CONFLICTED

The MoU with Iran has broken down, war has returned to the Middle East, and so Aimen walks us through the events since the war re-ignited on 7th July.

More than anything, the fighting now focuses on the Strait of Hormuz. In Iran’s eyes, it has won control of the Strait as a spoil of war. In the rest of the world’s eyes, freedom of navigation through the Strait remains a cast-iron principle of international law.

Aimen and Thomas discuss:

Why the US–Iran MoU collapsed over control of the Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s attacks on Gulf shipping and the return of the US naval blockade

US strikes on Bandar Abbas and Iran’s coastal military infrastructure

GCC retaliation: Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE and Jordan confront Iran

Trump assassination threats and divisions inside the US administration

Saudi Arabia’s internal debate over Iran and renewed war with the Houthis

Houthi threats to close Bab al-Mandab and attack Saudi infrastructure

Oman, NATO and Israel’s roles in the widening Iran war

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.
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In this latest Conflicted Conversation, Thomas talks with Yaakov Katz, the former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post and co-author of ⁠While Israel Slept: How Hamas Surprised the Most Powerful Military in the Middle East⁠.

Yaakov explains:

October 7 intelligence failure and Israel’s missed warnings

Hamas’s ‘Jericho Walls’ plan and ignored Unit 8200 alerts

The Israeli conceptzia: why leaders believed Hamas was deterred

Netanyahu’s Gaza containment strategy and Qatari money policy

Hamas as a political asset against Palestinian statehood

Israel’s overreliance on technology, SIGINT and border barriers

Unit 504, HUMINT failure and the absence of agents in Gaza

Gaza’s tunnel network and Hamas’s hidden underground military city

Operation Guardian of the Walls and Israel’s exaggerated ‘Metro’ success

Netanyahu’s responsibility, Israeli division and the post–October 7 media war

**PLUS: Yaakov answers listener questions! FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY!**

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Find Yaakov on X: ⁠https://x.com/yaakovkatz⁠

And on Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/yaakov.katz⁠

And on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaakovkatz⁠

Yaakov's website: ⁠www.yaakovkatz.com⁠

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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 latest Conflicted Conversation, Thomas talks with retired US lieutenant general Ben Hodges, former commanding general of US Army Europe. Drawing on his experience at the heart of NATO’s military leadership, Hodges explains:

His proposed path to Ukrainian victory

Ukraine’s deep strikes on Russian oil and gas infrastructure

Ukraine’s campaign to isolate and recover Crimea

Why Hodges overestimated the speed of Ukraine’s victory

The risk of Russia using nuclear weapons in Ukraine

America’s failure to define clear political objectives in war

Ukraine’s emergence as a European defence-industrial centre

Why Western armies have been slow to learn from Ukraine

Pentagon procurement and the military-industrial complex

The NATO summit in Ankara and support for Ukraine

The damage Trump has done to trust between NATO allies

The geopolitical importance of Ukraine to Europe and the United States

Why the Kremlin fears a successful democratic Ukraine

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

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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

As Aimen works hard to uncover the truth of what's going on in the region now that the MoU has been torn to shreds — or so it seems — and in recognition of Syria being taken off the State Sponsor of Terrorism list, we are rerunning this episode from last year where Aimen tells the story of his nephew who joined the jihad against the Assad regime.

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

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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 discusses the true foundations of modernity with Clifton Crais, author of The Killing Age: How Violence Made the Modern World.

Clifton explains:

The Mortecene as an alternative to the Anthropocene

Why global violence accelerated after 1750

How firearms destabilised traditional political orders

The role of credit and debt in expanding slavery

Global complicity beyond a simple West-versus-rest narrative

The industrial destruction of whales, elephants and bison

Vodun and other religious responses to predatory power

What muskets can teach us about drones and AI

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

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

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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