We’ve finally reached the climax of the Cold War in the Middle East: the 6-Day War of 1967 and its dramatic sequel, the Yom Kippur War of 1973. The outcomes of both wars are well known; less so the political machinations leading up to them. We’ll do our best to take you behind the scenes of the corridors of power and into the minds of Arab and Israeli leaders. No one wanted war, yet war arrived. Why? These two wars were transformative: Nasserism was out and radicalism was in, and in the ongoing clash of civilisations in the Middle East, a new and improved player emerged from the wreckage of war: radical Islamism.Listen to exclusive bonus content and get all episodes ad-free by subscribing to Conflicted Extra on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for just 99p/month.Join our FB Discussion group to get exclusive updates: https://www.facebook.com/groups/450486135832418Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflictedAnd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflictedJoin the Conflicted Community hub on Discord to discuss all things Conflicted with fellow dear listeners, get exclusive content, bonus episodes and ad-free listening. Register your interest through the link: http://www.levellr.com/conflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dive into the intriguing world of the Hashemite dynasty, tracing its roots from the Ottoman Empire to modern-day politics. Discover the ideological clash between monarchism and republication amid ongoing tensions over the Temple Mount. Explore the complex identity of Iraq through the lens of sociologist Ali Alwardi and the tumultuous journey to independence. Learn about key figures like Nuri al-Said and the aftermath of the assassination of King Abdullah I, revealing the profound impact on Arab nationalism and the evolving landscape of the region.

Dive into the complexities of Syria's enduring conflict, often seen as a battleground for global powers. Explore the historical tapestry that shaped this diverse nation, influenced by superpowers like Iran and Russia. Discover the significance of Kurdish regions amidst territorial divisions. The discussion navigates through past colonial legacies and the rise of national identities, while also reflecting on Cold War dynamics. Uncover how Syria's intricate geopolitics affects its modern struggles and ambitions.

Before the next episode, we have something a little different for your ears - an introduction to a whole new podcast - Behind the Sun.In Behind the Sun, Nadia, a young Syrian woman in the diaspora, struggles to come to terms with what the world knows about what’s happening in her country. She speaks with Riyad - her father's friend - whom she had first met in the strangest of circumstances.In episode 1, Nadia and Riyad explore the true meaning of "safety and justice" in Syria. He tells her the story of his disappearance in Syria for 21 years and how he formed a close friendship with Diab between the walls of the infamous prison Sednaya. Behind the Sun is co-produced by Message Heard and The Syria Campaign, in collaboration with the Association of Detainees and the Missing (ADMSP) and the Syrian Center for Justice and Accountability (SJAC) under its project On the Margins No More.Subscribe to Behind the Sun wherever you get your podcasts. Episodes out weekly.Join the Conflicted Community hub on Discord to discuss all things Conflicted with fellow dear listeners, get exclusive content, bonus episodes and ad-free listening. Register your interest through the link: http://www.levellr.com/conflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The hosts dive into the complex historical roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, tracing back to the Bronze Age and the late-Ottoman period. They discuss the surprising rapprochement between Arab states and Israel against a common adversary: Iran. Water security issues are explored, particularly in the context of regional unrest. Additionally, the significance of Islamic and Jewish sites in Jerusalem is highlighted, alongside the intertwined narratives of Zionism and Arab nationalism, shedding light on the ongoing complexities and evolving identities in the region.

