the anniversary of the Al-Shabaab terrorist attack in a shopping complex in Nairobi,...

Ian Acheson and Edmund Fitton-Brown discuss the grooming gangs scandal in the U.K and Elon Musk and Tommy Robinson; the ongoing fallout of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks 10 years on; how “low trust” societies can foster violent extremism; and the troubling lack of fact and truth on social media platforms. 

Ian Acheson and Edmund Fitton-Brown examine the significance of the terror attack on New Orleans; the fractured relationship between the Republic of Ireland and Israel and closure of Israel’s embassy in Dublin; and the opportunities and risks for counter terror measures under Donald Trump. Ian and Edmund also give their take on the big, upcoming issues in 2025 - and be prepared to be surprised. 

Ian Acheson and Edmund Fitton-Brown examine the significance of the attacks on the Berlin Christmas market in 2016; the Met Police’s counter terror operation in London against the PKK and its terror plots against the Turkish community; developments in South Korea - and North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism; and five reasons to be optimistic this Christmas about violent extremism!

Ian Acheson and Edmund Fitton-Brown assess the 2008 Mumbai massacre - India’s 9/11 - and a turning point in its approach to national security; the UK’s approach to national security in light of comments by Sir Richard Dearlove, a former head of MI6; the prospects for the newly announced Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire; and the growing challenges of AI and extremism. 

Ian Acheson and Edmund Fitton-Brown reflect on the impact of terrorism on tourism, including in Egypt; state-sponsored terrorism, including by Russia; and the UK Southport murders and the harm to government and police reputations. And their thoughts on other podcasts including Gary Lineker's.