On the Issues with Alon Ben-Meir

Today’s guest is Jason Pack, Senior Analyst for Emerging Challenges at the NATO Defense College Foundation and Associate Fellow at RUSI. He is the Host of the Disorder Podcast, and author of Libya and the Global Enduring Disorder. In this episode, Alon and Jason discuss the end of the post-WWII global order and the prevailing disorder since 2011, the loss of American leadership, the Memorandum of...

Today’s guest is Dr. Daniel Bar-Tal, Professor Emeritus at the School of Education, Tel Aviv University. Dr. Bar-Tal is a noted psychologist, who since the early eighties has focused on political psychology and the study of the socio-psychological foundations of intractable conflicts and peacebuilding, including reconciliation. In this episode, Alon and Daniel discuss differing narratives between...

Today’s guest is Elizabeth Hoffman, Executive Director, North America at ONE, a global, nonpartisan organization advocating for the investments needed to create economic opportunities and healthier lives in Africa. In this episode, Alon and Elizabeth discuss the background to the current civil war in Sudan, Elizabeth’s on-the-ground observations from her journey to the country earlier this year, t...

Today’s guest is Ambassador Patrick Theros, Strategic Advisor and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Gulf International Forum. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to the State of Qatar from 1995-1998, and from 1991-1993, served as the Political Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of Central Command (CENTCOM). In this episode, Alon and Ambassador Theros discuss the US-Israel-Iran war and the pending peac...

Today’s guest is Anne Speckhard, Director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism. She's an expert in rehabilitation and repatriation of terrorists and their families, and has consulted with foreign governments on issues of terrorist prevention, interventions and repatriation; and the rehabilitation and reintegration of ISIS foreign fighters, wives and children. Her latest b...

Today’s guest is Dimitris Eleas, a political scientist, writer, and independent researcher. His work explores the role of personality in the social-historical, philosophy, global politics, antisemitism, and modern history, with a particular focus on the Holocaust. In this episode, Alon and Dimitris discuss the repercussions of the October 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s retaliation, the rise of an...

Today’s guest is Lulzim Peci, principal founder and Executive Director of the Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development (KIPRED), and a member of the Board of the Council of Kosovo Ambassadors. In this episode, Alon and Lulzim discuss political instability in Kosovo, particularly as the country is set to return to the polls for the third time in less than 18 months. They discuss what l...

Today’s guest is Jane Olson, a noted humanitarian who has worked many decades as a volunteer promoting international peace and justice and humanitarian work. She has chaired the International Board of Trustees of Human Rights Watch, from 2004 to 2010, and chaired the board of Survivor Corps for 12 years since its founding as Landmine Survivors Network. In this episode, Alon and Jane discuss the cu...

Today’s guest is Katrina Fotovat, the former Principal Deputy Director in the Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, where she led a team of experts promoting women, peace, and security, countering violent extremism, promoting women’s economic empowerment, and combatting gender-based violence. In this episode, Alon and Kat discuss the critical work that has been done by the Office o...

Welcome to another episode of “On the Issues with Alon Ben-Meir.” Today’s guest is Asaf Romirowsky, a Middle East historian and Executive Director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East. In this episode, Alon and Asaf discuss Israeli and American interests behind the war in Iran and Iran’s role in regional instability, the war in Gaza, and how to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while ad...

Today’s guest is Samer Sinijlawi, a Palestinian political activist who calls for democracy and Palestinian political reforms, and the founding chairman of the Jerusalem Development Fund. In this episode, Alon and Samer discuss the future of the Palestinians in light of the current state of affairs, the need for new Palestinian leadership, and what Palestinians can do to build bridges and create di...

Today’s guest is Evaggelos Vallianatos, a historian, environmental strategist, and writer who has served as a visiting professor on environmental history and environmental regulation and politics at a number of universities. He worked for the US Environmental Protection Agency for 25 years, where he studied US agriculture and pest management practices and policies. In this episode, Alon and Evagge...

