HE Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi , Foreign Minister of the Sultanate of Oman, discusses Sultan Haitham’s Vision 2040; regional security and diplomacy including Iran, Yemen, Syria, the Abraham Accords, and GCC reconciliation; and the resilience of Omanis in dealing with COVID 19, and Cyclone Shaheen.Middle East economic outlook hinges on vaccinat ... Show More
Oct 29
New round of war with Iran 'almost' inevitable, says award-winning author Kim Ghattas
Kim Ghattas is the author of "The Best Kind of American," her most recent book that reveals shocking new details of the 1984 murder of Malcolm Kerr, the dean of the American University of Beirut.Ghattas's account is also a compelling history of the chain of events that led to Ame ... Show More
30m 54s
Oct 15
Kurdish integration with Syria’s central government remains far from complete
Syria-based American researcher Alexander McKeever, author of the This Week in Northern Syria Substack, says recent violence between Arabs and Kurds has exposed cracks in the integration process, despite Kurdish and Syrian government officials’ claims that it is proceeding succes ... Show More
26m 25s
Jul 2022
President Biden travels to the Middle East
Following President Biden’s first Middle East trip and on the eve of President Putin’s trip to Tehran, Fareed asks Vali Nasr, Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins University if new cold war divisions are solidifying in the Middle East. Then, ... Show More
39m 47s
May 2023
Riyadh and the World: What to Make of Saudi Arabia’s Recent Diplomacy
<p>Saudi Arabia’s diplomacy is flourishing after a decade in which Riyadh has been entangled in regional conflicts and rivalries. Over the past few years, Saudi Arabia has turned the page on the Gulf Cooperation Council dispute, opened talks with Huthi rebels in Yemen, agreed to ... Show More
47m 32s
Apr 2023
Ayham Kamel: The Gulf's Regional Diplomacy
This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Ayham Kamel of the Eurasia Group. They talk about the current diplomatic landscape in the Gulf, how Gulf leaders perceive their security interests, their views on the U.S. staying in power in the region, and how they are responding to ... Show More
36m 8s
Dec 2024
Iran-Gulf Relations
Dispatch from Rome: Negar Mortazavi speaks to Yousuf Al Bulushi, Sara Bazoobandi, and Abdulaziz Sager, about the future of Iran-GCC relations, Oman’s crucial role in mediation, the challenges and opportunities of the Iran-Saudi deal, and the path forward for the countries of the ... Show More
37m 21s
Sep 2025
Syria’s foreign minister on his country’s future
Today on the show, Fareed sits down with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani at the Council on Foreign Relations for a wide-ranging discussion on his transition from rebel to statesman, the future for religious minorities in Syria, and whether peace with Israel seems viable ... Show More
40m 57s