Attention dear listeners – there’s been a small change in scheduling as Aimen has unfortunately been incapacitated and unable to record our fourth episode on Sudan. But don’t fret – Aimen is on the mend and will be back bringing us all more incredible insight and anecdotes about the Middle East very soon…

So this week, we’re returning to an episode from Season 3 about our old friend, Colonel Gaddafi of Libya. If you’ve been listening closely to this season, you’ll remember that Gadaffi has been intimately involved in the 20th century story of Sudan, turning up to stir the pot and influence events there at every opportunity. So while you wait for our final episode on Sudan, we thought we’d bring you this episode as a brilliant refresher on another African country with vital links to Sudan, exploring how Gaddafi attempted to create his own revolutionary African Empire and the consequences across the region.

New Conflicted Season 5 episodes will be coming every two weeks, but if you want to have your Conflicted fix every single week, then you’ll have to join our Conflicted Community.

Subscribers will get bonus episodes every other week, and can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more.

All the information you need to sign up to the Conflicted Community is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 

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This week for our Conflicted Community, we answer your listener questions! This week, it’s a grab bag of topics ranging from recent events like the thwarted Hezbollah attacks in northern Israel and the IS attack in Germany. Thomas and Aimen also speak about our recent series on Sudan, giving some updates on what is going on on the ground there, ahead for our final episode in the mini series next week. All this, plus thoughts about Hizb ut-Tahrir, anti-semitism and so much more…

To listen to the full episode, you’ll need to subscribe to the Conflicted Community. And don’t forget, subscribers can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more.

All the information you need to sign up is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 

Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted

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This week on Conflicted, Thomas and Aimen continue their exploration into the history of Sudan, focusing on two areas of the country which we’ve left off so far – but which have been hugely influential to the country’s story: Darfur and South Sudan.

Both these areas were brutalised during Sudan’s 20th century history, and for remarkably different reasons. But it all comes back to the hegemony of Sudan’s ruling Three Arab Tribes – the tribes who have fixed the country’s course to conflict and caused the separatism which has long abounded in the country.

In this third part of our Sudan mini-series, Thomas and Aimen take us through how these two regions faired as they tried to cut their own path against the ruling Arab elite, and the destruction they were met with, from forced Islamisation in the South, to the horrific genocide perpetrated in Darfur in the early 2000s. These events proved the brutal nature of the Sudanese ruling elite, and can tell us a huge amount about the conflict going on there today.

New Conflicted Season 5 episodes will be coming every two weeks, but if you want to have your Conflicted fix every single week, then you’ll have to join our Conflicted Community.

Subscribers will get bonus episodes every other week, and can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more.

All the information you need to sign up to the Conflicted Community is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 

Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted

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

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The second episode of our four part series on the history of Sudan is here!

As the British Empire loses its hold on the country, new nationalistic movements in Sudan began to develop. With the help of revolutionary Islamic thinkers like Hasan Al Turabi, various movements would vie for supremacy, with those calling for Liberal democracy, communism and Islamism all attempting to gain a foothold of power in the new reality for the country in the 20th century. But what would these tensions lead to? A happy independence, or the mire of conflict? And could Sudan overcome the ethnic and religious tensions between its North and South in the process?

In this episode, Thomas and Aimen traverse across Sudan to explore how the modern state came to be, going through independence, power struggles and civil war, with a fascinating character profile of perhaps the country’s most significant political and religious personality of the 20th century: Hasan Al Turabi. 

New Conflicted Season 5 episodes will be coming every two weeks, but if you want to have your Conflicted fix every single week, then you’ll have to join our Conflicted Community.

Subscribers will get bonus episodes every other week, and can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more.

All the information you need to sign up to the Conflicted Community is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 

Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted

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

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This week for our Conflicted Community, we answer your questions about the recent events and escalation in the Middle East.  From Hezbollah bombing a Druze village in the Golan Heights, to the Israeli response of assassinating Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, and Hamas political leader Ismael Haniyeh, it looks like escalation into regional war could well be imminent. But how did Israel pull off these targeted killings? What next for Hezbollah and Hamas? And how will Iran respond? Thomas and Aimen are here to discuss all this and more, including questions from dearest listeners on terrorist financing, and the recent riots in the UK.

To keep listening, you’ll need to subscribe to the Conflicted Community. And don’t forget, subscribers can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more.

All the information you need to sign up is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 

Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted

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

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This week on Conflicted we embark on a four episode exploration of the history of Sudan, to explain the context of the conflict raging there today.

In our first episode, we tackle a huge span of history – beginning with the country’s ancient Christian roots, before explaining the period of Islamification and various conquests by the Egyptians and of course the British. But who would rise in defiance of them all? Sudan’s Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad, a self-styled revolutionary religious messiah who came to unite the Sudanese and fight against the foreign invaders he claimed were desecrating Islamic traditions in Sudan. The fascinating, thrilling story of his rule, and the consequences of it, will inform Sudanese politics throughout the 20th century and even to this day.

