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

Jan 2024

The Threat of a Wider War in the Middle East

A recent string of attacks across the Middle East has raised concerns that the war between Hamas and Israel is spreading, and might put pressure on other countries like Iran and the United States to get more involved.Eric Schmitt, who covers national security for The Ti ... Show More

22m 28s

Jan 2024

Is the US Already in a Regional Conflict in the Middle East?

Since Israel's war against Hamas began, the US has tried to prevent a wider regional war from breaking out. Now, with US attacks against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen, drone strikes in Iraq and fighting across Israel's northern border with Lebanon is that regional conflict the US w ... Show More

9m 42s

Nov 2023

Trouble with the 51st State: US policy on Gaza and its relationship with Israel

The death toll from the conflict in Gaza passed 14,000 this week. With a ceasefire starting on Friday evening, international diplomacy is happening, but so is the conflict. The recent four-day ceasefire and prisoner swap was negotiated by Qatar and Isra ... Show More

33m 22s

Nov 2023

How united are Arab and Muslim leaders on Gaza?

The war in Gaza has provoked mass demonstrations across the Arab and Muslim world and exposed the policy failings of regional leaders. Gideon discusses regional leaders’ response to the crisis with Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East Programme at Chatham House in Lon ... Show More

20 m

Oct 2023

War in the Middle East—and Congress Is Dysfunctional

Israel has demanded that 1.1 million Gazans relocate from the north into the south, as a siege of the strip intensifies. What is Washington’s role? Democratic Rep. Andy Kim joined Ravi Agrawal amid a continued failure to elect a new speaker of the House of Representatives. Part ... Show More

30m 50s

Feb 2024

The Middle East Crisis: Approaching the Endgame?

The Global Security Briefing takes a forward look at how this conflict is shaping the region. Before the 7th of October, when Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel triggered the war in Gaza, the Middle East appeared to have largely fallen off the list of priorities for ... Show More

52m 59s

Mar 2024

The View From the Middle East

Negotiators failed to reach a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war that would have paused hostilities before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. How does the rest of the Middle East view this breakdown in negotiations? For the United States in particular, how will this shape its stan ... Show More

43m 56s

Apr 2024

Iran and Israel Step Out of the Shadow War: Rising tensions threaten to spark regional war

Tensions across the Middle East, recently rose to worrying highs. It started on 1 April, when Israel launched an attack on Iran's consulate building in the Syria capital of Damascus. Iran responded to this by firing hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel. I ... Show More

34m 51s

Dana Stroul: The U.S. Defense Strategy i...