The New Arab Voice

A recent US drone strike, in the heart of the Afghan capital of Kabul, killed the head of Al-Qaeda. Ayman al-Zawahiri had led the group since 2011, following the death of Osama bin Laden, and during that time the jihadist terror organisation underwent a number of significant changes. Some changes were by choice, others were forced upon them. This week on The New Arab Voice, we examine what the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri means for Al-Qaeda, and how significant is it that he killed in Kabul. We explore the ties between Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and why they remain connected, and how Western counterterrorism efforts could deal with this relationship. We also give you the lowdown on who might step up to the big seat and lead Al-Qaeda into the future. On this episode, we speak with Javid Ahmed (@ahmadjavid), senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s (@AtlanticCouncil) South Asia Center, and Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister), senior fellow at the Middle East Institute (@MiddleEastInst) and director of Syria (@MEI_Syria) and Counterterrorism (@MEI_CTE) programmes.This podcast is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge. Theme music by Omar al-Fil. Other music by Blue Dot Sessions. To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Six months have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine. The war has significantly disrupted global food chains, cutting off vital supplies of wheat, corn and other goods to communities across the Middle East.Already dealing with currency crises, climate change and Covid-19, MENA communities are now contending with recording breaking price inflation and growing food insecurity. In this increasingly tense political and economic environment, what are the solutions to the looming food catastrophe in the Middle East? How can governments within the region ensure help reaches those needing it most, and what role must the international community play? This week, we speak with Patrick Mardini, CEO of the Lebanese Institute for Market Studies, and Nicole Robinson (@NRobinson1297) from the Heritage Foundation about the Middle East’s dependency on exports from Russia and Ukraine. The World Food Programme’s County Director in Egypt, Praveen Agrawal (@Agrawal_P_K), also features in the episode, discussing the recent UN-brokered deal between Russia, Ukraine and Turkey to unlock grain shipments from the Black Sea. This podcast is written and produced by Rosie McCabe (@RosieMcCabe3) with help from Hugo Goodridge (@hugogoodridge). Theme music by Omar al-Fil. Other music by Blue Dot Sessions. To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the final part of our three-part special on Lebanon, we're examining the stagnant nature of Lebanon. Lebanon's recent history has pushed the country to the limit and left it crippled and uncertain. Today, Lebanese citizens remain unsure about what the future may hold for them. Can the country be rescued from its economic problems? Will a new raft of independent MPs be able to implement political change? Can the judiciary  every be reformed?On the latest episode of The New Arab Voice, we speak with Yasser Farej, the Programme Manager at the Lebanese NGO Learning Through Action, and also Ali al-Mays, a school teacher who also volunteers for Yasser. We also speak with Najat Aoun Saliba (@najat_saliba), one of the 13 reform MPs who were elected this year, and Samer Makarem (@samermakarem),  a Lebanese political activist with the reformist party Mintishreen.You can listen to part one and part two of this special series, wherever you get your podcasts. This podcast is written by Hugo Goodridge (@hugogoodridge) and Will Christou (@will_christou). This episode was produced by Hugo Goodridge. Theme music by Omar al-Fil (@elepheel). Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lebanon marked the second anniversary of the Beirut port blast on 4 August.The blast was a devastating tragedy for the city and the country. It left at least 231 people dead, over 7,000 injured, and over 300,000 homeless. The port blast left a permanent scar on the capital city. For the latest episode of The New Arab Voice, and part two of our three-part special on Lebanon, we look back at the deadly blast and the investigation that followed.What happened on that fateful day? How did the authorities respond? How was the city and its people affected? Who is investigating this crime? Are those responsible being held accountable and what does the future hold?For this episode we speak with Sarah Copland (@sas_yvonne), who was living in Beirut at the time, Aya Majzoub (@Aya_Majzoub), another resident of the city and the Lebanon and Bahrain Researcher at Human Rights Watch (@hrw), and Ghida Frangieh (@Ghidaf), a Lebanese lawyer and researcher, and member of Legal Agenda (@Legal_Agenda).This podcast is written by Hugo Goodridge (@hugogoodridge) and Will Christou (@will_christou). This episode was produced by Hugo Goodridge. Theme music by Omar al-Fil (@elepheel). Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on The New Arab Voice, we're kicking off a new three-part special that's diving deep into Lebanon. The past few years have been transformational for the small Mediterranean country. The citizens of Lebanon have been pushed to its limits by a series of crises. In part one, we look back at the uprisings of October 2019 and the central bank's Ponzi scheme that brought the country's economy to its knees.Protesters took to the streets in 2019 as Lebanon's economy started to crumble and the government attempted to pass on the financial strain to the people. We explore the attempts by protesters to move away from the traditional political and sectarian structures that had ruled the country, and examine why the movement ultimately failed. When the protests ended, the economy went into a complete meltdown, destroying the savings that people had spent their lives working for and slashing the value of the Lebanese lira to the bone. We examine the Ponzi scheme that caused so much damage, the people who profited from the corrupt system, and how it affected the lives of everyday citizens. In this episode, we speak with Ronnie Chatah, host of the podcast The Beirut Banyan (@thebeirutbanyan), Lebanese journalist Faten Jebai (@faten_jebai), The New Arab's International Editor Yazan al-Saadi, and Dina Abu Zour, a lawyer with the Lebanon's Depositors Union.This podcast is written by Hugo Goodridge (@hugogoodridge) and Will Christou (@will_christou). This episode was produced by Hugo Goodridge. Theme music by Omar al-Fil (@elepheel). Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin travelled to Tehran for meetings with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This week on The New Arab Voice, we're exploring the relations between Russia and Iran. What is the current state of relations between the two countries? How has the Russian invasion of Ukraine affected the relationship? Are Russia and Iran now competitors in the black market for oil? Will Iran provide Russia with its domestically produced military drones. This week, we speak with Sanam Vakil (@SanamVakil), Deputy Head & Senior Research Fellow at the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House (@CH_MENAP), and Hamidreza Azizi (@HamidRezaAz), CATS Fellow at the German Institute for International Security Affairs, focusing on Iranian foreign policy. This podcast is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge (@hugogoodridge). Theme music by Omar al-Fil (@elepheel). Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Motivated by the recent killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in occupied Palestine and what many have described as double standards in international media narratives on Ukraine versus the Middle East, The New Arab's States of Journalism series is a sustained, ongoing exploration of freedom, repression, and accountability in MENA and beyond, in global media landscapes.On this week's episode of The New Arab Voice, we're examine two stories from the Middle East and the ongoing struggle to secure press freedoms.First we explore the rise and repression of citizen journalists in Egypt. When the uprisings against President Hosni Mubarak began, numerous activists took it upon themselves to document the violations being committed, report on the changing landscape of the country, and the issues that mattered most to Egyptians. Since the overthrow of the president, online space and the abilities of citizen journalists have been severely repressed by the government of President Sisi. We spoke with Dr. Courtney Radsch (@courtneyr), a journalist and a fellow at the UCLA Institute for Technology Law and Policy. Courtney focuses on the intersection of technology, media, and rights, and is the author of Cyberactivism and Citizen Journalism in Egypt: Digital Dissidence and Political Change.Secondly, we examined the changes to press freedoms seen in Tunisia. The uprisings in Tunisia, and what followed after, were often held up as an example for the rest of the Arab world to follow. But, in the intervening years, the north African country has taken worrying steps back to a one-man rule system. Amid the political changes and uncertainty, Fadil Aliriza (@FadilAliriza) founded Meshkal (@meshkaltn), an online independent news outlet.We spoke with Fadil about Meshkal, the challenges they have faced, the changing media landscape in Tunisia, and what the future may hold for press freedoms in the country. You can purchase Dr. Courtney Radsch's book here. You can support Meshkal via their Pateron page. This podcast is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge (@hugogoodridge). Theme music by Omar al-Fil (@elepheel). Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Iraq's parliament has been stuck in political deadlock for months following October's general election.Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr - who clinched the largest share of seats in the election - failed to form a government despite joining a triple alliance with Sunni blocs and Kurdish groups.So instead, to the surprise of many hawk-eyed political analysts, the maverick cleric ordered a mass resignation among his supporters - throwing Iraqi politics further into disarray.On this week's episode of The New Arab Voice looks at why the Sadrists resigned and what this means for the fate of Iraq. The episode examines the current players in Iraqi political life as well as the system itself, to try and understand what happened recently in Iraq and the longer structural forces that produced the situation today.We speak to Hamzeh Hadad (@HamzehKarkhi), visiting fellow at the European Council of Foreign Relations (@ecfr), Yesar Al-Maleki (@yesar), non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute (@MiddleEastInst) and also a Gulf analyst with the Middle East Economic Survey (@MeesEnergy), and Zeinab Shuker (@zfshuker),professor at Sam Houston State University who specialises in the sociology and political economy of Iraq.This podcast is written and produced by Rosie McCabe (@RosieMcCabe3) and Hugo Goodridge (@hugogoodridge). Theme music by Omar al-Fil (@elepheel). Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The New Arab Voice is back for a new season!On our first episode of season four, we're exploring the recent diplomatic visits of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), and looking ahead to the upcoming visit by US President Joe Biden to the Gulf nation. Earlier in June, MbS visited Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey, where a host of new deals were struck and steps were taken to get relations that had previously taken a hit, back on track. Perhaps the most notable visit by the Crown Prince was his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The trip marked an end to the international isolation he had experienced, following the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Why was it necessary for the Saudi Crown Prince to make the diplomatic regional tour? What does it mean for the kingdom’s regional relations? Has the Arab and Islamic world moved past recent nefarious actions attributed to MbS? And are we going to see a new chapter in Saudi-US relations. We speak with Ömer Özkizilcik (@OmerOzkizilcik), a foreign policy and security analyst based in the Turkish capital, Ankara, and with Gerald M. Feierstein, Senior Vice President of the Middle East Institute (@MiddleEastInst) and the former US Ambassador to Yemen, under President Obama.This podcast is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge (@hugogoodridge). Theme music by Omar al-Fil (@elepheel). Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Turkey is planning a new military operation in northern Syria. President Erdogan has said the incursion is intended to combat PKK/YPG “terrorists” and will facilitate the “voluntary” transfer of Syrian refugees back to their homeland. At the same time, Ankara has blocked Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership bids on grounds that the Nordic states provide support to the outlawed Kurdish militants. As Russia is distracted by the invasion of Ukraine and America is bogged down by the tranche of sanctions imposed on Moscow, Erdogan, it seems, is seizing a window of opportunity to advance Turkish interests in its war-torn neighbour and across the world. In this week’s episode of The New Arab Voice, we explore Erdogan’s rationale for launching a new military incursion in Syria and examine what impact this operation will have on the Turkish electorate, Syrian refugees and the Kurds. We speak with foreign policy experts Steven Cook (@stevenacook), based in Washington, and Ömer Özkizilcik (@OmerOzkizilcik), based in Ankara, about Turkey’s proposed incursion. We also discuss the fate of the Kurds in Syria and Iraq with freelance reporter Dana Taib Menmy (@danataibmenmy). This podcast is written and produced by Rosie McCabe (@RosieMcCabe3). Theme music by Omar al-Fil (@elepheel). Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.