Arab Tyrant Manual Podcast

Sudan is in the middle of an uprising. That alone is notable, but Sudan is also one of the most fascinating and under-studied countries in the region, and has had more successful uprisings than any other country in the MENA region. In this episode, Ahmed @gatnash and @Anas_Abdalla take a historical dive into all the steps that have led to this juncture, from the lightest to the dark - from indepen...

In this very special episode, we go through the history of our project from the early days of the Arab Spring through to the present. Our project is a child of the Arab spring, and if you're interested in the evolution of resistance, this is a must listen. On this New Year's Eve we're also taking a big step forward in launching our Patreon, which we hope will allow us to scale up, institutionalise...

Ahmed and Iyad discuss the aftermath of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and current narratives around authoritarianism in the Middle East. Has Mohammed Bin Salman won? Is the Arab spring over? Is the current state of repression in the Arab world a sustainable "new normal"? Mentioned in the episode: The Arab Winter is Coming - Hassan Hassan https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/where-us-m...

Jamal Khashoggi, the veteran Saudi journalist and former royal advisor, is missing and presumed kidnapped. He was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. In this episode we replay a conversation Jamal had with Ahmed, Iyad and Nasser at the Oslo Freedom Forum earlier this year to understand more about Jamal and why this might be happening. More information from the Washington Post: http...

Where in the world could you find out that your deceased grandfather voted in a constitutional referendum 3 years after he died? In this episode, Ahmed and Nasser discuss the recent elections in Mauritania, in which an empowered opposition threaten to undo President Ould Abdelaziz' hopes for a constitutional amendment to allow himself third turn. Nasser's (extremely long) Twitter thread, on which...

How do you get one of the world's most beloved ex-footballers to speak out about an innocent political prisoner in Iran? In this episode (part 2 of a 2-part show), Iyad El-Baghdadi and Maryam Nayeb Yazdi talk about a campaign they ran for Arash Sadeghi, and what activists can learn from it. Maryam can be found on Twitter at @MaryamNayebYazd. Iyad and Ahmed can be found at @iyad_elbaghdadi and @gat...

In this episode (part 1 of another 2-part show), Iyad El-Baghdadi (Twitter: @iyad_elbaghdadi) interviews Maryam Nayeb Yazdi (Twitter: @MaryamNayebYazd), a Canadian-Iranian human rights activist, about her journey into activism, and she tells us more about the country since 2009. Maryam has joined the team of HRANA, who publicise human rights news from Iran, and you should follow them too - their T...

A discussion between Belabbes Benkredda, Founding Director of the Munathara Initiative, and Iyad El-Baghdadi, Nasser Weddady and Ahmed Gatnash, on the public sphere, what teaching young people to debate can do for the world, and how to normalise civilised exchange of ideas and evaluation of them on their merits. Belabbes is currently Senior Research Scholar at Yale Law School's Information Society...

Part 2 of the conversation with Buzzfeed News' Megha Rajagopalan, continuing the discussion on China but also touching on the effects of Facebook on various South Asian countries like Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, including amplifying communal violence, and inadvertently empowering autocrats. The BBC video mentioned near the end of the episode: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1HdCIW2Xtk You can find M...

Part 1 of a meandering conversation between Ahmed and Megha Rajagopalan, BuzzFeed News' China bureau chief and Asia correspondent, about surveillance and censorship in China - the high-tech police state they've built, WeChat and other tech companies, Chinese memes, the effect it's having on other south Asian countries, as well as comparisons and contrasts to Arab states. You can find Megha on Twit...

We attended the Oslo Freedom Forum last month. Ahmed (@Gatnash) sat down with Alex Gladstein (@Gladstein) to get an introduction to the forum, and speak about their goals and some of their achievements, as well as some of Alex's research on dictatorships use of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and other development statistics. You can follow Alex on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gladstein Some...

In this conversation, Ahmed and Nasser discuss the Catch-22 of economic reform in the Arab World - the conflicting pressures on regional governments from established business interests and burgeoning youth populations create a true 'rock and a hard place' and allow us to understand much better the situation in Jordan, as well as the economic reforms in Saudi Arabia and possibly even predict what's...

An emergency episode about the 9 women's rights activists arrested in Saudi Arabia in the last week. They are: Dr Eman al-Nafjan, Loujain al-Hathloul, Dr Aisha al-Mana', Dr Madeha Al-Ajroush, Professor Aziza Al-Yousef, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Modaimeegh, Mohammad Al-Rabea and Abdulaziz Al-Mesha’al. You can find out more about them here, courtesy of Al-Qst, the Saudi human rights abuses monitoring organisat...

In this experimental episode format, Iyad gives his take on the dynamics of the UAE-Saudi alliance and the possibility of fractures appearing. Let us know your thoughts, and join the conversation on #ArabTyrantManual

A wide-ranging conversation in which Ahmed Gatnash and guest Nasser Weddady, touching on American air strikes on Syria, coup-proofing, Syrian regime relations with Nazis, emergent models of digital surveillance in China and the gulf, the Arab league, the perks of allying with authoritarian regimes and the long-term prospects of the Arab world. Find us on twitter at @Gatnash and @Weddady, and join...

Iyad El-Baghdadi and Ahmed Gatnash discuss nonviolent resistance to oppression - realistic mechanism of change or idealistic and ineffective? What is it, and how does it apply to different struggles today? Got any thoughts or questions? Tweet us @iyad_elbaghdadi, @gatnash. #ArabTyrantManual

Ahmed and Iyad talk about #globalpeace17 and Muslim scholars who legitimise and support tyrants. Why they do so, and what does this mean both for the Muslim world and for Islam? People mentioned in this episode: Womens rights activists Loujain alhathloul and Masyaa Al Amoudi (@LoujainHathloul and @maysaaX), Salman al-Odah (@salman_alodah), Hassan Farhan al-Maliki (@HsnFrhanALmalki), Mustafa Akyol...

Ahmed and Iyad discuss the protests in Iran, what they're about, and what they mean for the future. Mentioned in this episode: Jamal Khashoggi's article on Saudi's response: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/01/03/why-saudi-arabias-crown-prince-should-be-worried-about-irans-protests/?utm_term=.ac5f657069b0 And Iran activist Maryam Nayeb Yazdi: https://twitter.com/maryamna...

In episode 2, Ahmed and Iyad continue the discussion on Saudi Arabia. Obama's legacy, what's behind it's regional rivalry with Iran, and how can their historical differences tell us more about their wordviews. How can we fix the crises we're in at the moment? Got any thoughts or questions? Tweet us @iyad_elbaghdadi, @gatnash. #ArabTyrantManual

In our first episode, Iyad and Ahmed discuss the recent events in Saudi Arabia, and what Mohammed bin Salman's reforms mean in context. Got any thoughts? Tweet us @iyad_elbaghdadi, @gatnash. #ArabTyrantManual