Following on from our last episode, another CIA adventure in the Middle East kicks off this episode on Egypt. King Farouk’s removal from power is the starting pistol for the Egyptian Revolution—a landmark event in modern middle eastern history. The figure of Nasser reigns supreme, whose dogged attempts to resist incorporation into the new U.S.-led Western order precipitated a crisis that might have led to World War 3: the Suez Crisis. All eyes remain fixed on Egypt today, as the war in Ukraine threatens fatal food shortages there, and regional rivalries over the River Nile could turn ugly.Listen to exclusive bonus content and get all episodes ad-free by subscribing to Conflicted Extra on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for just 99p/month.Join our FB Discussion group to get exclusive updates: https://www.facebook.com/groups/450486135832418Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflictedAnd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflictedJoin the Conflicted Community hub on Discord to discuss all things Conflicted with fellow dear listeners, get exclusive content, bonus episodes and ad-free listening. Register your interest through the link: http://www.levellr.com/conflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, we shift our focus to Iran. Nobody could have known this at the time, but with hindsight we can see that at the beginning of the Cold War, Iran had somehow become a whirlpool swirling with all of the 20th century’s clashing ideological and political forces. All the players are there: an autocratic monarch in the old style; a newly formed Communist party conspiring revolution; aristocratic Liberals demanding economic and constitutional reform; Islamist terrorists; Big Oil; a declining European empire; the Soviet Union reviving Tsarist geopolitics; and America, the new superpower. These clashing interests and ideologies would result in Operation Ajax, one of the most notorious episodes from the Cold War.Listen to exclusive bonus content and get all episodes ad-free by subscribing to Conflicted Extra on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for just 99p/month.Join our FB Discussion group to get exclusive updates: https://www.facebook.com/groups/450486135832418Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflictedAnd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflictedLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesJoin the Conflicted Community hub on Discord to discuss all things Conflicted with fellow dear listeners, get exclusive content, bonus episodes and ad-free listening. Register your interest through the link: http://www.levellr.com/conflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the last episode we talked about how the American half of the Cold War was established in Saudi Arabia. Today, we’re shifting our focus to the other half of that epic conflict: the Soviet Union. What were the Soviet Union’s designs on the Middle East? Or were their forays into Middle Eastern geopolitics simply countermoves in a Cold War chess game, attempts to wrongfoot their American opponent? And now, as the spectre of war between Russia and Ukraine hangs over Europe, to what extent can Soviet history, and indeed the earlier history of imperial Russia, help us to understand what’s going on?Listen to exclusive bonus content and get all episodes ad-free by subscribing to Conflicted Extra on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for just 99p/month.Join our FB Discussion group to get exclusive updates: https://www.facebook.com/groups/450486135832418Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflictedAnd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflictedLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesJoin the Conflicted Community hub on Discord to discuss all things Conflicted with fellow dear listeners, get exclusive content, bonus episodes and ad-free listening. Register your interest through the link: http://www.levellr.com/conflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this week’s episode, we focus attention on Aimen’s homeland: Saudi Arabia. Arabia is as old as time, and we explore how the depth and profundity of its history inform the present day. Saudi Arabia is also, as we’ll show, where the Cold War began, and to understand how, we’ll explain the way in which long-standing British power in the region gave way, fitfully and almost without anyone noticing, to those upstart imperialists from Thomas’s homeland: the United States. And we’ll see how the Cold War world of spycraft, ideological conflict, and state paranoia continues into the present, through Aimen’s take on the notorious murder of Jamal Khashoggi.Listen to exclusive bonus content and get all episodes ad-free by subscribing to Conflicted Extra on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for just 99p/month.  Join our FB Discussion group to get exclusive updates: https://www.facebook.com/groups/450486135832418Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflictedAnd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflictedJoin the Conflicted Community hub on Discord to discuss all things Conflicted with fellow dear listeners, get exclusive content, bonus episodes and ad-free listening. Register your interest through the link: http://www.levellr.com/conflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Introduced in the first episode, we raise the all-important question: what is the “Clash of Civilizations?” We lay the groundwork by explaining the concept and how it relates to the “New World Order” covered in Series 2. Listen as Thomas and Aimen travel back to the end of the Cold War, this time zooming in on a little-known regional conflict, the explosive dispute still raging between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Their struggle over Nagorno-Karabakh offers a topical example of how the Clash of Civilizations manifests on the ground, and how small conflicts cast widespread reverberations, across both space—and time. Find out on all platforms. Listen to exclusive bonus content and get all episodes ad-free by subscribing to Conflicted Extra on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for just 99p/month. Join our FB Discussion group to get exclusive updates: https://www.facebook.com/groups/450486135832418Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflictedAnd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflictedJoin the Conflicted Community hub on Discord to discuss all things Conflicted with fellow dear listeners, get exclusive content, bonus episodes and ad-free listening. Register your interest through the link: http://www.levellr.com/conflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices