This week on Babel, Jon Alterman talks with Jessica Obeid, energy consultant, a senior global advisor at the London-based consultancy Azure Strategy, and an academy associate with Chatham House's Energy, Environment, and Resources Programme. They talk about the Lebanese power sector and what its shortcomings tell us about broader fissures in Arab society. Th ... Show More
May 2025
Babel Special: Jon Alterman's Next Chapter
This week on a special edition of Babel, Will Todman speaks with Jon Alterman, the creator of Babel and the show’s host since it began in 2019. They discuss Jon’s reflections on 22 years directing the CSIS Middle East Program, his analysis of how the Middle East policy ecosystem ... Show More
34m 59s
May 2025
Mohanad Hage Ali: Hezbollah and the Captagon Trade
This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Dr. Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director for research at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. Mohanad's latest paper for Carnegie investigates the rise of a new form of drug smuggling in Lebanon. Together, they discuss Hezbollah’s i ... Show More
50m 16s
May 2025
Analysis: Will Trump’s Houthi Deal Stick?
On Tuesday, May 6, President Trump declared that the United States would immediately halt its bombing of Houthi targets, bringing an end to months of intensified U.S. strikes across Yemen. The president linked the policy reversal to what he described as the Iran-backed Houthis’ c ... Show More
6m 13s
Mar 2021
Inside the energy world’s big confab
Anyone who is someone in the energy world is at CERA Week. The conference, which puts together the most important names in the fossil fuel industry inside the same building in Texas, is back on this week. But in 2021, the conference organizers are learning that going virtual isn’ ... Show More
8m 4s
May 2024
Jigar Shah returns to the Energy Gang
<p>The Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office has a grandstand view of the energy transition. Where is it going next?</p><p>Jigar Shah, one of the originators of the Energy Gang, now runs the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, playing a key role in advancing clean ... Show More
51m 29s
<p><strong>LE LIBAN SOUS PRESSION</strong></p><p><br></p><p>Une explosion de 2.750 tonnes de nitrate d'ammonium a soufflé, le 4 août, les installations du port de Beyrouth et fortement endommagé le centre-ville,faisant 190 morts et au moins 6 500 blessés Elle s’est produite dans ... Show More