Foreign Exchanges: the Podcast

What happens when an Islamic Republic decides that the “Republic” part maybe isn’t such a big deal? Journalist and returning guest Séamus Malekafzali and Sina Toossi, senior research analyst at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), join the program to discuss this Friday’s Iranian presidential election. We’ll talk about the field, such as it is, and how it came to be the way it is, and we’ll get into presumptive winner Ebrahim Raisi’s past and his potential future. Additionally we’ll discuss what Raisi’s (likely) presidency could mean for future US-Iranian relations.You can find Sina on Twitter and at NIAC, where his Iran Unfiltered series is a great look into a media environment to which us Westerners don’t have many points of access. Séamus is also on Twitter and his Substack newsletter is definitely worth a look if you’re interested in Iran. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

This week I’m very pleased to welcome back Annelle Sheline, research fellow at the Quincy Institute and scholar of the Arab world. She’s written a new piece for Foreign Policy titled “Washington Has Yemen Policy Backwards,” in which she discusses the need for a new framework for peace talks that recognizes the reality of the Houthi victory. We’ll talk about the flaws in the old framework, based on UN Security Council Resolution 2216, and what she makes of the Biden administration’s handling of the Yemen war thus far. We’ll also get into some regional issues, in particular efforts by the UAE and Saudi Arabia to carve off chunks of Yemen for their own aims and the recent economic turmoil in Oman.Annelle is a Research Fellow in the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute and an expert on religious and political authority in the Middle East and North Africa. She was previously the Zwan Postdoctoral Fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and has worked as a journalist in Egypt and Yemen. In addition to academic writing, she was written for The Washington Post, The Nation, Foreign Policy, Politico, The National Interest, and The Globe Post, and her analysis has been published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Arab Gulf States Institute of Washington, Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, and the Baker Institute. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

Returning champion and Foreign Exchanges contributor Alex Thurston is here to discuss the apparent, though not yet totally confirmed, death of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau and what it means for Nigeria. We’ll discuss Shekau’s role in Boko Haram’s rise and development, his notorious reputation, and what his (probable) death means for the rivalry between his branch of Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province, which very publicly split with Shekau in 2016. We’ll also spend some time talking about the overall deterioration in Nigeria’s internal security as well as the recent “coup-within-a-coup” in Mali and what that may portend for the future of civilian governance in Bamako.For those who aren’t familiar, Alex is assistant professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati whose writing has appeared in numerous places, including here at Foreign Exchanges. His most recent piece looked at the implications of Shekau’s apparent death over at Lawfare. He is the author of three books: Boko Haram: The History of an African Jihadist Movement, Salafism in Nigeria: Islam, Preaching, and Politics, and most recently Jihadists of North Africa and the Sahel. You can also find him on Twitter. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

I’m joined by Eli Clifton, Senior Advisor at the Quincy Institute and Investigative Journalist at Large at its Responsible Statecraft outlet. He and Ben Freeman, Director of the Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative at the Center for International Policy, have produced a new report, Restoring Trust in the Think Tank Sector, that makes three major recommendations for Washington think tanks to improve transparency in their operations. We’ll discuss the DC think tank community, the nature of the justifiably criticized “Revolving Door” between government and the private sector (you can read Eli’s most recent foray into that issue at Responsible Statecraft), and the recommendations Eli and Ben are making. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

This week I’m grateful to be joined by Sandra Tamari (@SandraTamari1), executive director of the Adalah Justice Project, and Darin Hussein (@DarinZeidan) in separate interviews. We’ll talk about the events of the past few weeks across Israel-Palestine and they’ll share their experiences of the Israeli occupation, the international response to it, and the work they’re doing to try to bring the Palestinian story to a wider audience.Please check out the important work that Adalah is doing and support it if you can. Other valuable resources include the Institute for Middle East Understanding and DecolonizePalestine. And if you haven’t read it, here is last month’s Human Rights Watch report classifying the Israeli government’s treatment of the Palestinians as apartheid. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

This week I’m joined by historian Nathaniel Powell, author of France's Wars in Chad: Military Intervention and Decolonization in Africa (available now), researcher at the Centre for War and Diplomacy at Lancaster University, and tweeter under the handle @natkpowell. He’s here to talk about the death of longtime Chadian President/dictator Idriss Déby under somewhat murky circumnstances last week and the fallout of his sudden demise, including the military coup that installed Déby’s son, Mahamat, as Chad’s interim (for now) head of state. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

We're marking the end of America's longest war with what may be the longest episode of this podcast to date, featuring not one but two interviews. I'm first joined by Mena Ayazi of Search for Common Ground and Kate Kizer of Win Without War (and Foreign Exchanges) to talk about Joe Biden's planned withdrawal from Afghanistan and how the United States could provide actual assistance to the Afghan people in lieu of endless war. Then I'm joined by Fatemeh Aman of the Middle East Institute to talk about the effect the withdrawal is likely to have in Afghanistan and throughout its geopolitical neighborhood. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

Today we’re very lucky to be joined by Annelle Sheline, Research Fellow for the Middle East at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and a non-resident fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. Annelle’s research focuses on religious authority in the Middle East, particularly the intersection of religious and national identities in the Arab monarchies, and she’s done fieldwork in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.One of the countries in that list has been particularly newsworthy of late, and somewhat surprisingly it’s Jordan. Annelle is here to provide some context for the alleged coup attempt that Jordanian authorities claimed to have thwarted over the weekend, including an examination of the key question: has former crown prince Hamzah bin Hussein really been plotting with unnamed foreign governments to overthrow his half-brother, King Abdullah II (shown above)? Suffice to say we’re both a bit skeptical. Annelle’s Responsible Statecraft piece on the coup and its potential to serve as a justification for a broad political crackdown is available here and you can find her on Twitter here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

Journalist Séamus Malekafzali joins me to try to get a head start on assessing the state of Iran’s June presidential election, a task that I acknowledge is a bit of a sucker’s game since the Guardian Council hasn’t started rejecting candidates yet. At this point the only thing we know for sure is that term-limited incumbent Hassan Rouhani won’t be sticking around.But along the way we discuss the current direction of Iranian politics, the increasing politicization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and check in with a couple of prominent presidential candidates from years past, including once and would-be future President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.Check out Séamus’s writing on Iranian politics and other stories about the Middle East at his Substack newsletter, and also check out his podcast, The Greatest Sin, here or at Spotify and Apple Podcasts.(The episode title refers to the current year on the Iranian calendar, if that wasn’t clear.) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

Returning champ and brand new FX contributor Alex Thurston, of the University of Cincinnati and Sahel Blog, joins me to discuss his first FX column and the similarities between America’s Forever War in Afghanistan and France’s Forever War in the Sahel. Alex also offers his perspective on Sunday’s presidential runoff in Niger and the unrest that has ensued, which diverges from what you’re likely to find in most Western media outlets. Enjoy!Check out Alex’s latest book, Jihadists of North Africa and the Sahel, at Bookshop.org or wherever you buy books. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe