Middle East Week

Elias Muhanna @QifaNabki joins me to discuss the current political situation in Lebanon and Hezbollah's increasing involvement in the Syrian conflict. Elias is a professor of comparative literature and Middle East studies at Brown university and is the author of the Qifa Nabki blog on Lebanese politics, history, and culture. Links: The Daily Star Al Akhbar Al Nahar Al Safir Jadaliyya Foreign Policy Middle East Channel Syria Comment by Joshua Landis

Aaron Stein joins me to discuss recent protests in Turkey. Stein is a researcher at the Istanbul based Center for Economics & Foreign Policy Studies and runs the blog Turkey Wonk. Links: Aaron Stein @aaronstein1 Protests Show Turks Can't Tolerate Erdogan Anymore by Stein in The Atlantic Sinan Ulgen @sinanulgen1 of Carnegie Europe Yavuz Baydar @yavuzbaydar of Al-Monitor Joost Lagendijk @joostlagendijk of Today's Zaman Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope of the International Crisis Group Karl Morand @KarlMorand Please rate & review the podcast in iTunes

Aaron Zelin joins me to discuss Sunni foreign fighters in the Syrian conflict. Zelin is a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and runs the blog Jihadology.net. He also recently co-authored a study with Flashpoint Partners "Convoy of Martyrs in the Levant: A Joint Study Charting the Evolving Role of Sunni Foreign Fighters in the Armed Uprising Against the Assad Regime in Syria. Links: Aaron Zelin @azelin Will McCants of Jihadica Andrew Lebovich @tweetsintheME Daveed Gartenstein-Ross @DaveedGR Phillip Smyth @PhillipSmyth Karl Morand @KarlMorand Please rate & review the podcast in iTunes

Christopher Anzalone joins me to discuss conceptions of military jihad and martyrdom among contemporary Muslim militants, including an in-depth discussion of Liwa Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas in Syria and the different Sadrist groups in Iraq. Anzalone is a PhD student at McGill University and an adjunct research fellow at the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University. Links: Jadaliyya Views From the Occident blog by Anzalone al-Wasat blog Middle East Research and Information Project Chrsitopher Anzalone on Twitter @ibnsiqilli Karl Morand on Twitter @KarlMorand Thomas Hegghammer on Twitter @Hegghammer Aaron Zelin on Twitter @azelin Please rate & review the show in iTunes

Majid Rafizadeh joins me to discuss the upcoming Iranian presidential election. Majid is the president of the International American Council on the Middle East and North Africa and a contributing editor for the Harvard International Review. Foreign policy won't be on the ballot for Iranians in June by Rafizadeh for The National Pre-emptive bans by hardliners will divide Iran further by Rafizadeh for The National Council on Foreign Relations The Middle East Institute Majid Rafizadeh on Twitter @majidrafizadeh Karl Morand on Twitter @KarlMorand Please rate & review the show in iTunes

Gregory D. Johnsen, author of The Last Refuge: Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America's War in Arabia joins me to discuss U.S. counter terrorism policy in Yemen, particularly the use of drones, as well as Attorney General Eric Holder's letter confirming the death of four Americans by drone strikes and President Obama's May 23rd speech on U.S. counter terrorism policy. Links: Secret 'Kill List' Proves a Test of Obama's Principles and Will by Jo Becker & Scott Shane in NYT Does the US really try to Capture by Gregory Johnsen in Waq al-Waq Jeremy Scahill author of Dirty Wars Will McCants of Jihadica Aaron Zelin of Jihadology Marcy Wheeler of Emptywheel The Lawfare Blog Gregory Johnsen on Twitter Karl Morand on Twitter Please rate & review the show on iTunes

Eliot Higgins, the author of the Brown Moses Blog joins me to discuss the flow and use of weapons in Syria. Higgins' blog has been an influential and widely read resource for tracking the various weapons that have been used in Syria, particularly related to the potential use of chemical weapons. Higgins' recommended sites: The Gun by C.J. Chivers The Rogue Adventurer Middle East Live by The Guardian Twitter usernames: Eliot Higgins @Brown_Moses C.J. Chivers @cjchivers Karl Morand @Karl Morand Please rate the show on iTunes

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross joins me to discuss Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia (AST). We talk about AST's background, operations, and the recent events surrounding the government crackdown on their Kairouan Conference. Daveed is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and has recently finished a research fellowship at the International Center for Counter-Terorism at The Hague where he focused on AST. Articles relevant to our discussion: Meeting Tunisia's Ansar al-Sharia by Aaron Zelin Did Tunisia's Salafi Jihadists Just Announce Their Allegiance to al-Qaeda? by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross & Aaron Zelin Why is Ansar al-Sharia Tunisia's Leader Threatening the Government by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross Confronting Tunisia's jihadists by Andrew Lebovich Relevant Twitter usernames: Daveed Gartenstein-Ross @DaveedGR Karl Morand @KarlMorand Andrew Lebovich @tweetsintheME Aaron Zelin @azelin Please rate the show in iTunes

