CMEC podcast

CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie talks to Air Marshal Martin "Sammy" Sampson CBE DSO, experienced fighter jet pilot and military-diplomat extraordinaire to the Middle East and North Africa. Air Marshal Sampson's official job title is UK Defence Senior Advisor Middle East North Africa (DSAME) and visits countries throughout MENA. He is also the Armed Forces Muslim Champion and Trustee of the National...

CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie attends the IISS Manama Dialogue 2023 (@IISS_org) - at one of the gravest times of crisis for the Middle East- the Gaza-Israel conflict that began with the October 7th terror attacks by Hamas on Israel. Charlotte talks to two influential and experienced observers of the region, His Excellency Mr. Hossam Zaki, the Assistant General Secretary of the Arab League, and Ba...

Charlotte Leslie, the Director of CMEC, talks about the conflict in #Gaza to Gershon Baskin, distinguished former hostage negotiator with Hamas and Israel and the Middle East director of the International Communities Organisation. Gershon was involved in the negotiations over Gilad Shalit - the Israeli soldier held hostage in Gaza by Hamas for more than 5 years. Shalit was later released in exchan...

CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie speaks to the award-winning journalist, Gareth Browne, from Ramallah, in the West Bank, the Occupied Palestinian Territories. As the world's eyes are fixed on the Gaza Strip, events in the West Bank are moving fast. At time of broadcast, 140 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in the West Bank. We look at the unfolding situation there, the war in Gaza, and the wi...

Charlotte Leslie, Director of CMEC, talks to Thomas Helm, the Jerusalem Correspondent for The National, the distinguished English language daily based in Abu Dhabi, about the recent tragedy and conflict in Israel and Gaza. Tom talks about the growing crisis on the ground in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) and the context of the latest conflict that began with the shocking te...

The UK government estimates that a UK-GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) could increase trade by 16 per cent. But FTAs do not come easy. The European Union has been negotiating with the GCC since 1990. Can Britain seal a deal that works at all levels? We talk to those at the front line of navigating the challenges. Speakers: Moderator: Nour Al Ali - Bloomberg News Lord Johns...

Charlotte Leslie, Director of CMEC, introduces the 2nd of a series of 4 debates at the 2023 Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. The Rt Hon Alistair Burt, the highly-respected two-time Minister of State for the Middle East, chairs the debate with two eminent guests - Con Coughlin, the Defence Editor of The Telegraph, and Shayan Talabany, an analyst at the Tony Blair Institute. The panel di...

Charlotte Leslie, Director of CMEC, chairs the first of of 4 of CMEC's CPC'23 debate series: "Who's BRIC-ing it? Can NATO and the West maintain relevance in the MENA region?" Saudi-Iran rapprochement, China stepping up its deal-making diplomacy in MENA, the rise and expansion of BRICS influence, the possibility of de-dollarisation. As tectonic plates shift, CMEC brings together world experts to di...

Charlotte Leslie, Director of CMEC, leads a delegation of 5 British parliamentarians to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a bastion of stability in the Middle East, and a valued and important ally of the United Kingdom. Jordan faces a number of challenges. It is bearing the brunt of the region's refugee crisis - with 1.3 million Syrian refugees. The Kingdom is also having to deal with a serious wat...

The prospects for peace and a two state solution for Palestinians and Israelis have never looked so bleak. Benjamin Netanyahu leads a controversial government dominated by far right and ultra nationalist ministers clearly ill-disposed opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state. CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie takes stock on the current situation with two activists, one an Israeli and the o...

Con Coughlin, The Telegraph's Defence Editor and author, talks to CMEC's Director Charlotte Leslie about his new book The Triumph of Tyranny. This fascinating and insightful book published by Pan Macmillan lifts the lid on the brutal Assad regime which has been in power in Syria for 53 years. With decades of reporting experience in the Middle East, Con Coughlin explains the family's rise to power...

This podcast tells the remarkable story of how a theatre company - the Khaleej Aden theatre troupe - brought William Shakespeare's Hamlet to war-torn Yemen, and provides a valuable insight into Yemenis living with war. CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie talks to the Aden-based film and theatre director, Amr Gamal, about the challenges in putting on the production, the war in Yemen and the yearning Yem...

