Middle East Analysis

Just over two years ago we started recording our 'Middle East Analysis' podcasts remotely. The pandemic rendered face-to-face interaction impossible. Now, joyously, we have returned to the studio for this month's offering. Dr Harry Hagopian, in the flesh, turns his legal and political mind to the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf States. April has been a month of regional summit meetings - most i...

In this Middle East Analysis podcast we're turning our attention to the on-going war in Ukraine and how the aftershocks are reverberating across Europe, down into the Middle East, across North Africa and through the Gulf States. Dr Harry Hagopian delivers the analysis and comment as usual and as an international lawyer with conflict resolution and Second Track diplomacy on his CV, he's well placed...

Today's Middle East Analysis podcast sees resident contributor Dr Harry Hagopian don his jabot and peruke, the white bib and curly wig of a barrister-at-law, as we examine the three main components of power: government (Executive), parliament (Legislature) and the judiciary (Courts). In the Middle East & North Africa, do we see a separation of these branches of power? How much authority can a judg...

How do you fit a year into an hour? Impossible, surely? Not so. As the voice of Middle East Analysis, Dr Harry Hagopian is charged with defying the laws of physics for you on this podcast. We're taking a different approach this time round. Rather than examining MENA matters at the top of the news agenda, we're taking you on a regional tour to discuss some of the key events of 2021 - from the Middl...

As the cold sets in here in the UK, we turn our attention to a region where something's always heating up. The three prongs to today's 'Middle East Analysis' podcast are the elections in Iraq, delayed from June, that have yielded some interesting results, the on-going, out-of-sight-out-of-mind conflict in Yemen - will the violence ever end and does the rest of the world care enough? Then we take a...

We're always gloriously counter-cultural, a little like the regions we discuss, but if you're looking at the image for this podcast you'll get a rare look at the faces of the two contributors - host James Abbott and the voice of Middle East Analysis Dr Harry Hagopian. In today's MEA podcast, the first after a short summer break, they discuss Qatar's role in the turbulent weeks of a transitional Af...

Dr Harry Hagopian's message on the one-year anniversary of the blasts that tore through the port in Lebanon's capital Beirut taking lives, livelihoods, hopes and aspirations with them.

If it looks like a coup and smells like a coup, it's a coup... right? Not so fast says Dr Harry Hagopian in this 'Middle East Analysis' podcast as we focus on Tunisia. When a president dismisses goverment, sacks the prime minister, blocks parliament and orders journalists to leave, surely we're witnessing the classic hallmarks of a coup d'état? Perhaps not. Once the dust had settled on a bold move...

New leaders are popping up all over the place in the Middle East and North Africa. Today's 'Middle East Analysis' is something of a presidential, prime ministerial and parliamentary podcast as we take a closer look at the newly or recently elected men (obviously) in the limelight. First to Iran and a man who could well be in line to succeed Supreme Leader Khamenei, President-elect Ebrahim Raisi. H...

This 'Middle East Analysis' can only have one topic up for discussion - the escalating violence between Israel and Palestine. Much has been said and written about the conflict and the nature of its seemingly never-ending cycle of attack and counter attack - not just in the physical sense but the political too. So many countries with so many vested interests look on. In the case of some states, it...

April's Middle East Analysis is squeaking in on the last day of the month. In its own way it carries some of the chaos of the region. Today we focus primarily on Jordan. It's a country close to the heart of our ever-present guest Dr Harry Hagopian. Why? Well, for starters he was born there. But there are other reasons you'll hear more about in our packed 70-minute podcast. What lies behind the roy...

This Middle East Analysis podcast is a one-hour journey through a variety of countries and regional realities. It's a podcast of questions - and questions need answers. To provide them, we look to Dr Harry Hagopian. He frequently tells us he's NOT a prophet - the region has plenty of those - but he IS an international lawyer, commentator and consultant on the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf reg...

Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, makes an historic visit to Iraq - the first by a Pope - from 5-8 March 2021. From Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda to ISIS, the footage beamed onto our screens has often been of terrorist attacks, conflict and destruction - all played out with the people of Iraq trying to survive in the middle. This is the first topic we cover on t...

Don't act the prophet and learn to bear the recurring disappointment of one false dawn after another. Two lessons I've learned the hard way after thirteen years of covering the realities of the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf regions with the knowledgeable and engaging Dr Harry Hagopian. Today's Middle East Analysis podcast, the first of 2021, actually has a positive feel to it in light of the...

Our last Middle East Analysis podcast of 2020 is out ten years to the day since the Tunisian street seller Mohamed Bouazizi self-immolated in frustration and despair triggering what came to be known as the Arab Spring. But what has changed and what have we learned in the last decade? Resident contributor Dr Harry Hagopian is once again in the chair, remotely, to discuss this and the fourth country...

'MENA Gulf 140' sees Dr Harry Hagopian given a mere 140 seconds per topic to discuss the often complex realities playing out in the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf regions. We touched on it last month but now the legal challenges and allegations of corruption surrounding the US Presidential election have amounted to very little, we expect Joe Biden in the White House from 20 January 2021. So th...

Today signals a new dawn for our Middle East Analysis podcasts. MEA continues after more than a decade but the format has changed. In this fast-paced era of online consumption, we're taking on our topics in a shorter, sharper way. Introducing 'MENA GULF 140'. So what is it? Well, inspired by the limit to the number of seconds of audio or film you can post to a certain popular micro-blogging platfo...

Dr Harry Hagopian, the voice of Middle East Analysis, is fluent in many languages. French? Doesn't even break sweat. For me it's more of a struggle but when reflecting on the horrific blast that ripped through Lebanon's capital Beirut, I found an oft-quoted phrase in my head "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose". It certainly seems that the more things change the more they stay the same for t...

This Middle East Analysis podcast takes our resident regional analyst, international lawyer Dr Harry Hagopian, around not just the Middle East but also North Africa. We start with a coronavirus update discussing the impact of COVID-19 on the MENA region and the Arab world. Then on to our sweep of country realities. Firstly it's the chaos and economic meltdown plaguing Lebanon - the beautiful land...

One of Dr Harry Hagopian's 'Intuitive Reactions' provides the meat in the sandwich of this 'Middle East Analysis - Extra' podcast. In December 2019, US President Donald Trump signed into law the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, also known as the Caesar Act, a piece of US legislation to sanction the Syrian government, including the president Bashar al-Assad, for war crimes against the Syrian p...

Middle East Analysis reverts back to something of its normal modus operandi for June's podcast as international lawyer and MENA consultant Dr Harry Hagopian joins us in semi pandemic lockdown to discuss three realities challenging the Middle East North Africa region. In just over ten minutes per segment, Dr Hagopian discusses the ongoing embargo of Qatar, the ever more dangerous regional conflict...

It's rather dangerous to assume anything in the Middle East North Africa region - least of all the shifting dynamics of the relationship between Israel and Palestine. One assumption is that, as early as 1 July, one of Israel's two unity government Prime Ministers, Benjamin Netanyahu, will announce the annexation of Palestinian land in the West Bank. At this point, any hope of a contiguous state fo...

The anxiety surrounding the fast-spreading coronavirus COVID-19 is completely understandable. It's the lead headline in many a news context. So what's the impact on the Middle East North Africa region? The situation in Iran is well documented. Egypt has confirmed its first death - the first in Africa. Iraq and Yemen are already debilitated so any further strain on beleaguered resources will cost l...

The so-called 'Deal of the Century' has been released - US President Donald Trump's road map to peace for Israelis and Palestinians. Peace to Prosperity, as it's called, has been widely criticised as one-sided and, to those campaigning for self-determination for the Palestinian people - no deal at all. Dr Harry Hagopian is our regular studio guest for Middle East Analysis. Harry cut his political...

Just another new decade in the Middle East North Africa region. This 45-minute Middle East Analysis podcast, the first of 2020, is titled in a way that makes you think of a rhythmic children’s pat-a-cake game or a mnemonic device for remembering something important. Actually a lot of today’s topical discussion with international lawyer and regional commentator Dr Harry Hagopian falls under one or...