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PODCAST

CONFLICTED

An ex-Al Qaeda jihadi turned MI6 spy and a former monk turned filmmaker, have been embedded at the heart of conflicts in the Middle East. Together Aimen Dean and Thomas Small unpack the realities of war, fundamentalism and their global implications through first-hand experience.

history

All Episodes

65:49

Why China’s Rise Cannot Be Stopped

CONFLICTED ·

2026/02/05

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to veteran Singaporean diplomat Prof. Kishore Mahbubani about his thesis that the 21st century will be remembered as ‘the Asian Century’, and how the West can prepare peacefully and optimistically for China's return as the fulcrum of world history.Drawing on his books Living the Asian Century, Has China Won?, and Can Asians Think?, Prof. Mahbubani explains: Why the 21st century will be the Asian century and why this need not require Western

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64:46

Trump vs Iran: The War That Wasn’t

CONFLICTED ·

2026/02/03

In this semi-emergency episode, Aimen helps Thomas unpack the last eight months of escalating tension and threats between the US and Iran, and explains why it’s now unlikely the American ‘armada’ President Trump sent to the Gulf will be going to war with Iran anytime soon. Thomas and Aimen discuss: How the 12-Day War changed Iran Why Israel’s Doha strike jolted the Gulf and accelerated a ceasefire The Saudi–Pakistan defence pact and the Abraham Accords fallout How the region became

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58:31

Paul Kenyon: 30 Years Under Fire as a BBC War Reporter

CONFLICTED ·

2026/01/29

In this episode, Thomas talks to distinguished BBC journalist Paul Kenyon about his new podcast series Two Nottingham Lads. Paul recalls highlights from his remarkable career, which has taken him from Iran to Libya to Ukraine to Stockport —as he watched, in real time, America lose its grip on the international order.Paul talks about: How two Nottingham lads ended up on opposite sides of the Ukraine War The time he was detained by Iranian secret police Watching anti-Gaddafi tribesmen ride

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54:38

Mali: When Jihadists Win

CONFLICTED ·

2026/01/27

As jihadist violence in Mali escalates, Thomas and Aimen trace the history and present-day power of JNIM (‘Support Group for Islam and Muslims’), an Al Qaeda affiliate that has been laying siege to the capital Bamako. Will Mali’s secular state survive? Or is a jihadist takeover of the whole country now inevitable?**Including BONUS MATERIAL for subscribers to the Conflicted Community!** Thomas and Aimen discuss: The evolution of JNIM out of AQIM (‘Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’) The

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55:02

Syrian Blitzkrieg: How Damascus Crushed the SDF

CONFLICTED ·

2026/01/22

In this episode, Aaron Zelin returns to Conflicted to unpack the extraordinary collapse of the Syrian Democratic Forces’ position in northeast Syria over the past week — and what the fallout could mean for Syria’s fragile post-Assad order. Aaron explains: Why the March 2025 framework agreement ultimately failed Why Sunni Arab tribes abandoned the SDF — and how Damascus prepared the ground How and why fighting erupted in Kurdish neighbourhoods of Aleppo The rapid fall of SDF-held areas

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54:36

Trump vs USAID: The Rise and Fall of America’s Aid...

CONFLICTED ·

2026/01/20

On the first anniversary of the dismantling of USAID, the United States Agency for International Development, Thomas and Aimen trace the history of the organisation and ask whether USAID’s collapse represents a failure of liberal internationalism itself, or simply the end of one particular way of organizing American power in the world.They discuss: Trump’s 2025 executive order and the effective end of USAID USAID, anti-communism, and the CIA The Clinton-era debate over whether USAID

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85:04

How Yemen Broke the Saudi-UAE Alliance

CONFLICTED ·

2026/01/15

In this episode, Yemeni researcher and political analyst Baraa Shiban (a great friend of the show) tells the thrilling behind-the-scenes story of how different visions for the future of Yemen led long-simmering tensions between the UAE and Saudi Arabia to explode into the open.For further reference, here’s a helpful map of Yemen showing current areas of control: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/info/infographic/49654 Baraa explains: How Saudi Arabia and the UAE entered the war with different goals

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52:18

Crisis in the Gulf: Saudi vs UAE

CONFLICTED ·

2026/01/13

A rare public rupture has emerged between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Triggered by a dramatic escalation over Yemen in late December 2025, the dispute has exposed deeper ideological and strategic differences between the two Gulf powers.In this episode, Thomas and Aimen step back from the battlefield to examine the historical roots of Saudi–Emirati rivalry and why Yemen became the arena where these differences finally collided in public. They discuss: The 30 December 2025 Saudi

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59:35

Re-Thinking Islam’s Global History

CONFLICTED ·

2026/01/08

Islam is often treated as a civilisation apart — self-contained, resistant to modernity, and fundamentally at odds with the West. In this episode, Thomas speaks to Oxford professor James McDougall about why that framing is misleading, and how Islamic history is inseparable from the making of the modern world itself.Drawing on his new book Worlds of Islam: A Global History, McDougall explains: Why Islamic and Western histories are deeply intertwined rather than civilisationally opposed The

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56:21

The Crisis in Iran: The History Behind US-Iran Tensions

CONFLICTED ·

2026/01/06

As mass protests sweep Iran and President Trump declares the U.S. is ‘locked and loaded’, Thomas and Aimen revisit the event that shaped U.S.–Iran relations for the next half-century: the Iran Hostage Crisis. Then, in real time, the conversation veers into a fast-moving geopolitical shock: Venezuela, Iran’s global networks, and what a new era of American ‘muscle’ might actually look like.They discuss: Iran’s 2026 protest wave: currency collapse, water crisis, and regime pressure points

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79:26

Zohran Mamdani and the Ascendancy of Third Worldism

CONFLICTED ·

2026/01/01

Amid controversy surrounding Zohran Mamdani’s rise to power in New York City, Hussein Mansour tells Thomas all about the history of Third Worldism — where it comes from, what it originally meant, and why the term has resurfaced.Thomas and Hussein discuss: Zohran Mamdani as a symbol, not a cause, of a broader elite transformation The Third Estate, the French Revolution, and the revolutionary inheritance of modern radical politics Interwar Paris and the emergence of Third Worldist

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52:01

2025 Year in Review

CONFLICTED ·

2025/12/30

As 2025 draws to a close, Thomas and Aimen take an unconventional tour of the Islamic world — looking beyond the usual headlines to the under-the-radar shifts that happened in 2025, with the potential to shape 2026 and beyond.They discuss: Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger forming the Alliance of Sahel States and what a new Sahel bloc might mean The geopolitical ‘cluster fuck’ of the Sudanese civil war The European Union’s re-entry into Central Asia The Gabala Summit and the

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82:38

Inside the Trenches of Ukraine

CONFLICTED ·

2025/12/25

The war in Ukraine is back in the headlines as a peace agreement appears increasingly probable - though with major concessions to Russia. So as a Christmas present to our listeners, we’ve brought this episode from August out from behind the paywall.In it, Thomas speaks with his old university friend Jakub - a former Slovak Army officer who volunteered to fight in Ukraine - about the lived reality of modern warfare, from trench fighting to FPV strike drones. Drawing on nearly eighteen months at

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49:10

2025 Conflicted Christmas Special

CONFLICTED ·

2025/12/23

What is ‘the Christmas story’ really? And how does it change when you tell it from within a different religious tradition? In Conflicted’s first-ever Christmas Special, Thomas and Aimen retell the Nativity as it appears in the Gospels and in the Qur’an. They discuss: Who were the Magi? Zoroastrian priests or Nabataean nomads? How the Nativity story differs between the Bible and the Qur’an A controversial theory about how local Christian traditions may have shaped the Qur’anic

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60:26

What Trump’s 2025 National Security Strategy Means...

CONFLICTED ·

2025/12/18

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks with global finance and security analyst Giri Rajendran about the Trump Administration’s newly published National Security Strategy — what it signals, what it omits, and what it suggests about America’s role in a multipolar world.Thomas and Giri discuss: How this report differs from previous US National Security Strategies The end of the old rules-based order of liberal internationalism The Middle East: a phase shift toward deeper

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52:58

The 2026 Middle East Forecast

CONFLICTED ·

2025/12/16

What does the future hold for the Middle East — and the world — in 2026?In this special episode of Conflicted, Thomas instructs Aimen to peer into his crystal ball and offer his forecasts for the year to come. In this episode, Aimen and Thomas discuss: How professional geopolitical analysts make forecasts The impossibility of foreseeing Black Swan events Why an end to the war in Ukraine could reshape Middle Eastern geopolitics The likelihood of a U.S. war against the

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63:45

What the U.S. Gets Wrong About the Muslim Brotherhood

CONFLICTED ·

2025/12/11

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks with Lorenzo Vidino, Director of the Programme on Extremism at The George Washington University.What happens when an ideological movement is neither a terrorist organisation nor an ordinary religious group — but something in between? One of the world’s leading experts on the Muslim Brotherhood explains… The early history of Islam in America The first Brotherhood-linked students arriving in the U.S. in the 50s and 60s The formation

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55:30

Saudi Arabia’s New Bargaining Chip

CONFLICTED ·

2025/12/09

The Middle East is shifting again, and fast. In this wide-ranging overview, Aimen and Thomas break down the hidden forces reshaping the geopolitical chessboard as 2025 draws to a close.In this episode, Aimen and Thomas uncover: The power of Saudi Arabia’s discovery of vast rare-earth reserves The U.S.–Saudi grand bargain Why the F-35 sale to Saudi Arabia rattled Israel and what it means for the future of the Abraham Accords Iran’s deepening water crisis and Gulf states’

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51:12

Has the Muslim Brotherhood Infiltrated the UK?

CONFLICTED ·

2025/12/04

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks with Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat about the Muslim Brotherhood.What happens when a Western democracy encounters an ideological movement it no longer has the language — or the institutions — to understand? The former Security Minister and long-time observer of the Middle East explains what the Brotherhood is, how it operates, and why the British state is struggling to deal with it. In this episode, Thomas questions Tom about… Tom’s time

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52:29

Conflicted Returns: A New Era Begins

CONFLICTED ·

2025/12/02

Conflicted is back. Aimen and Thomas return with a renewed mission and a bold vision for the future of the show. In this special relaunch episode, they look back at the journey so far, celebrate the global community that’s grown around Conflicted, and reveal what’s coming next in an ever-more turbulent world. In this episode, Aimen and Thomas: Offer a sweeping recap of Conflicted’s story arcs, themes, and analyses Reveal what the next phase of Conflicted has in store for dear

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172 results

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