Arab Digest podcasts

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Dr Andreas Krieg, lecturer at King's College London's School of Security Studies. As the Abu Dhabi crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed continues to forge new directions for the country, the podcast explores his relations with Israel in light of the Gaza war, how enmity with Qatar drives his strategy of promoting counter-revolution, and how he is pivo...

As violence escalates Arab Digest editor William Law is in conversation with HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan. Prince Hassan calls for an end to confiscations and expropriations in East Jerusalem: "Jerusalem is a shared gift, not the exclusive property of one government or one people." And he warns that creeping annexation in the West Bank will end the possibility of the two state solution...

William Law, Arab Digest editor is in conversation with Tarek Megerisi, a policy fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations. Libya has a new government and a new prime minister but has the situation there improved as dramatically as some would like to think? Tarek takes a long hard look at the new regime and sees old patterns, old faces and the same old set of outside players. Sign up N...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with the Syrian Kurdish journalist Sirwan Kajjo. In northeast Syria,in the midst of civil war, the SDF has carved out an autonomous region and the Kurdish Region of Iraq has long asserted its autonomy from Baghdad but Kurds in both countries face significant challenges and the dream of a Kurdish homeland seems as elusive as ever. Sign up NOW at Arabdi...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Mosul native Rasha al-Aqeedi. Rasha is a Senior Analyst at the Newlines Institute in Washington. Her work focuses on non-state armed groups and political Islam. She grew up in Mosul under the Saddam dictatorship, experienced the occupation and then, like many others, left Mosul and Iraq. But her passion for her hometown remains defiantly strong....

Arab Digest Editor William Law in conversation with Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Middle East fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and author of ‘Qatar and the Gulf Feud’. Since the Al Ula accord in January that ended the feud the mood music between the Qataris and the Saudis is all about reconciliation. The Emiratis, however, are not about to get their dancing shoes on, at...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Lina Khatib, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at London's Chatham House. Their subject is the brutal and complex war in Syria, as they explore how the conflict could come to an end. Questions abound, among them the extent to which America will re-engage and how much compromise Russia, Iran and Turkey are willing to show. Sig...

Arab Digest editor William Law's podcast guest is Caroline Rose, Senior Analyst and programme head in the Human Security Unit at the Newlines Institute. Caroline recently authored a report for the institute titled In the wake of drawdown: addressing blindspots in Iraq. Their conversation looks at the blindspots and the blunders, the road travelled thus far and what America needs to do on the road...

Arab Digest Editor William Law in conversation with Sanam Vakil deputy director of the MENA Programme at London's Chatham House. Sanam’s research focuses on Gulf geopolitics, security issues and future trends in Iran’s domestic and foreign policy. AD got an early look at a paper she and her Chatham House colleague Neil Quilliam are publishing in mid-April that examines pathways to de-escalating co...

William Law, the Arab Digest editor is in conversation with Sami Hamdi, editor in chief of The International Interest. And their conversation is all about Sami's tweets. He is an incisive MENA twitterati with thoughts and opinions that are sometimes controversial but never dull. So rather than limiting @SALHACHIMI to 280 characters AD decided to let him rip. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free...

Arab Digest editor William Law talks with Giorgio Cafiero. Giorgio is the founder and CEO of Gulf State Analytics, based in Washington. Their conversation focusses on how internal and external pressures are shaping the Gulf states and driving forward fresh regional initiatives that signal the era of America as the Gulf's big brother is well and truly over. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with investigative sports journalist Karim Zidan. Their conversation focusses on Abu Dhabi's Fight Island where the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the UFC, has landed. Karim looks at how a sport that mixes martial arts with boxing and features men and women fighters is a fit for a conservative Gulf emirate. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to j...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Samuel Ramani, a non-resident fellow at Gulf International Forum and a doctoral candidate in International Relations at the University of Oxford. Their conversation focusses on the United Arab Emirates and the challenges the country's rulers face as Joe Biden settles into the White House with new agendas on Iran, human rights in the Middle East a...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Jon B Alterman director of the Middle East Program and senior vice president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. With Joe Biden in the White House American diplomacy is back in fashion but is diplomacy enough to solve the MENA region's myriad challenges? Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to join the club and...

Arab Digest editor William Law, in conversation with Francis Ghilès, an associate senior researcher at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB). A former North Africa correspondent for the Financial Times, he is a specialist on security, energy, and political trends in North Africa and the Western Mediterranean. Francis Ghilès argues that after exploiting the Maghreb in colonial time...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Helen Lackner, one of the world's foremost experts on Yemen and a conflict now entering its seventh year. Their talk ranges from the abandoned oil tanker that threatens an environmental disaster to outside forces and leaders of the Yemeni factions who profit from a war that leaves the people destitute and desperate. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Tarek Megerisi, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, on the role Europe could play in the Libya conflict. There are elites within the country and outside forces that want to keep the war going. It is in Europe's interest to work towards ending it.

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Lina al-Hathloul, the sister of the jailed Saudi womens' rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul (https://www.loujainalhathloul.org/.) Loujain was detained and tortured in a secret prison and in December of last year given a six year prison sentence. Her sister tells Loujain's story and the family's fight for justice. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org fo...

William Law, editor of the Arab Digest, in conversation with Michael Stephens, a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and co-author of ‘What next for Britain in the Middle East?’ just published by I.B. Tauris. The Gulf feud that pitted the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt against Qatar has ended but the wounds remain and policy differences are unlikely ever to be finally reso...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with the Kuwaiti author and academic Dr. Alanoud Alsharekh. She is a longtime advocate for the rights of women in Kuwait and the wider Middle East and the co-founder of Mudhawi List which was established to support Kuwaiti women seeking elected office. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & p...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with human rights lawyer Toby Cadman co-founder and head of chambers at the London law firm Guernica 37. He represents the family of the late president of Egypt Mohammed Morsi whose death in custody the UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard has determined could "amount to a State-sanctioned arbitrary killing." Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to...

Arab Digest editor William Law is in conversation with Chris Woods, the co-founder of Airwars, a London-based NGO that tracks civilian casualties caused by aerial warfare. In the ongoing wars raging in the Middle East, Airwars has documented 55000 civilians killed in air attacks launched by foreign combattants on all sides. Airwars gathers and preserves a permanent record of these deaths which wou...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with the Baker Institute’s Jim Krane. Their conversation is about the world’s largest energy company Saudi Aramco: the year it has had since launching the IPO and the future it faces as the world takes on the daunting task of fighting the impact of climate change. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily ne...

Arab Digest editor William Law is in conversation with Cinzia Bianco, a visiting fellow at the European Council for Foreign Relations in Berlin. Their focus is on the many challenges Saudi Arabia faces as it prepares for a Biden presidency and searches for diplomatic solutions to the Qatar feud, the war in Yemen, the Iran threat and resisting normalisation with Israel. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.or...

Arab Digest editor William Law welcomes back Sami Hamdi, editor in chief of The International Interest. Their conversation is about the disconnect between governments and the people in the MENA region. How wide is the gap and what role does the West play in maintaining a status quo that denies Arabs fair and open governance? Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to join the club and start receivi...