This podcast covers the #NAKBA 75 Commemoration at Westminster Central Hall on May 12th 2023 that was led by H.E Dr Husam Zomlot, the Palestine Ambassador to London. Other speakers included the Rt Hon Crispin Blunt MP, Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur, The Rt Hon Layla Moran MP, The Rt Hon Bambos Charalambous MP & Dr Aimee Shalan, Chair of the British Palestine Committee.

CMEC's Director Charlotte Leslie talks to Roger Macmillan, Director of Safety & Security at Iran International, an independent Persian speaking news service. Roger Macmillan talks about the sustained campaign of threats and intimidation waged by the regime against staff at Iran International, which has reported fearlessly on the extensive human rights abuses in Iran. Iran has accused Iran Internat...

CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie - at the IISS Manama Dialogue '22 - talks to CMEC's Honorary President, Lord Soames, (pictured, left) to Sir Alan Duncan KCMG, former Foreign Office minister and former CMEC chairman, to HE Roddy Drummond, UK's Ambassador to Bahrain, and to Iain Lindsay OBE, a former ambassador to Bahrain and advisor to the Bahrain Economic Development board. Topics include the Russi...

CMEC`'s Director Charlotte Leslie interviews Matthias Burchard, the Representative to the EU of the UN Relief & Works Agency (UNRWA), about the critical role played by the Agency in looking after 5.8 million Palestinian refugees. Mr Burchard explains the vital work of the UNRWA which provides, health, education and social care services across the region for Palestinian refugees, and robustly defen...

CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie chairs the 2022 CMEC Party Conference Event on the impact on the Middle East of Russia's illegal war against Ukraine - with special guests and Middle East experts Lt. Gen. Sir Simon Mayall, Baria Alamuddin, the celebrated author and columnist, and Dr Ziya Meral, Director for Research and Programmes and Head of Strategic Studies at the Centre for Historical Analysis a...

Lt General (Ret.d) Sir Simon Mayall KBE CB reflects on his childhood in Yemen and a remarkable military career that was interwoven with the last tumultuous half century of the Middle East and North Africa. In this podcast interview by CMEC's Director Charlotte Leslie, Sir Simon talks about his time as a Soldier in the Sand, the title of his book, which is very much a personal history but one that...

This is the third in a series of CMEC podcasts on Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy – being done in conjunction with the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies based in Saudi Arabia. At the heart of Vision 2030 is Neom, the astonishing and carbon neutral city being built along the Red Sea Coast in northern Saudi Arabia. It has been described as the Kingdom's "new oil". CMEC's Direct...

In the third of a series of CMEC podcasts on Turkey, CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie talks Turkey with Dr Ziya Meral, a senior associate fellow at RUSI, as well as being a programmes director specialising in global trends shaping defence and security, politics and foreign policies of Turkey and the Middle East. Since Russia began its attack on Ukraine in late February, Turkey has assumed an even gr...

Chris Doyle has - for 20 years - been the Director of Caabu, the Council for Arab-British Understanding. An Arabist by education and background, Chris is a respected commentator on the Arab World and on the issue of Palestine in particular. Chris talks to CMEC's Director Charlotte Leslie about the impact of the war in Ukraine on the Middle East and the way Arabs interpret the reaction of the West...

CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie talks to Peter Millett CMG, who was, from 2015, for 3 years, the UK's Ambassador to the troubled and war-torn country of Libya. Chaos and civil war has wracked Libya since 2011 and the fall and death of the dictator Colonel Mu'ammar Gaddafi. Warring rival governments were established in the East and West and militias have fought for control of the country's resources...

Prime Minister Theresa May praises CMEC's "vital" work by CMEC

Prime Minister Theresa May congratulates CMEC on its forthcoming 40th anniversary and "its vital work" in the region, and its role in creating a more peaceful and prosperous world"

Almost 19 years after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, CMEC's Charlotte Leslie interviews senior Iraqi official Mr Mohamed al-Daraji about the necessity of maintaining security in Iraq. Mr Al-Daraji - the President of the country's National Defence Industries Commission, effectively Iraq's arms department - speaks candidly about the current security and political challenges facing Iraq, particularly fol...