Phillip Smyth joins me to discuss Shia militia involvement in the Syrian conflict. Smyth writes the Hizballah Cavalcade for Jihadology. He also conducts research on Hizballah for the University of Maryland's Institute for Advanced Computer Studies' Lab for Computational Cultural Dynamics. Roundup of Iraqis Killed in Syria, Part 1 by Smyth @PhillipSmyth on Twitter @KarlMorand on Twitter

Ahmed Al Omran, a well known Saudi journalist and blogger, joins me to discuss judicial reform and human rights in Saudi Arabia. Al Omran runs Saudi Jeans and Riyadh Bureau, and his writing has been featured in the Guardian, the New York Times, and Foreign Policy Magazine. The issues discussed include: Overview of Saudi judicial system Legal safeguards for people accused of a crime Recent protests about prisoner treatment Salman al-Odah's open letter Recent appointment of 30 women to Shoura Council Debate on women's right to drive Follow Ahmed Al Omran on Twitter @ahmed Please rate the show in iTunes

Thomas Hegghammer, Zuckerman fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University and senior research fellow at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, joins me to discuss Islamist foreign fighters. Topics covered include: Growth of foreign fighter phenomenon after 1980 How states view foreign fighters that originate from their country Western fears that those who go abroad as foreign fighters will return to their home country to carry out attacks Role of foreign fighters in current conflicts Policy implications for combatting foreign fighters More by Thomas Hegghammer The Rise of Muslim Foreign Fighters Should I stay or Should I Go? Explaining Variation in Western Jihadists' Choice between Domestic and Foreign Fighting Thomas Hegghammer on Twitter @Hegghammer Book: Jihad in Saudi Arabia: Violence and Pan-Islamism since 1979 If you enjoy the show please take a minute to rate it in iTunes.

Dr. Matthew Levitt, director of The Washington Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence and author of the forthcoming book Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God, joins me to discuss Hezbollah's role in the Syrian uprising and their activities around the world. We discussed many issues related to Hezbollah including: The history of Hezbollah's role in the Syrian uprising from the start to present day What the fall of the Assad regime could mean for Hezbollah Issues surrounding the EU's reluctance to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist group Hezbollah's activities in Europe and the US Hezbollah's multifaceted identity Follow Dr. Levitt on Twitter @Levitt_Matt Rate the show on iTunes

Aaron Zelin of Jihadology.net joins me to discuss how jihadi groups are using the web. Zelin's recent New America Foundation paper "The State of Global Jihad Online" provided the basis for our discussion. Some of the topics covered include: History of jihadi web usage How web activity translates into real action Use of private forums vs. social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) Tracking jihadi web activity by intel agencies and academics What happens when jihadi forums and accounts are taken down English vs. Arabic jihadi activity online The potential future of jihadi web activity iTunes Link to subscribe and rate the show.

John B. Quigley, professor of law at The Ohio State University and author of the new book The Six-Day War and Israeli Self-Defense: Questioning the Legal Basis for Preventive War joins me to discuss the recent elections in Israel. Topics covered: The effect the Arab Spring has had on Israeli politics Palestinian's view of the Israeli election Arab participation in Israeli politics Internal and external efforts to curtail Israeli settlements Necessity for U.S. politicians to be pro-Israel Effect of Hamas-Palestinian Authority conflict on the peace process

Jason Brownlee, author of Democracy Prevention: The Politics of the U.S.-Egyptian Alliance, joins me to discuss the current relationship between Cairo and Washington. We talk about the history of U.S. relations with Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood, how the Morsi administration has been able to ease U.S. worries about a democratically elected Islamist government in Egypt, and the current status, and potential future, of relations between Egypt, the U.S., and Israel. Jason Brownlee's current research on anti-Christian violence in Egypt (scroll to bottom of page for description), supported by the U.S. Institute of Peace Twitter @MidEastWeek iTunes Link to rate & review the show MiddleEastWeek.org

Khalid Almezaini, author of The UAE and Foreign Policy, discusses Arab Gulf foreign aid programs. Almezaini covers the history of Arab Gulf nations’ foreign aid programs, as well as how they have changed recently. We talk about the motivations behind the aid programs, what the donor nations stand to gain, and the future of Arab Gulf aid in the Middle East. Follow Middle East Week iTunes Link Twitter @MidEastWeek MiddleEastWeek.org

Allen Fromherz, author of Qatar: A Modern History and The Almohads: The Rise of an Islamic Empire talks about the relationship between Berbers in North Africa and the Arab Spring. Does the broader Arab Spring movement speak for, and to, the many minority populations in the Arab world?

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