Today’s guest is Eric Margolis, an award-winning, internationally syndicated columnist. He appears as an expert on foreign affairs on CNN, BBC, France 2, France 24, Fox News, CTV, and CBC. In this episode, Alon and Eric discuss the ongoing war on Iran, including the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and ongoing negotiations to resolve the conflict, Trump’s and Netanyahu’s motivations behind the war...

Today’s guest is Yossef Ben-Meir, co-founder and president of the High Atlas Foundation, a Moroccan-US nongovernment organization dedicated to sustainable development. In this episode, Alon and Yossef discuss sustainable development in Morocco and the role the High Atlas Foundation has played in development. Particularly, they discuss the importance of water infrastructure in uplifting everyday Mo...

Welcome to another episode of “On the Issues with Alon Ben-Meir.” Today’s guest is Daoud Kuttab, an award-winning Palestinian journalist and former Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University. In this episode, Alon and Daoud discuss the deterioration of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process since the 1993 Oslo Accords, the failures of Israeli and Palestinian leaderships in the interveni...

Today’s guest is David Rabinowitz, a retired academic psychiatrist, previously working as Director of Ambulatory Mental Health services in the Division of Psychiatry Rambam Medical Campus, Haifa Israel. Outside of the mental health field, his main interest is the political psychology of the Israel-Palestine Conflict. In this episode, Alon and David discuss the Israeli perspective toward the curren...

On the Issues Episode 139: Elie Podeh by Alon Ben-Meir

Today’s guest is Marwan Muasher, vice president for studies at Carnegie, and former foreign minister and deputy prime minister of Jordan. In this episode, Alon and Marwan discuss Jordan’s reaction to the war against Iran, the impacts of Israel’s actions in the West Bank on Jordan, and what the future of Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab peace may look like. Full bio Marwan Muasher is vice presi...

Welcome to another episode of “On the Issues with Alon Ben-Meir.” Today’s guest is Abdülhamit Bilici, a veteran journalist, editor, commentator, and media executive with over 25 years of experience in journalism, editorial leadership, and international affairs. He served as CEO of Zaman Media Group until its seizure by the Turkish government in March 2016, after which he went into exile in the Uni...

Today’s guest is Dr. Wiola Rebecka, a Doctor of Psychology and human rights activist whose work focuses on the long-term consequences of conflict-related sexual violence. In this episode, Alon and Wiola discuss the issue of abducted Ukrainian children in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which now marks its 4th year. They discuss the magnitude of this crisis in terms of number of childr...

Today’s guest is Hafza Girdap, Spokesperson for Advocates of Silenced Turkey and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, Criminology and Anthropology at Hofstra University. In this episode, Alon and Hafza discuss the ten years since the attempted coup in Turkey in 2016, the countless human rights violations committed by the Erdogan government since then, and the status of women’s ri...

Today’s guest is Kiran Nazish, an award-winning journalist, professor, and founding director of the Coalition for Women in Journalism and Women Press Freedom. In this episode, Alon and Kiran discuss the state of press freedom in the United States and the transgressions that the Trump administration has committed against them; how the United States relates to other countries known as violators of p...

Since Trump reassumed the presidency, the rank and file of the Democrats have been busy criticizing, for good reason, Trump’s unhinged exercise of power. Given Trump’s onslaught on just about every norm of America’s political, cultural, and economic way of life, the Democrats cannot possibly exhaust the range of criticism they can level at Trump and the Republican Party that has enabled him. As th...

Today’s guest is Yaakov Katz, a journalist, author, and senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute. His newest book, co-authored with Amir Bohbot, is While Israel Slept – How Hamas Surprised the Most Powerful Military in the Middle East. In this episode, Alon and Yaakov discuss Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza and the “Trump factor” that has emerged in the peacemaking process; the nee...

Today’s guest is Michael Bedenbaugh, a political analyst and author, whose latest book, Reviving Our Republic: 95 Theses for the Future of America, argues the need for political renewal in the United States and presents recommendations for such reforms in a historical context. Mike’s diverse background includes five years of service in the US Navy, as well as previously serving as president and ex...