Episodes

  • Syria: caught between Türkiye and Israel

    Syria: caught between Türkiye and Israel
    Jan 8 2025
    Arab Digest editor William Law's guest this week is the Turkish writer and analyst Aslı Aydıntaşbaş. With the victory of the Salafist HTS in Syria both Türkiye and Israel see opportunities to accelerate their regional ambitions but the two may be heading toward an intense new rivalry as Netanyahu woos the Kurds of Northeast Syria and Erdoğan weighs up whether to offer them the hand of peace or to unleash the hounds of war. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    30 mins
  • Editor's choice: Amal Ghandour

    Editor's choice: Amal Ghandour
    Jan 1 2025
    The editor's choice for 2024 is our 18 September podcast Palestine and a new awakening with the writer and commentator Amal Ghandour. When we spoke with her then 41000 Palestinians had been killed and 96000 wounded. As Israel's genocide against the Palestinian people continues that number has now reached more than 45000 killed and 107000 wounded. The podcast aired before the assassination of the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Israel's invasion of Lebanon where more than 4000 have been killed. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    35 mins
  • The Arab Digest 2024 yearender

    The Arab Digest 2024 yearender
    Dec 23 2024
    Arab Digest editor William Law's guest is the analyst and commentator Sami Hamdi. In a rapid fire run through the Middle East headlines of 2024 they cover a lot of ground from an ISIS massacre to the Sudan war, from the ICJ decision on Israel's seizure of Palestinian land to the triumph of Trump and the fall of Assad with several stops in between and a forecast from Sami about what 2025 may bring. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    36 mins
  • Oil, OPEC and the outlook for 2025

    Oil, OPEC and the outlook for 2025
    Dec 19 2024
    William Law's guest this week is Arab Digest's resident energy analyst Alastair Newton. In a tumultuous and violent year in the Middle East and elsewhere OPEC has seen its market relevance continue to decline raising concerns for Saudi Arabia as its bid to diversify away from hydrocarbons falters. Questions too about whether the cartel itself will survive. And from the analyst who called it spot on in 2024 an informed prediction about where the price of oil will be in December 2025. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    32 mins
  • Syria has a new strongman

    Syria has a new strongman
    Dec 11 2024
    With the stunning success of HTS and its leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani in bringing down the Assad regime Syria enters a new era. How al-Jolani chooses to structure the country and how Syria's neighbours in the Middle East respond will determine whether instability and new war fronts emerge or whether the Syrian people finally secure lasting peace and a government answerable to them. As the aftershocks of an Islamist victory in the Levant continue to reverberate Arab Digest editor William Law is in conversation with the Syrian analyst Malik al-Abdeh. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    32 mins
  • A good year for MbS

    A good year for MbS
    Dec 3 2024
    William Law's guest this week on the Arab Digest podcast is the Gulf expert Kristian Coates Ulrichsen. They look back at the year that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has had, one where he has strengthened his diplomatic ties with Iran, holds the upper hand in the normalisation with Israel game and looks set to gain essential time on delivering Vision 2030 with the looming announcement that the Fifa World Cup will come to the kingdom in 2034. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    33 mins
  • The silence of Sisi

    The silence of Sisi
    Nov 27 2024
    Arab Digest editor William Law's guest this week is the Egyptian analyst and author Maged Mandour. They explore the reasons behind President Sisi's virtual silence as the IDF conducts its genocide in Gaza while increasing land seizures in the Occupied West Bank and enlarging the war into Lebanon. Maged Mandour reveals that economic and ideological factors are behind Egypt's abandonment of Palestine and the Palestinians. The podcast was recorded before the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was announced. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    29 mins
  • Macron in Morocco

    Macron in Morocco
    Nov 20 2024
    When the French president recognised Morocco's claim to the disputed territory of Western Sahara he sought to burnish his tarnished reputation in North Africa. Francis Ghilès joins Arab Digest editor Wiliam Law to discuss why Macron's efforts are likely to produce few if any positive results and he argues that the situation won't change unless France - and Europe - see North Africa through a different set of lenses. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    27 mins