Welcome to the first episode for our Conflicted Community!  We’ll be coming to you every two weeks with interactive episodes for... more

The Conflicted Community is now live!  Want to hear bonus episodes of Conflicted and chat with fellow Dear Listeners? Now you... more

On Friday, January 12th, the Houthis added their muscle to the spreading conflict in the Middle East. By attacking commercial... more

The state of Yemen in 2023 is precarious. After the Arab Spring revolution descended into civil war, the Houthis have... more

The Arab Spring of 2011 may have brought with it hope for a new dawn in Yemen, one of democracy... more

2011 was a pivotal year for Yemen, and indeed the entire Middle East. After years of wars against the insurgent... more

Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president of Yemen from 1990 - 2012, described the process of governing Yemen as akin to... more

Ask anyone from the Middle East about Yemen, that country on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, and they’ll... more

In the last episode of Conflicted, we saw Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia terror group, grow in power in the midst... more

Some four decades ago, out of the chaos of the Lebanese civil war, a Shia militant group was born who... more

Emergency Episode: On Saturday October 7th 2023, Hamas terrorists broke through the border of the Gaza Strip and carried out a... more

It’s always difficult to know exactly what is going on in Iran - that isolated, Shia theocracy that dominates so... more

President Erdogan’s time in power has been a fascinating period for Turkey - at once nodding to the liberal West,... more

Over the past couple of episodes we explained the inner workings of the Muslim Brotherhood - that mysterious organisation based... more

In last week’s discussion of the Muslim Brotherhood, we told you how this clandestine group are structured - headed in... more

After finishing our extensive exploration into some of the most colourful and fascinating characters in Islamic History - figures who... more

If the start of Sayyid Qutb’s life was defined by the evolution of his thought, the second part was defined... more

When it comes to the modern era, no Islamic intellectual has influenced modern Salafi Jihadism more than Sayyid Qutb. This... more

When Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab gained the patronage of Muhammad Ibn Saud, it was a fusing of ideology with power... more

While many trace the roots of Saudi Arabia to Muhammad Ibn Saud, its ideological roots can be traced to his... more

The later part of Ibn Taymiyyah’s life saw continued invasions from Mongol Hordes from the outside, and a battle against... more

Ibn Taymiyyah is known as the “Sheikh of Islam” to his admirers, and to his detractors, one of the most... more

This week’s Conflicted sees the second episode of our deep dive into the thrilling life of 7/8th century Muslim scholar,... more

On this week’s episode of Conflicted, we begin a multi episode exploration into the historical figures who function as antecedents... more

Islamic radicals have been a scourge on countries across the Middle East for decades, but what drives the person who... more

In the first episode of season 4 of Conflicted, hosts Thomas Small and Aimen Dean attempt to get to the... more

Join Islamic scholar Thomas Small and ex-jihadi turned spy Aimen Dean as they explore the fascinating chains of events that... more

In a special LIVE end of season event (recorded on the 30th November) Thomas and Aimen sat down to answer... more

A special announcement from Thomas. Find tickets to the Live Q&A on Eventbrite. Or join our FB Discussion group Or follow us... more

In the final episode of this season, Thomas & Aimen come full circle again, back to the latest chapter in... more

As Conflicted approaches the end of season 3, Aimen & Thomas turn their attention to a country which hasn’t featured... more

With the assassination of Al Qaeda leader Aymen al-Zawahiri ringing in their ears, Aimen & Thomas turn their attention once... more

In our previous episode on the Iranian revolution, we left the Ayatollah Khomeini sitting high and mighty in Tehran. Little... more

We’ve reached the Iranian Revolution of 1979! The great showdown! The watershed moment when the tensions which we’ve been tracing—between... more

In this episode, Aimen and Thomas talk about one of the many governing institutions which arose out of the wreckage... more

Circling back to the Arab world after a brief excursus further afield, this episode of Conflicted takes up the themes... more

Having flitted around the edges of the Ottoman Empire for most of this season, now we’re going straight to the... more

From the Arab world, we now journey eastward to the Indian Subcontinent. Ancient, vast, and spiritually rich, the lands that... more

Now that we’ve told the story of the rise and fall of Nasserism, we turn to Libya and its handsome... more

We’ve finally reached the climax of the Cold War in the Middle East: the 6-Day War of 1967 and its... more

As we race toward the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars, we’re putting our final duck in its row. After the... more

In this episode, we talk about Syria. Or ask the question, really: What is Syria? Syria has been described as... more

Before the next episode, we have something a little different for your ears - an introduction to a whole new... more

Having avoided it for as long as possible, Aimen & Thomas finally turn their attention to the state of Israel:... more

Following on from our last episode, another CIA adventure in the Middle East kicks off this episode on Egypt. King... more

In this episode, we shift our focus to Iran. Nobody could have known this at the time, but with hindsight we... more

In the last episode we talked about how the American half of the Cold War was established in Saudi Arabia.... more

In this week’s episode, we focus attention on Aimen’s homeland: Saudi Arabia. Arabia is as old as time, and we... more

Introduced in the first episode, we raise the all-important question: what is the “Clash of Civilizations?” We lay the groundwork... more

We pick up where we left off, narrating the failure of America’s Afghanistan policy, its chaotic pull-out, and how the... more

Join us on January 19 for Season 3 as we dive even deeper into the history of the Middle East... more

This year marks twenty years since 9/11 and the start of the war in Afghanistan. A war which is now... more

In November, Iran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated, and so Thomas and Aimen return to discuss the regional... more

In this bonus episode, Thomas introduces a new show from the producers of Conflicted about the Srebrenica genocide. Tune in... more

Thomas introduces a new podcast about a subject familiar to Conflicted listeners: the Bosnian War. Untold Killing is a deep... more

In this special episode, Thomas and Aimen sit down to answer your questions. They dig deeper into past discussions as... more

As the financial crisis moved off the front pages, activists and politicians began to organize around another global emergency: climate... more

From a bomb maker to double agent to… banker? In this episode, Aimen draws on his experience helping banks combat... more

From the protests in Hong Kong, to the persecution of the Uighurs and the building of the New Silk Road,... more

After the Iron Curtain fell, America aimed to bring Russia into the fold of their New World Order. Things didn’t... more