Conflicted Community: Q&A – What Does Trump Mean for the Middle East?

After a short emergency interlude into Syria, Conflicted Season 5 returns to our exploration of the fascinating land of Ethiopia. Moving now to the 20th century, where one man dominated the country: Emperor Haile Selassie, King of Kings. Haile Selassie is a name synonymous with a few things: Ethiopia’s age of regal power in the 20th century; being the only African monarch to withstand Western colonialism; and, of course, the religion in Jamaica which reveres him as a god, Rastafarianism. But Haile Selassie himself was actually much more human, more mortal, than all this implies – to look at his life is to understand how the modern Ethiopian state came to be formed, or rather, failed to be formed… In this episode, Thomas and Aimen give us an in depth look at Ethiopia in the 20th century, from Haile Selassie’s prophesied birth, to the political machinations that brought him to power, and how he cemented it in this tumultuous time for his country. The wider geopolitics of his reign were fascinating too, which saw Mussolini’s fascist Italians invade, Western powers joining to expel them in World War 2, and a period of rule afterwards where Selassie preached African unity while himself conquering neighbouring lands. We’ll talk about Selassie in Bath, his resplendent tours throughout Europe, thrilling visits to the League of Nations, and yes, the religion set up in his name to revere him, Rastafarianism. New Conflicted Season 5 episodes will be coming every two weeks, but if you want to have your Conflicted fix every single week, then you’ll have to join our Conflicted Community. Subscribers will get bonus episodes every other week, and can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more. All the information you need to sign up to the Conflicted Community is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/  Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ANOTHER EMERGENCY EPISODE Things are, as ever, moving at lightning speed in the Middle East, as last weekend on December 8th, Bashar al-Assad and his Syrian regime fell. After 13 years of civil war, and more than 50 years of his family’s rule, in an extraordinary turn of events rebel groups from the south and the north marched on Damascus. Assad has fled to Moscow; the future for Syria is unclear. It’s one of the most momentous events in modern Middle Eastern history, so this week Thomas invited one of the world’s leading experts on the Syrian Civil War onto the show to help make sense of it (and he’s a dear listener to Conflicted himself!) – Aaron Zelin. Aaron is the Gloria and Ken Levy Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Visiting Research Scholar in the Department of Politics at Brandeis University, the founder of the hugely acclaimed website Jihadology, and the author of the really excellent book Your Sons Are At Your Service: Tunisia’s Missionaries of Jihad. Many listeners will no doubt have also been glued to his social media feeds over the past week, for updates and analysis, as he brought his incredible insight in real time as Assad’s regime melted away. Thomas and Aaron discuss the incredible events over the weekend, before looking ahead to what the future might hold for Syria’s minority communities – from the Kurds to the Alawites – and how this new regime will affect the always fascinating geopolitics of the region. To listen to the full episode, you’ll need to subscribe to the Conflicted Community. And don’t forget, subscribers can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more. All the information you need to sign up is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/  Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

EMERGENCY EPISODE In another hugely dramatic turn in the Middle East, the Syrian civil war has reignited. On November 27th 2024, Abu Mohammad al-Julani’s HTS reconquered huge swathes of the North West of the country, including the key city of Aleppo. Conflicted is here with an emergency explainer episode to try and decipher exactly what has gone on in Syria over the past week, and indeed the past decade, to give you the context you need to understand it. Thomas and Aimen are going back to a country that has felt dormant and out of the news for years, but where conflict has now reignited. We’ll go back to the emergence of Julani as a force initially within Al-Qaeda, tracing his history to explain the complicated dynamics at play in Syria’s civil war – we’ll discuss the Nusra Front, its transformation into HTS and break with Al-Qaeda, plus more background on everyone from the Kurds to the assortment of other rebel groups, to Hezbollah, Iran and more… And now, with a temperamental ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel in force, we’ll examine just how Julani took his chance to seize key areas from the weakened Assad regime.  But what are the larger geopolitical forces at play? How will regional powers respond? And does this spell the end for Assad? New Conflicted episodes will be coming every two weeks, but if you want to have your Conflicted fix every single week, then you’ll have to join our Conflicted Community. Subscribers will get bonus episodes every other week, and can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more. All the information you need to sign up to the Conflicted Community is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/  Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Conflicted’s tour of Africa takes another turn, this time to the East, as we head to the horn of Africa to learn about that most ancient of lands… Ethiopia! Ethiopia is the cradle of humanity – the place where some of the oldest remains of homo sapiens have been found, and its history through antiquity is equally rich. In this episode Thomas and Aimen are going way back in time to tel us about great African civilizations like the Aksumite Kingdom, and all the fascinating stories that intersect with so many Biblical and Quranic tales from the period. In a sweeping history, we move on to discuss the ‘King of Kings’ in Ethiopia who formed the Solomonic Dynasty – one which is still revered by the country today. And finally, we’ll hear how this proud African country got its reputation for standing up to Imperialism, as they attempt to withstand attacks from Mahdists, the British and especially Italians, who sought to conquer and oppress it. But who would come out on top? And how would this all set Ethiopia up for the 20th century, when a new ruler would come in to take up the Solomonic mantle? New Conflicted Season 5 episodes will be coming every two weeks, but if you want to have your Conflicted fix every single week, then you’ll have to join our Conflicted Community. Subscribers will get bonus episodes every other week, and can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more. All the information you need to sign up to the Conflicted Community is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/  Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Conflicted is back, continuing our trip across La Françafrique this week, with a survey of the last 10 years in Francophone West Africa, and yes, you guessed it: it’s insurgencies, jihadi movements and coups galore! Thomas and Aimen open up with a discussion of the anti-jihadist activities being carried out by the French in the Sahel since 2013, including the infamous operations Serval and Barkhane. But as jihadi movements grew, the French found themselves in hot water, which got even hotter as a new player entered the fray: the Russians, in the guise of the Wagner Group. We then discuss how the Wagner Group operates in the area, coming in after a coups across the region to cause France’s influence to dwindle, and making instability become the plat du jour for many West African countries. Will the region ever get out of it? New Conflicted Season 5 episodes will be coming every two weeks, but if you want to have your Conflicted fix every single week, then you’ll have to join our Conflicted Community. Subscribers will get bonus episodes every other week, and can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more. All the information you need to sign up to the Conflicted Community is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/  Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices