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Message Heard

An ex-Al Qaeda jihadi turned MI6 spy and a former monk turned filmmaker, have been embedded at the heart of conflicts in the Middle East. Together Aimen Dean and Thomas Small unpack the realities of war, fundamentalism and their global implications through first-hand experience.

CONFLICTED

After the peace talks in Islamabad fail as expected, the United States adopts Plan B: a complete blockade of all Iranian maritime trade. Aimen explains this latest move in the Iran War.

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

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And Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.
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America Blockades Iran

Aimen does his best to explain the sudden and somewhat unexpected ceasefire between the United States and Iran which was announced early on Tuesday.

Aimen and Thomas discuss:

 Pakistan's role: what game are they playing?

 Russia's delicate balancing act between Iran and the GCC

 How GCC leaders cope with President Trump's erratic shifts in messaging and policy

 Did Netanyahu know about the ceasefire in advance?

 The potential coup in Lebanon which Israel's intervention stopped

 Whether Lebanon is included in the ceasefire or not

 What U.S. military hardware is on its way to the region

 Why European politicians and diplomats still support containment when it comes to Iran while being gung-ho against Russia

 How energy dependence helps explain the posture of Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey

 How the Islamabad talks between Vance and Ghalibaf are likely to go down

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Iran War: Will the Ceasefire Hold?

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to journalist Oliver Bollough about his illuminating new book ⁠Everybody Loves Our Dollars: How Money Laundering Won⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Oliver and Thomas discuss:

 Iranian oil money flowing into London property

 Russian oligarch wealth parked in Western banks

 Al Capone to Miami: evolution of money laundering

 Jeffrey Epstein and elite financial fixers network

 $100 bills fuelling global criminal cash economy

 White House insiders profiting from crypto and stablecoins

 Chinese gangs laundering cartel money worldwide

 Hawala and ancient trade-based money transfer systems

Find Oliver on Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/olbullough/⁠

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Find Conflicted on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠

And Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠

And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠⁠⁠

And YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sdlF1mY5t4⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠⁠⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced by Thomas Small and edited by Lizzy Andrews.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How Money Laundering Took Over the World

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to journalist and author Anand Gopal about his wonderful new book Days of Love and Rage, a profoundly moving and intellectually stimulating history of the Syrian revolution told from the perspective of the northern town of Manbij.

Anand and Thomas discuss:

 Anand's first-hand witnessing of 9/11

 How Anand embedded with the Taliban

 Revolution as a crisis of faith and collapse of social reality

 Manbij as a microcosm of the tensions of Syrian modernity

 The failure of Manbij's democratic experiment and the limits of liberalism

 How ISIS exploited both material grievances and liberal norms

 Baathism: egalitarian ethos vs authoritarian reality

Find Gopal on X: https://x.com/Anand_Gopal

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm⁠ 

Find Conflicted on X: ⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠

And Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠

And Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠

And YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sdlF1mY5t4⁠ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced by Thomas Small and edited by Lizzy Andrews.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why Freedom Failed in Syria

As all sides in the Iran War escalate their attacks, another spectre looms on the horizon: Iran-backed sleeper cell agents across the world launching terrorist attacks against strategic assets — including in the West. Aimen opens the lid on this little-known dimension of the IRGC's activity.

Aimen and Thomas discuss:

 How the U.S. will deal with the problem of Bandar Abbas before launching an amphibious assault on islands in the Gulf

 The recent escalation: the Houthis join the war, an AWACS plane destroyed in Saudi Arabia, a desalination plant attacked in Kuwait

 The history of the sleeper cell as a tool of revolutionary subversion

 The five types of Iranian sleeper cell

 Aimen's experience embedded in sleeper cells as a double agent

 How Iranian sleeper cells launder money

 The prevalence of sleeper cells in South America

 Aimen's work investigating the finances of sleeper cells

 How London restaurants are secret IRGC fronts

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

IRGC Sleeper Cells: The Inside Story

Aimen's back after a few days away uncovering the secret info and true motivations behind the Iran War.

Today he and Thomas focus on the Lebanon front in the war, telling the story of how the Lebanese state was progressively undermined over several decades, as non-state actors acted like a cancer on the body politic — with the largest tumour being, of course, Hezbollah. 

Aimen and Thomas discuss:

 The method behind the madness of Pres. Trump's chaotic messaging.

 The likelihood of a U.S. assault on Iran's islands in the Gulf.

 Whether Gulf leaders are really egging the U.S. on to bring an end to the regime.

