Arab Digest podcasts

Tarek Megerisi, a Senior Policy Fellow specializing in Libya at the European Council on Foreign Relations, provides keen insights into the nation's current turmoil. He discusses the troubling stalemate and rampant corruption led by influential families. Megerisi explores the disillusionment with Libyan leadership post-Gaddafi and examines the shadow of foreign interference, particularly from Russia and Turkey. The conversation sheds light on how these dynamics exacerbate the humanitarian crisis, and calls for a renewed political approach to rescue Libya from its geopolitical quagmire.

The podcast returns after a short break with Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with the Yemen expert Helen Lackner. As the world focusses on Donald Trump's egregious trampling of the rule of law and his destruction of the prevailing world order little notice is given to US strikes on claimed Huthi targets that are occurring on a daily basis while humanitarian aid has all but dried up. The consequences of both actions are devastating for the Yemeni people. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.

Dr. Lina Khatib, an Associate Fellow at Chatham House and expert on the Levant, joins to discuss Lebanon's revitalization after recent political shifts. The conversation highlights new leadership, symbolizing hope for a move away from sectarianism. They examine Hezbollah's declining influence and the strategic role of Saudi Arabia in shaping Lebanon's future. Khatib also touches on the complex relationship with Syria, the need for urgent reforms, and the challenges posed by corruption and external conflicts in the region.

Syria expert Malik al-Abdeh joins Arab Digest editor William Law to discuss the latest developments in Syria as the country's new leadership struggles with internal sectarian rivalries and pressures from outside players in the neighbourhood including Israel and Türkiye. They explore too the role of Putin and Trump and what will happen as Washington pursues an isolationist approach to foreign relations. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.

Arab Digest editor William Law's guest this week is the New Lines Institute's Caroline Rose an expert on the illicit drug Captagon. With the fall of Bashar al-Assad his family's hold on the lucrative trade has suddenly evaporated but the drug hasn't disappeared from Syria and other actors and other countries are eying up opportunities as the Trump administration freezes US engagements in the global fight against illicit drugs. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.

Arab Digest editor William Law welcomes George Kanaan to this week's podcast. His book Beyond Lebanon's Peaks: An Odyssey is a fascinating memoir of a businessman and banker who though he has travelled the world in a storied career has never left behind Suq el-Gharb and his Levantine roots. In a wide ranging conversation he reflects on the book and on the current situation in Lebanon and what he calls Trump's 'cruel idea' for Gaza. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.

In this week's podcast Arab Digest editor William Law is joined by the North Africa expert Francis Ghilès to discuss the reasons why the Moroccan economy is in good health while its Maghreb neighbours Algeria and Tunisia are struggling. Part of the answer is its geography: Morocco sits as a linchpin between Europe and Africa. The rest though has to do with strong macroeconomic policies and a resilient, confident and outward looking approach from the kingdom's business sector. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.

William Law, Arab Digest editor welcomes the Cato Institute's Jon Hoffman to the podcast to discuss his just released book Islam and Statecraft. Jon lays out how the Gulf ruling families have used Islam as a political tool to enhance foreign policy thrusts, ensure regime security and project power. With the West embracing the Gulf's so-called "moderate Islam" and Donald Trump in the White House Islamophobia, he argues, is set to rise. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.

Arab Digest editor William Law's guest this week is the European Council on Foreign Relations' Kelly Petillo. While the world is fixated on Trump and tariffs the refugee crisis in the Middle East gathers pace as Europe pushes to remove Syrian refugees under the assumption that now that Assad is gone Syria is safe. Meanwhile President Trump muses on relocating Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan, in other words an ethnic cleansing that Israel is eager to embrace. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.

Arab Digest editor William Law's guest this week is the jihadist extremism expert Dr Elisabeth Kendall. Their conversation focuses on Yemen's Huthis and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP.) Both have benefitted from the Gaza war in terms of popular support and propaganda messaging while a peace deal to end the nearly ten years of civil war slips further and further away. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.