Episodes

  • Hezbollah and the war in Lebanon

    Hezbollah and the war in Lebanon
    Apr 29 2026
    Arab Digest editor William Law welcomes back the Levant expert Dr Lina Khatib to discuss the war in Lebanon. Dr Khatib argues that Hezbollah though significantly degraded continues to play a spoiler role and that until a solution is found that ends the Israeli-American war against Iran Lebanon will continue to suffer further collateral damage. She also argues that with the war over Israel will have no choice but to pull out of Lebanon. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    31 mins
  • How safe is al-Sharaa?

    How safe is al-Sharaa?
    Apr 22 2026
    To discuss the current situation in Syria Arab Digest editor William Law's guest this week is the Syrian analyst Malik al-Abdeh.The leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and president of Syria Ahmed al-Sharaa has been embraced by Washington but he has faced multiple challenges, including assassination attempts, as he works to balance pressure from Israel and Türkiye with internal threats and ISIS re-emerging in a bleak economic landscape. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    28 mins
  • The Gulf and three mad countries

    The Gulf and three mad countries
    Apr 15 2026
    The Gulf states are on the frontline of a war they worked hard to prevent. Once it began they find themselves facing a prime minister who uses permanent war to survive politically, a president who increasingly seems out of touch with reality and a regime that those two, Netanyahu and Trump, said they would replace but which has become only more hardline and more threatening. To help explain the challenging landscape the Gulf states are staring at, Arab Digest editor William Law has brought the defence and security expert Andreas Krieg back onto the podcast. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    34 mins
  • High energy stakes and the Strait of Hormuz

    High energy stakes and the Strait of Hormuz
    Apr 8 2026
    Arab Digest editor William Law has invited two top energy analysts - the Baker Institute's Jim Krane and Arab Digest's Alastair Newton - onto the podcast to discuss the implications and the impact for energy markets as Donald Trump vows to use force to open the passage. Iran’s Gulf neighbours and the wider region wonder, as does the rest of the world, how the war will end and where markets are headed once it does. The podcast was recorded 7 April at 1500 GMT Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    33 mins
  • MAGA Inc. versus America First

    MAGA Inc. versus America First
    Apr 1 2026
    Arab Digest editor William Law's guest this week is the conservative analyst Jon Hoffman. Amidst conflicting reports that Trump's base is or is not fracturing over the US-Israel war against Iran Jon Hoffman argues that the longer the conflict continues the greater the rift will grow between Trump's hardcore MAGA supporters who back his war and young disillusioned American Firsters who see continued support for Israel as a betrayal of his promises to them. The podcast was recorded 30 March. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    31 mins
  • Notes From a Lost Country

    Notes From a Lost Country
    Mar 25 2026
    Arab Digest editor William Law's guest is the Iraqi-American writer Sinan Antoon. The podcast focusses on his latest novel which interweaves the stories of two Iraqis in America , one a retired surgeon slipping into dementia, the other a young torture survivor but their conversation also ranges into the attempt by Israel to obliterate Palestinian culture and the impact of the current Iran war on Iraq. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    37 mins
  • Iran and regime survival

    Iran and regime survival
    Mar 18 2026
    Arab Digest editor William Law's guest on this week's podcast is the Iran expert Sanam Vakil. As the war continues and Donald Trump flounders the Islamic regime is conducting its fight for survival with a tenacity that neither the Israelis or the Americans anticipated. Should the regime survive the majority who want change will lose but if it falls the likeliest outcome is chaos with further suffering inflicted on the Iranian people. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    27 mins
  • Türkiye and the Iran war

    Türkiye and the Iran war
    Mar 11 2026
    Arab Digest editor William Law's guest this week is the Turkish analyst and writer Aslı Aydıntaşbaş. President Erdoğan's efforts to adopt a neutral stance while urging de-escalation are challenged by events on the ground and in the neighbourhood as Israel with Trump's backing moves to reshape the map of the Middle East. The Israeli tactic of using maximum kinetic force to achieve regional hegemony is raising fears in Ankara that the next target will be Türkiye. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.
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    33 mins