East to West | Voices of the Middle East

In this episode of East to West , Balig Sladeen talks with David Daoud , Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), about the country where his story began. From memories of his childhood and leaving Lebanon, to building a life in Israel and later the United States, David shares how those experiences shaped his identity and the way he understands Lebanon today. It's a pe...

What do you say when the regime you're negotiating with is the same regime that executed your father? In this powerful episode of East to West , host Balig Sladeen sits down with Gazelle Sharmad , a German-American freedom advocate whose father, Jamshid Sharmad, was kidnapped and executed by the Iranian regime. For Gazelle, this isn't a policy debate. It's deeply personal. She shares h...

In this hard-hitting interview, JCFA Senior Researcher Ella Rosenberg joins the studio to break down the complex web of the regime's financial survival. From the shadow fleets in the Strait of Hormuz to the dark realities of human trafficking and crypto-laundering, this conversation reveals how the IRGC maintains its grip on power despite crushing international sanctions and global pressure.

In this new episode, Dan Catarivas, Senior Advisor on International Relations at the Manufacturers Association of Israel, reflects on his extraordinary time living and working in Beirut during the early 1980s. Speaking with host Balig Sladeen at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, he shares memories of daily life inside Israel’s liaison office in Lebanon, the unexpected relation...

Growing up in Morocco in the 90s, Mustapha Ezzarghani , a Moroccan American peace activist describes being "fed wrong propaganda" by media outlets that glorified suicide bømbers as heroes. He opens up about a time when he wished he could be one of those "heroes" defending his religion against an "evil enemy."Everything changed when he met a Berber mother in the mounta...

In this episode of East to West, host Balig Sladeen sits down with Jason Greenblatt, JCFA Senior Researcher and Former Special Envoy for the Middle East under President Trump for an inside look at the recent war and what it means for the entire region. We explore how Trump's Iran strategy shifted from Maximum Pressure in the first administration to full military action today, and what drove th...

The bombs are falling, the IRGC is "incapacitated," and 20,000 targets have been neutralized, so why hasn't the regime collapsed? In this high-stakes episode of East to West with Balig Sladeen, Mehrdad Youssefiani reveals the terrifying reality of Iran’s "autopilot" command centers. We move past the military stats to expose why the regime is actually using the war to fuel i...

Did Iran make a strategic mistake by targeting the Gulf? In this episode of “East to West”, Balig Sladeen speaks with Zineb Riboua, a research fellow at the Hudson institute, about how the war could backfire on Tehran, pushing Gulf states closer to the U.S. and even Israel, and undermining years of Iranian influence in the region. We discuss why Gulf states may abandon attempts to balance or conta...

In this episode of East to West, Balig Sladeen is joined by Prof. Danny Orbach, military historian and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, to examine the war with Iran through a historical and strategic lens. Iran spent years building a network of proxies designed to surround Israel in what has been described as a “ring of fire.” But following the events of October 7, that strategy ma...

In this episode of East to West, Balig Sladeen sits down with Elyana Elyan, a Kurdish political analyst, to unpack the story of Iran’s Kurds, from decades of repression to the protests sparked by Jina Amini. They break down whether Kurdish groups could play a major role if the Iranian regime weakens, what Kurdish parties actually want, and why the region, and powers like the U.S., Israel, and Turk...

In this episode of East to West, JCFA expert, Ella Rosenberg, breaks down with Balig Sladeen how Tehran is making "every single mistake possible" by attacking GCC energy sources and closing maritime straits. They explore how the US and Sunni states are gaining total control over Middle Eastern energy and what a potential "Middle Eastern Union" could mean for the future.

Vahid Beheshti, a political activist and the founder of Iran Front, joins East to West with Balig Sladeen to chat about the current situation in the Middle East and the conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran. Beheshti dives into the situation in Iran, talking about the potential for a new secular democratic system in Iran focused on human rights and social justice.

