CONFLICTED

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas talks to Sir Vince Cable, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats in the UK, about his new book Eclipsing the West: China, India and the forging of a new world.

Sir Vince discusses:

Postcolonial state-building, development economics, and his formative experiences in Kenya

Globalisation, financialisation, and the legacy of the 2008 financial crisis

The rise of China and India as “superstates” in a new tripolar world

Geo-economics, US–China rivalry, and the breakdown of the liberal international order

Democracy versus authoritarianism and the crisis of liberal governance

Ideology, nationalism, and the limits of rationality in geopolitics

Multipolarity, global disorder, climate crisis, and the future of world order

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm⁠⁠

Find Conflicted on X: ⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠

And Facebook: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠

And Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠

And YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sdlF1mY5t4⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced by Thomas Small & Ross Field and edited by Lizzy Andrews.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aimen's in the thick of it this week so isn't able to appear on the show. Sitting in for him is Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Russian-Israeli researcher and analyst, and a doctoral student at Princeton University. During field research in Iraq in 2023, she was kidnapped by Kata'ib Hezbollah and held in captivity for over two years, suffering torture and solitary confinement.

In what we hope will be the first of many appearances on Conflicted, Elizabeth discusses:

Saddam Hussein’s faith campaign and the rise of Shia religious politics in Iraq

The Sadrist movement in Iraq and Muqtada al-Sadr

The politicisation of sectarian identity in post-2003 Iraq

Iraqi militias as criminal-political enterprises engaged in in theft, extortion, oil smuggling, and dollar smuggling

The difference between Iraqi militias and Lebanese Hezbollah

The impact of militia rule on ordinary civilian life

Iraq’s extreme inequality despite its oil and gas wealth

The 2003 Iraq War and the debate over American responsibility

Iraqi elite agency and the failures of Iraq’s political class

The 2010 Iraqi election crisis and Nouri al-Maliki’s return to power

The Iraqi constitution and the failure of constitutional democracy

Iraq’s dependence on oil revenues and the Strait of Hormuz

The impact of the current Iran war on Iraq’s economy

Iranian attacks on Iraqi oil exports and oil tankers

The U.S. military presence in Iraq after ISIS

American influence over Iraqi prime ministerial politics

Nouri al-Maliki, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and Ali al-Zaidi

Fa’iq Zaidan and the power of Iraq’s judiciary

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Elizabeth's personal website: https://elizabeth-tsurkov.net/en/

Find Elizabeth on X: https://x.com/LizHurra

Find Elizabeth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-tsurkov-79491b15/

Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to journalist Tim Weiner about his new history of the CIA in the 21st century, The Mission, and about the enduring tension between intelligence gathering and covert action. Drawing on four decades of reporting, Weiner argues that the CIA’s greatest failures arise when it abandons its core purpose of understanding the world in favour of trying to change it.

Weiner explains:

How he began covering the CIA during the Reagan era and what drew him into intelligence reporting

Why the CIA is best understood as an instrument of presidential power, not an independent actor

The agency’s post–Cold War collapse and its loss of mission before 9/11

How the War on Terror transformed the CIA into a global counterterrorism and paramilitary force

The origins, logic, and consequences of torture, black sites, and the failure of interrogation

The intelligence failures behind the Iraq War and how ‘facts were fitted around the policy’

The rise of drone warfare under Obama and the normalization of targeted killing

Covert operations from Peru to Syria, including the limits and dangers of programs like TIMBER SYCAMORE

The difference between espionage and covert action—and why only the former can prevent war and save lives

Why the greatest danger today is a president who ignores intelligence while using the CIA’s coercive power

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm⁠⁠

Find Conflicted on X: ⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠

And Facebook: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠

And Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠

And YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sdlF1mY5t4⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced and edited by Thomas Small .
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thomas expresses his growing conviction that President Trump has utterly mishandled the Iran War, while Aimen describes: how the final, fatal phase of the Islamabad peace talks was a utter humiliation for Trump; what's going on inside the heads of GCC leaders regarding the White House's leadership; and the Islamic Republic's new delay tactics.

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to bestselling novelist and historian Jack Carr. A former Navy SEAL sniper, Carr talks about his phenomenal book Targeted: Beirut: The 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing and the Untold Origin Story of the War on Terror as well as his upcoming novel The Fourth Option.

Jack describes:

His path from childhood fascination with war to becoming a U.S. Navy SEAL sniper

SEAL training: Hell Week, mental fortitude, and what separates those who quit from those who don’t

Boarding Iraqi oil tankers: enforcing sanctions at sea and policing the post–Gulf War international order

His experience as a sniper in Iraq and Afghanistan

The 1983 Beirut barracks bombing and its role in shaping modern terrorism and U.S. foreign policy

The mistakes in US counter-terrorism policy: how limited responses can shape enemy strategy over time

From warfighter to writer: how Carr’s military experience informs his novels and nonfiction on the War on Terror

Jack Carr's official website: https://www.officialjackcarr.com/

Find Jack on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackcarrusa/

Find Jack on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jackcarrusa/

Find Jack on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JackCarrUSA

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm⁠

Find Conflicted on X: ⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠

And Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠

And Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠

And YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sdlF1mY5t4⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced by Thomas Small and edited by Alan Leer.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices