CONFLICTED
An ex-Al Qaeda jihadi turned MI6 spy and a former monk turned filmmaker, have been embedded at the heart of conflicts in the Middle East. Together Aimen Dean and Thomas Small unpack the realities of war, fundamentalism and their global implications through first-hand experience.
Episodes
July 3, 2026 • 36 mins
In this special episode, we bring you an exclusive audio episode of ‘Undiscovered’ the new YouTube-first documentary series from Conflicted’s executive producer and Message Heard founder, Jake Warren.
Jake sits down with the legendary journalist Robert Young Pelton to discuss the infamous battle of Qala-i-Jangi, which he experienced first hand, and how it changed the war on terror forever.
In this episode they d...
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June 30, 2026 • 63 mins
In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas sweats his way through a personally revealing exchange with Quinn Slobodian, Professor of International History at Boston University and the author of Hayek’s Bastards: The Neoliberal Roots of the Populist Right.
Quinn explains:
Friedrich Hayek’s “knowledge problem” and his defence of markets over central planning.
Hayek’s later theory of cultural evoluti...
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June 25, 2026 • 56 mins
As the Middle East wakes up to an unnerving new normal following the signing of the M.O.U., Aimen and Thomas turn their attention to something truly cutting edge: the AI Arms Race that is rapidly transforming the Gulf into the front lines of a truly global U.S.-China confrontation.
Aimen and Thomas discuss:
Iran’s drone attacks on Gulf data centres.
AI in missile defence and military targeting.
The physical infrast...
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June 23, 2026 • 69 mins
In this Conflicted Conversation, Yeganeh Torbati, the Iran correspondent for the New York Times, discusses her excellent new book Stolen Revolution: Betrayal and Hope in Modern Iran.
Yeganeh explains how:
The 1979 revolution promised justice but created clerical authoritarianism.
Islamic law was subordinated to preservation of the supreme leader.
Institutions created to help the poor became engines of economic corruption...
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June 18, 2026 • 98 mins
In this Conflicted Conversation, George Osborn draws on his excellent new book Power Play: Video Games, Politics and the Battle for Global Influence to reveal the hidden political power of video games.
Once dismissed as a niche hobby, gaming has become one of the largest social environments ever created: a vast digital third space where billions of people form identities, build communities, and increasingly encounter politics &mda...
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June 17, 2026 • 73 mins
In the wake of the recently published Memorandum of Understanding between the White House and the Iranian regime, Aimen and Thomas explore what the MoU means and reflect on everything they got wrong about the Iran War.
They discuss:
How the MoU is a strategic lifeline for the Islamic Republic
How it legitimises Iran’s proxy network, from Hezbollah to the Houthis
How billions in frozen Iranian funds have already bee...
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June 11, 2026 • 79 mins
Elizabeth Tsurkov returns for another Conflicted Conversation. This time, the conversation turns to Israel after October 7th. Elizabeth traces her own political journey from the Israeli right to a hard-won humanism, then explains how Israel’s old security doctrine collapsed — and why the new one may lead not to safety, but to permanent war.
Elizabeth and Thomas discuss:
Israel’s security doctrine after 7 Octo...
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June 9, 2026 • 66 mins
Aimen returns to bring us up to date on all the latest manoeuvrings in the Middle East.
Aimen and Thomas discuss:
Trump’s chaotic, micromanaged Iran diplomacy and reliance on inexperienced “real estate” advisers.
Pakistan, Qatar, Oman, Turkey, and Egypt as flawed or compromised mediators with “skin in the game.”
Why Aimen thinks Switzerland would be the proper neutral US–Iran mediator....
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June 4, 2026 • 65 mins
Hamza Abu Howidy returns for another Conflicted Conversation. Last time he appeared, he told us his personal story of growing up in Hamas-ruled Gaza, how he was imprisoned and tortured by Hamas for speaking out against their oppression, and how he entered into exile in Germany just before the 7 October attacks changed everything.
This time he switches from Gaza to the West Bank, telling Thomas all about the other side of Palestine...
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June 2, 2026 • 63 mins
Because Aimen is still away, we’re taking this opportunity to introduce you all to our executive producer Jake Warren. A journalist and programme-maker, Jake not only had the idea for Conflicted, he is also the founder of Message Heard, the company that produces the show.
Jake and Thomas discuss:
Conflicted’s origin story
Jake’s Hungarian-Jewish grandfather who escaped on the Kindertransport
His early w...
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May 28, 2026 • 71 mins
In this latest Conflicted Conversation, Thomas talks with Tory MP Sir Jeremy Hunt. Over fourteen years of Conservative government, Hunt served as Culture Secretary, Health Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer. But in this discussion, Jeremy draws especially on his eventful year running the Foreign Office to argue against Western defeatism and to make the case for liberal democracy.
Sir Jeremy discusses:
...
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May 21, 2026 • 73 mins
Is Donald Trump mad? Or is he a practitioner of the Madman Theory — and therefore not mad at all?
James D. Boys, author of U.S. Grand Strategy and the Madman Theory: From Nixon to Trump, argues that the Madman Theory is not madness, but the performance of madness: a tactic by which a sane leader feigns irrationality to make an adversary believe there is even a one percent chance of overwhelming, disproportionate force.
...
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May 20, 2026 • 69 mins
Aimen is back with a huge amount of behind-the-scenes information on what’s been happening in the Middle East in the past three weeks—especially on the real reasons the UAE withdrew from OPEC, and what’s been going on inside Donald Trump’s head as he tries to chart a course to victory in the Iran War.
Aimen and Thomas discuss:
The recent discovery of HUGE shale oil reserves in the UAE
The Mar-a-Lago ...
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May 14, 2026 • 61 mins
In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas talks to Marc David Baer, Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, about his new book Children of Abraham: The Story of Jewish-Muslim Relations.
Marc discusses:
The recent stabbing in Golders Green, North London
The myth of utopian co-existence and the counter-myth of total antagonism
The earliest encounters of Jews and Muslims in Arabia
The Qur'an...
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May 12, 2026 • 59 mins
As we eagerly await Aimen’s return to Conflicted next week, today Wassim Nasr returns to the show. As only Wassim can, he draws on his expertise of the Sahel to explain the remarkable events in Mali over the past several weeks — events which Aimen forecast on the show back in January.
Wassim explains:
France’s failed counterterrorism strategy in Mali
JNIM’s emergence from AQIM and local insurgencies
...
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May 7, 2026 • 55 mins
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 ...
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May 5, 2026 • 74 mins
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 Conflict...
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May 1, 2026 • 72 mins
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:
H...
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April 28, 2026 • 62 mins
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/...
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April 23, 2026 • 65 mins
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 W...
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