CONFLICTED

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to journalist and author Anand Gopal about his wonderful new book Days of Love and Rage, a profoundly moving and intellectually stimulating history of the Syrian revolution told from the perspective of the northern town of Manbij.

Anand and Thomas discuss:

Anand's first-hand witnessing of 9/11

How Anand embedded with the Taliban

Revolution as a crisis of faith and collapse of social reality

Manbij as a microcosm of the tensions of Syrian modernity

The failure of Manbij's democratic experiment and the limits of liberalism

How ISIS exploited both material grievances and liberal norms

Baathism: egalitarian ethos vs authoritarian reality

Find Gopal on X: https://x.com/Anand_Gopal

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced by Thomas Small and edited by Lizzy Andrews.
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As all sides in the Iran War escalate their attacks, another spectre looms on the horizon: Iran-backed sleeper cell agents across the world launching terrorist attacks against strategic assets — including in the West. Aimen opens the lid on this little-known dimension of the IRGC's activity.

Aimen and Thomas discuss:

How the U.S. will deal with the problem of Bandar Abbas before launching an amphibious assault on islands in the Gulf

The recent escalation: the Houthis join the war, an AWACS plane destroyed in Saudi Arabia, a desalination plant attacked in Kuwait

The history of the sleeper cell as a tool of revolutionary subversion

The five types of Iranian sleeper cell

Aimen's experience embedded in sleeper cells as a double agent

How Iranian sleeper cells launder money

The prevalence of sleeper cells in South America

Aimen's work investigating the finances of sleeper cells

How London restaurants are secret IRGC fronts

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.
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Aimen's back after a few days away uncovering the secret info and true motivations behind the Iran War.

Today he and Thomas focus on the Lebanon front in the war, telling the story of how the Lebanese state was progressively undermined over several decades, as non-state actors acted like a cancer on the body politic — with the largest tumour being, of course, Hezbollah.

Aimen and Thomas discuss:

The method behind the madness of Pres. Trump's chaotic messaging.

The likelihood of a U.S. assault on Iran's islands in the Gulf.

Whether Gulf leaders are really egging the U.S. on to bring an end to the regime.

The U.S.'s objective of 'regime destruction' and how that differs from 'regime change'.

The failure of energy traders to price risk properly.

Abdul Malik al-Houthi's speech on 26 March and what it reveals about his intentions

The long history of Lebanon's experience of militant non-state actors and foreign intervention

How Hezbollah was able to re-arm and re-build after the catastrophe of autumn 2024.

How deep corruption within the Lebanese government and military is preventing the state from disbanding Hezbollah.

What to think about all those seasoned analysts who are convinced that America will lose this war.

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.
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Aimen has been called away for important last-minute insider meetings, so sitting in for him on today's episode is Nadwa Al-Dawsari, veteran researcher, conflict analyst, and policy advisor with 20 years of field experience in Yemen and the broader Middle East.

Nadwa and Thomas discuss:

How Yemeni tribalism really works

The IRGC agents who are in control of Houthi war policy

Houthi eschatological beliefs

When the Houthis are likely to join the Iran War in force

What the military capabilities of the Houthis really are

The long shadow of the Stockholm Agreement

Houthi techniques of indoctrination and control

The growing Houthi presence in the Horn of Africa

How the Houthis and Al Qaeda are now effectively allies

Why Western decision-makers get the Middle East so disastrously wrong

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Find Nadwa on X: ⁠⁠https://x.com/Ndawsari⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.
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In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to Harvard professor Sven Beckert about his new book Capitalism: A Global History.

Sven explains:

Why the history of capitalism matters for understanding the present

How most histories of capitalism are too Eurocentric

How merchant communities in the medieval Muslim world and other regions laid the foundations of capitalism

How European merchants learned from and interacted with merchants in the Muslim world

Trust networks in global trade, including family, religious, and city-based merchant networks

How capitalism and state power grew together

European divergence: why Europe became central to capitalism

Effects of Ottoman control and European geopolitical weakness on Atlantic expansion

Role of conquest, slavery, and colonial expansion in building capitalist societies

Tension between capitalism’s drive for unlimited growth and nature’s limits

Challenges to neoliberalism from the left and the populist right

Find Sven on Bluesky: @svenbeckert.bsky.social

Visit Sven’s personal website: svenbeckert.com

Join the Conflicted Community here: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm

Find Conflicted on X: https://x.com/MHconflicted

And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced and edited by Thomas Small.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices