This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Amb. David Satterfield, the U.S. special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues. They discuss the crisis in Gaza, the challenges of getting aid to civilians, and the role of humanitarian assistance in ending the conflict. Then, Jon continues the conversation with Will Todman and Leah Hickert to discuss other hu ... 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 2023
No Food, No Safety: Gaza’s Humanitarian Disaster
The restart of war in Gaza has left humanitarian aid hanging in the balance. Israel is expanding its ground operation into southern Gaza, placing civilians’ access to food and other necessary items at risk. In this episode, CNN International Correspondent Larry Madowo breaks down ... Show More
14m 5s
Feb 2024
Making the Gaza Crisis Even Worse: The suspension of UNRWA funding and the humanitarian catastrophe
The humanitarian crisis is older than the war in Gaza. For years, Palestinians inside the besieged enclave have struggled to secure some of the basic needs for life.The war, which has now entered its four month, has turned crisis into catastrophe. All 2.2 million residents of Gaz ... Show More
38m 53s
Nov 2023
Is aid sustaining Palestine's occupation? | Rethinking Humanitarianism
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59m 29s
Jan 2022
The rising toll of famine and conflict
<p>Gideon talks to David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee, about the organisation’s 2022 watchlist, which reveals that people in 20 countries, representing 10 per cent of the world’s population, are at risk or in dire need of humanitarian aid, and the sit ... Show More
24m 4s
Apr 2024
Israeli airstrikes and the deadly risk of feeding Gaza
On Monday, an Israeli military airstrike hit an aid convoy from World Central Kitchen. The IDF killed 7 workers, including Canadian veteran Jacob Flickinger, and said it was a “mistake” and “misidentification.”
So why didn’t the extensive steps WCK says it took to coordinate its ... Show More
25m 9s