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
Aug 2020
Episode 4 - Making Sense of the Blackouts
<p>On the fourth episode of Alternative Frequencies, Nadim El Kak is joined by Energy Policy Consultant and LCPS Fellow Jessica Obeid to discuss the factors that have led Lebanon into its ongoing blackouts, why attempts at reforming the electricity sector have failed, and what ca ... Show More
23m 15s
Apr 2025
MSMEs and the Energy Transition: The Lebanon Case Study
Marc Ayoub and Ahmad Diab discuss with LCPS researcher Rasha Akel the role of Lebanon’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country’s clean energy transition. Drawing on a year-long LCPS mixed-methods study conducted between October 2023 and July 2024, the convers ... Show More
31m 28s
Mar 2022
What’s Up With Lebanese Electricity?
In this episode, we look into some of the reasons behind Lebanon's constant power cuts, and what we can learn about its ruling class from them. To sign up for classes and for transcripts and translations, go to our website https://realarabic.weebly.com Please consider supporting ... Show More
10m 36s
Aug 2020
Repowering Lebanon with wind energy
Salah Tabbara is co-founder of Naseem Akkar Windfarms, Lebanon's first wind energy project that will power 220,0000 homes. In this episode recorded before the August 4th explosion at the Port of Beirut, he talks about the project's progress, how the private sector can help restru ... Show More
1s
Jun 2025
Lebanon at a Crossroads: Sovereignty, Hizballah's Disarmament, and the Road to Reform
<p class="p1">MEI Senior Fellow Paul Salem joins the program to assess Lebanon's rapidly shifting political landscape. With a new president and government promising to enact reforms and reassert sovereignty, Lebanon faces a daunting agenda: disarming Hizballah, rebuilding institu ... Show More
37 m
Jul 2025
The View from the Lebanese Tech Scene
How do you build for the future amid ongoing instability? This week, Paul and Rich turn to Lebanon—literally, since that’s where Rich, who was born in the country and still has family there, is calling in from. After they discuss some Lebanese basics (Cedars! Small plates!) they ... Show More
35 m