 The U.S.'s objective of 'regime destruction' and how that differs from 'regime change'.

 The failure of energy traders to price risk properly.

 Abdul Malik al-Houthi's speech on 26 March and what it reveals about his intentions

 The long history of Lebanon's experience of militant non-state actors and foreign intervention

 How Hezbollah was able to re-arm and re-build after the catastrophe of autumn 2024.

 How deep corruption within the Lebanese government and military is preventing the state from disbanding Hezbollah.

 What to think about all those seasoned analysts who are convinced that America will lose this war.

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠

And Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠

And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠⁠⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can Lebanon Ever Be Free of Hezbollah?

Aimen has been called away for important last-minute insider meetings, so sitting in for him on today's episode is Nadwa Al-Dawsari, veteran researcher, conflict analyst, and policy advisor with 20 years of field experience in Yemen and the broader Middle East.

Nadwa and Thomas discuss:

 How Yemeni tribalism really works

 The IRGC agents who are in control of Houthi war policy

 Houthi eschatological beliefs

 When the Houthis are likely to join the Iran War in force

 What the military capabilities of the Houthis really are

 The long shadow of the Stockholm Agreement

 Houthi techniques of indoctrination and control

 The growing Houthi presence in the Horn of Africa

 How the Houthis and Al Qaeda are now effectively allies

 Why Western decision-makers get the Middle East so disastrously wrong

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Find Nadwa on X: ⁠⁠https://x.com/Ndawsari⁠⁠

Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Will Iran Play the Houthi Card?

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to Harvard professor Sven Beckert about his new book Capitalism: A Global History.

Sven explains:

 Why the history of capitalism matters for understanding the present

 How most histories of capitalism are too Eurocentric

 How merchant communities in the medieval Muslim world and other regions laid the foundations of capitalism

 How European merchants learned from and interacted with merchants in the Muslim world

 Trust networks in global trade, including family, religious, and city-based merchant networks

 How capitalism and state power grew together

 European divergence: why Europe became central to capitalism

 Effects of Ottoman control and European geopolitical weakness on Atlantic expansion

 Role of conquest, slavery, and colonial expansion in building capitalist societies

 Tension between capitalism’s drive for unlimited growth and nature’s limits

 Challenges to neoliberalism from the left and the populist right

Find Sven on Bluesky: @svenbeckert.bsky.social

Visit Sven’s personal website: svenbeckert.com

Join the Conflicted Community here: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm 

Find Conflicted on X: https://x.com/MHconflicted

And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted

And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod

And YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sdlF1mY5t4 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced and edited by Thomas Small.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Capitalism Is Not What You Think

All eyes are on the Strait of Hormuz and Kharg Island as the United States and its allies struggle to wrest full control of the Arabo-Persian Gulf from the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Aimen and Thomas lay out the whole story of this geostrategically vital region, from ancient times all the way up to this very morning—explaining why this war is happening, and how it is almost certainly to end. 

Aimen and Thomas discuss:

 How the Strait of Hormuz caused Noah's Flood

 The medieval Kingdom of Hormuz

 How the Gulf is always caught up in the Iranian plateau's endless boom-and-bust political cycle 

 How Europeans staked a claim on Hormuz in 1507—and never really left

 The fact that the U.S. did indeed go into this war with a plan for Hormuz

 How the U.S. will take Kharg Island—and what they will do with it

 The ingenuity of Gulf Arab leadership in planning workarounds for the eventuality of the Strait being closed

 How European powers and other allies are really contributing to the war effort

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠ 

Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠

And Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠

And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Strait of Hormuz and Kharg Island: How America Intends to Win This War

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks with Ali Ansari, Professor of Modern Middle East History at the University of St Andrews.

Prof. Ansari discusses:

 The depth and antiquity of Iranian culture

 His childhood experiences inside the Shah's inner circle

 The Shah's biggest mistake

 How the revolution could have better built upon what it inherited

 The huge incompetence and corruption that has undermined Iran's political economy

 How the new Supreme Leader is the IRGC's man

 The clarity of America's military aims alongside the opacity of its political aims

 The real weaknesses of the Iran Nuclear Deal

 How Iranians inside Iran feel about the regime and the war

Follow Prof. Ansari on X: ⁠https://x.com/aa51_ansari

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm ⁠

Find Conflicted on X: ⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠

And Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠

And Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠

And YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sdlF1mY5t4⁠ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced and edited by Thomas Small.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

IRGC Sleeper Cells: The Inside Story

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