Today

(Another) all-out war: Afghanistan and Pakistan

Air strikes and border raids have turned cross-border tensions into hot conflict. We ask what raised the temperature, and whether the Iran war may act to lower it. Meanwhile that war’s oil shock brings with it fears of rising inflation; we examine how recent disruptions might inf ... Show More

20m 5s

Yesterday

From bad to awful: Trump’s four options in Iran

As the war in Iran progresses, none of the options available to Donald Trump looks good. We examine each of them. Thailand’s Buddhist monks are implicated in lots of lawless and dodgy behaviour—but clearing out the bad apples is more complicated than it seems. And gene-editing co ... Show More

22m 59s

Mar 20

Who will deal the final blow? Israel, Lebanon and Hizbullah

As attention has focused on war in Iran, Israel sees an opportunity to crush a weakened Hizbullah in Lebanon. Our correspondent says it would be far better for the Lebanese state to do so. As south-east Asia is modernising, Islam is counterintuitively gaining greater primacy in c ... Show More

25m 2s

Aug 2025

Rule and divide: opposition grows in Syria

Less than nine months after Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad was toppled, the honeymoon is over. How is the new regime responding to rising dissent? Introducing Britain’s revolutionary retirees: why pensioners increasingly dominate political protest. And celebrating the life of o ... Show More

23m 38s

Jan 2025

Turkish delight: influencing the new Syria

<p>The fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria will reshape the wider region. Our correspondent says few countries have as much to gain from a stable Syria as <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/01/21/how-turkey-plans-to-expand-its-influence-in-the-new-syria?u ... Show More

25m 5s

Mar 2025

Kurds in the right place: a truce nears

<p>The leader of Turkey’s Kurdish rebels has <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/02/27/one-of-the-worlds-longest-conflicts-may-be-ending?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_ ... Show More

25m 15s

Apr 2025

Division multiplication: the UAE’s foreign meddling

<p>The United Arab Emirates projects an image of level-headed calm in the Gulf. Its actions abroad, however, betray a <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/04/16/the-uae-preaches-unity-at-home-but-pursues-division-abroad?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio ... Show More

22m 32s

Oct 2025

Syrian mass grave, U.S. data darkness and French pensions

Bashar al-Assad's government secretly relocated a mass grave to cover up evidence of tens of thousands of killings in Syria, a Reuters investigation has found. The U.S. government shutdown has switched off the flow of economic data and that spells trouble for the countries which ... Show More

12m 4s

May 2024

Trailer: The Modi Raj

Narendra Modi is one of the most popular politicians on the planet. India’s prime minister is eyeing a third term atop the world’s biggest democracy. A tea-seller’s son, Mr Modi began life an outsider. The man behind the political phenomenon remains hard to fathom. India has beco ... Show More

4m 58s

Sep 2025

CC: Aaron Zelin – New Syrian Government, Same Old Conflicts?

This week on Conflicted, host Thomas Small is joined by returning guest, Aaron Zelin - the Gloria and Ken Levy Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and founder of the acclaimed website Jihadology. Following up on their last conversation after the fall of the As ... Show More

24m 29s

Apr 2025

Import-extort: what to make of Donald Trump’s titanic tariffs

<p>After months of bluster, he’s finally done it. At a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, Donald Trump overturned decades of American trade policy with a simple signature. The new wave of <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/04/03/trump-takes-americ ... Show More

46m 35s

Rule and divide: opposition grows in Syr...