This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Rafat Al-Akhali, a Yemeni who went from being an exchange student in Canada to being a youth activist, a government minister, and then a development consultant. Together, they discuss youth activism in Yemen, the international community's responses to protracted conflicts, and the outlook for Yemen's future. Then, ... 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
Dec 2018
The War in Yemen (and Congress’s Response)
<p>Last week, Benjamin Wittes sat down with Gregory Johnsen, a former member of the U.N. Security Council Panel of Experts on Yemen and the author of the book "The Last Refuge: Yemen, Al-Qaeda, and America’s War in Arabia," to do a deep dive on the conflict in Yemen: its origins; ... Show More
1 h
Feb 2022
What will end the war in Yemen?
One of the world's largest humanitarian crises plagues the people of Yemen who have endured nearly eight years of civil conflict in the country. Over half the population struggles to access food, poverty is rife, and cholera is spreading. Meanwhile, three separate forces compete ... Show More
22m 59s