Türkü Avci, a Muslim Turkish woman and a Zionist studying in Israel, joins East to West with Balig Sladeen to discuss her life, her Muslim-Zionist identity, and the dramatic changes taking place in Turkey. When she publicly identified as a Zionist, the video went viral in Turkey, leading to an arrest warrant from the Turkish government. Turku shares her story of growing up in a secular Turkey, her...

In this episode of East to West, Balig Sladeen speaks with Dr. Dan Diker, President of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, about the strategic questions shaping Gaza and the wider region. The conversation looks at post-conflict governance, regional power dynamics, the U.S.-Israel partnership, and the broader Middle East context, including Iran and regional security consideration...

In this episode of East to West, host Balig Sladeen sits down with Elyana Elyan, a Kurdish political analyst and activist, to talk about what’s happening to the Kurds, and why it suddenly matters more than ever. They discuss who the Kurds are, why they remain stateless, what’s unfolding in northern Syria today, and how years of conflict have shaped Kurdish life across the region. Iliyana explains...

In this episode of East to West, host Balig Sladeen speaks with Soraya Dean, a Muslim lawyer and activist, about what is being taught in mosques, the spread of antisemitism, and why condemnation without action has failed. Dean explains why Muslim leadership must confront these teachings directly and why recognizing Israel’s right to exist is unavoidable.

In this episode of East to West, Balig Sladeen speaks with Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, an expert on Turkey at the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, about Turkey’s expanding role in the Middle East and its growing challenge to Israel’s security. The conversation examines Ankara’s post–October 7 shift toward Hamas, its neo-Ottoman ambitions in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and beyond, and why Isra...

Iran is facing one of its most dangerous internal moments in decades. As protests spread, infrastructure collapses and the currency plunges, the regime is struggling to contain public anger, while still pouring resources into missiles, proxies and nuclear ambitions. In this episode of East to West, host Balig Sladeen is joined by Ella Rosenberg, Senior Fellow on Counter Terrorism Financing at the...

Israel has formally recognized Somaliland, a self-governing region in the Horn of Africa. In this episode of East to West, host Balig Sladeen speaks with Mostafa Hasan, former Director of Intelligence of Somaliland, about the legal basis for Somaliland’s statehood, the strategic interests behind Israel’s decision, and the potential implications for regional security, diplomacy, and stability in th...

In this episode of East to West, Balig Sladeen speaks with Dean Shmuel Elmas, reporter and geopolitics analyst at Globes, about Israel’s evolving strategic reality after two years of war. From Iran’s weakening proxy network to Turkey’s growing influence in Syria, Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean, the conversation explores new regional threats, shifting alliances, and why Israel can no longer...

In this episode of East to West, Balig Sladeen speaks with Dr. Charles Jacobs, President of the Jewish Leadership Project, author, and longtime activist, on the ideological shifts that have shaped American public opinion over the past two decades. He explains how narratives formed in academia and media gradually filtered into mainstream culture, influencing how Israel, Zionism, and Jewish communit...

In this episode of East to West, host Balig Sladeen sits down with Ella Rosenberg, an expert on the Iranian economy with extensive experience analyzing financial systems and capital movements, to understand how do they survive decades of crippling sanctions? Ella Rosenberg, whose research focuses on how funds are transferred from the Iranian regime to European countries explains that the Western i...

In this powerful episode of East to West, host Balig Sladeen sits down with Pastor Dumisani Washington, founder of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel, to tackle a topic few dare to touch: how the Black community in America and across the world really views Israel and the Jewish people — and how that story changed over time.

In this explosive episode of East to West, host Balig Sladeen sits down with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Gaza-born analyst who speaks openly about the one topic everyone avoids: what people in Gaza REALLY think about Hamas. No slogans. No propaganda. Just personal experience, raw emotion, and truths that rarely escape the region. Ahmed shares what friends, relatives, and civilians whisper behind close...

Decades after World War II, Israel’s Mossad made a shocking decision: to reach out not to kill, but to recruit one of Hitler’s most infamous commandos, Otto Skorzeny. What drove this extraordinary move, and what does it reveal about espionage, morality, and survival in the shadow of history? In this episode of East to West, host Sarah Martinez Amir speaks with Oded Ailam, a former senior Mossad of...