Arab Digest podcasts

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Dr Elisabeth Kendall, Senior Research Fellow in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Oxford University’s Pembroke College, on the Yemen war now into its sixth year. Dr Kendall, an expert on Yemen and jihadist organisations, looks at the background to the war, the impact it is having on the people, especially young Yemenis and considers the possibilities...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Dr H.A. Hellyer, author of A Revolution Undone: Egypt’s Road Beyond Revolt The revolutionary spirit that flourished in Tahrir Square in 2011 and elsewhere in the MENA region lives on and in the face of oppressive regimes young Arabs continue the struggle for accountable government. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to join the club and start...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Dr Ali Bakeer, a MENA region political analyst and consultant, about the politics and pursuit of energy security Strategies that have isolated Turkey in its bid for energy security are driving tensions to dangerous levels in the Eastern Mediterranean and the wider Middle East while outside players like Russia and China are exploiting the situatio...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Neil Quilliam an Associate Fellow in the Middle East and North Africa Programme at London's Chatham House on the perilous road that Iraqi prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi faces as he attempts to guide his country through the security, political and economic crises besetting it. The Iraqi prime minister must balance regional pressures with domest...

Arab Digest editor William Law is joined by Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Middle East fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. Their conversation revolves around what a Joe Biden presidency would mean for the Middle East. How would President Biden handle the Iran deal, "Peace to Prosperity", relations with the Saudis, the ongoing wars, Russian influence and human rights abuses...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Gulf analyst Michael Stephens, a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and Associate Fellow at RUSI. It has been more than three years since a quartet of states - Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt - turned on Qatar. With major geo-political shifts occuring in the region and three ongoing wars what are the imp...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Tarek Megerisi a policy fellow with the North Africa and Middle East programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. From Libya to Qatar to Syria and beyond a new great game is playing out in MENA with Turkey and the United Arab Emirates vying to gain the upper hand and seize advantage from the US withdrawal from the MENA region. Sign up...

Tunis-based journalist Layli Foroudi in conversation with Arab Digest editor William Law on how the smuggling network benefits from Tunisia’s struggling fishing industry crisis. The smugglers are not hardened criminals, they are young men who see no future for themselves and no alternatives but to smuggle. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsle...

Arab Digest editor William Law talks with Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program and senior vice president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Their conversation focuses on a decade of US policies in the Middle East, from 2010 to 2020, from the last six years of the Obama presidency to four years of the Trump presidency. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for...

Arab Digest Editor William Law in conversation with Sami Hamdi, editor in chief of The International Interest (https://www.intlinterest.com/) on the normalisation deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have made bold and sweeping claims but the Arab world does not share their enthusiasm. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to join the c...

Founder and CEO of Washington-based Gulf State Analytics Giorgio Cafiero joins Arab Digest editor William Law for a conversation about French President Emmanuel Macron's foreign policy initiatives in the Levant, North Africa and the Sahel and the growing rivalry between France and Turkey as they compete for a pre-eminent position in the MENA region. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to join t...

Author and energy expert Jim Krane @jimkrane joins Arab Digest editor William Law for a conversation about #nuclear reactors, #renewable energy, #ClimateChange and the future of #oil in the Gulf. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & podcasts.

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Dr Elisabeth Kendall, @Dr_E_Kendall, a Senior Research Fellow in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Oxford University’s Pembroke College. Dr Kendall is an expert on Yemen and on the jihadist organisations operating there. As the war grinds on into its sixth year, the conversation today focusses on ISIS and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - dangerous...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Cinzia Bianco, a visiting fellow at the European Council for Foreign Relations on the impact of America's diplomatic withdrawal from the MENA regions and who in the region and beyond are moving in to fill the vacuum Donald Trump's disregard has left behind. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily news...

As outside players continue to use Libya as a proxy battlefield, Arab Digest editor William Law is in conversation with Libya specialist Tarek Megerisi, a policy fellow with the North Africa and Middle East programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Is endless war the likely outcome of foreign powers' incessant meddling in Libya’s civil conflict? Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Kristian Coates Ulrichsen on the difficult, challenging and complex relations between Iran and their Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Dr Ulrichsen is a Middle East fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. His latest book is Qatar and the Gulf Crisis, published by Hurst. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org...

Lina Khatib, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, in conversation with Arab Digest editor William Law on the subject of young Arabs, leadership and the possibilities for change in the MENA region. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & podcasts.

After a price crash some modest gains as oil climbs back to $40. Arab Digest energy analyst Alastair Newton in a conversation with Digest editor William Law assesses where oil is headed and what the direction of travel means for the Saudi economy. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & podcasts.

Kuwaiti author and academic Dr Alanoud Alsharekh in conversation with Arab Digest editor William Law on the impact of social media influencers in the Gulf and the wider Middle East. Dr Alsharekh is director of Ibtkar Strategic Consultancy and an associate fellow of Chatham House's MENA region programme. Her latest publication is Love or Country: A Difficult Choice for women in Kuwait published by...

Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Karim Zidan an investigative journalist covering the intersection of sports, politics, and society for a number of outlets including the Guardian, Vox Media and HBO Real Sports. Karim discusses the Saudi attempt to purchase Newcastle United, Abu Dhabi's skillful manipulation of sport, Qatar and the 2020 World Cup and the curious links between Ult...

Neil Partrick joins Arab Digest editor William Law to talk about the Gulf States' relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Dr Partrick is a freelance writer and consultant on the Gulf and the wider Middle East and the lead contributor to the book “Saudi Foreign Policy: Conflict & Cooperation” published by IB Tauris. He blogs at https://www.neilpartrick.com/blog Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org...

Marc Owen Jones is Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies and Digital Humanities at Hamad bin Khalifa University in Doha. He scours the internet, forensically uncovering disinformation and deceit. Marc is the author of Political Repression in Bahrain published by Cambridge University Press. His latest book Disinformation in the Middle East published by Hurst and OUP will be available shortly....

Yahia Zoubir, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Centre, discusses Algeria and President Abdelmajid Tebboune. Is it a case of same old, same old or is a new Algeria emerging from the street protests known as the Hirak? Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & podcasts.

Former UK ambassador to the UN Sir Jeremy Greenstock explores the impact of two massive shocks to MENA and assesses the economic and political direction the region is headed toward post-pandemic. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & podcasts.

Ankara based political analyst Dr Ali Bakeer discusses the growing MENA grudge match between Turkey and the UAE. Sign up NOW at Arabdigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & podcasts.