New Conflicted Season 5 episodes will be coming every two weeks, but if you want to have your Conflicted fix every single week, then you’ll have to join our Conflicted Community.

Subscribers will get bonus episodes every other week, and can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more.

All the information you need to sign up to the Conflicted Community is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 

Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted

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

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Our very own Thomas Small has started a brand new podcast over on Substack called ‘Life Sentences’ – and we want to give Conflicted listeners a listen to the first episode…

Life Sentences is Thomas’ attempt to introduce the world to the Church Fathers – the Christian writers, theologians, mystics and divines who wrote in the first 1000 years of Christianity. The podcast sees Thomas read out the texts of the Church Fathers and comment on them as he goes, making them relevant to today. 

It’s a fascinating listen, and we know all fans of Conflicted listeners will enjoy it. The first episode is now live, and new episodes come out on Sundays, every two weeks.

You can subscribe and find out more about the podcast through the website at: https://wisdomreadings.substack.com/ 

To listen to more bonus episodes like this one, subscribe to the Conflicted Community, where subscribers can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more.

All the information you need to sign up to the Conflicted Community is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 

Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted

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

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Season 5 of Conflicted is here!

In this season, we’re delving deep into a continent whose Islamic heritage is often overlooked, but which is one of the most consequential and politically significant places in the world of geopolitics today. That’s right – in Season 5, Conflicted does Africa!

In our opening episode, Thomas and Aimen are giving you an introductory overview of the continent, and we really are covering a lot. From the Islamisation of North Africa, to the ISIS cells forming on the East African coast, to the reasons why there are so many redheads in the Levant, we want to use this episode to explain just why Africa is so important and consequential, both in terms of Islamic history and beyond. We’ll cover themes that will return across this season to welcome you into this truly fascinating world that we haven’t covered in any real depth across our previous four seasons.

New Conflicted Season 5 episodes will be coming every two weeks, but if you want to have your Conflicted fix every single week, then you’ll have to join our Conflicted Community.

Subscribers will get bonus episodes every other week, and can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more.

All the information you need to sign up to the Conflicted Community is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 

Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted

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

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All Conflicted fans know Aimen’s life story – but what about that of his co-host, Thomas Small? Avid listeners will have heard Thomas talk about his Orthodox Christian faith and his time as a novice monk at a monastery on the Greek island of Mount Athos, but the story of how he got there, and why he decided to leave the brotherhood, is a fascinating tale… This week, Thomas and Aimen switch roles to find out more about Thomas’ spiritual journey.

We’re putting out this episode to all of our dear listeners, because Thomas is releasing a new podcast over on Substack called ‘Life Sentences’. This is Thomas’ attempt to introduce to the world the Church Fathers – the Christian writers, theologians, mystics and divines who wrote in the first 1000 years of Christianity. The podcast sees Thomas read out the texts of the Church Fathers and comment on them as he goes, making them relevant to today. It’s a fascinating listen, and we hope all Conflicted listeners will tune in when the first episode goes live on Sunday July 14th.

You can subscribe and find out more about the podcast through the website at: https://wisdomreadings.substack.com/ 

To listen to more bonus episodes like this one, subscribe to the Conflicted Community. And don’t forget, subscribers can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more.

All the information you need to sign up to the Conflicted Community is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 

And finally – Conflicted season 5 goes live next Wednesday on July 17th! Thomas and Aimen have been cooking up a whole new season on… Africa. Tune in next Wednesday for the first episode.

Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted

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

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The 1860 ‘Damascus Events’ saw Syrian Christians murdered by their Sunni Muslim neighbours in a brutal genocidal moment that reshaped the late Ottoman Empire. It’s an example of how previously harmonious communities can descend into brutal violence in a very short time span. But in the Ottoman Empire’s response to the violence, it’s also an example of how hostile communities can be brought back from the brink.

To learn more about this fascinating historical episode and its resonances today, Conflicted welcomes Eugene Rogan to our community! Eugene is a Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History and a Fellow of St. Anthony’s College at the University of Oxford. His recent book, ‘The Damascus Events: The 1860 Massacre and the Destruction of the Old Ottoman World’ is available now at all good bookshops and is very much recommended for the Conflicted Community as a must read to learn more about the late Ottoman Empire.

To keep listening, you’ll need to subscribe to the Conflicted Community. And don’t forget, subscribers can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more.

All the information you need to sign up is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 

Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted

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

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Iran is rarely out of the news at the moment: from the death of President Raisi (which we covered in our last Conflicted Community episode), to the rumours of Supreme Leader Khamenei’s illness, and with unrest inside the country ever present, it feels like a country at the precipice. So this week, we again look to Persia to make sense of what Iran’s global strategy actually is.

And this week, in a Conflicted Community first, we welcome a guest onto the show to help Thomas and Aimen on their way. Karim Sadjadpour is an Iranian-American who has focused on Iranian foreign policy and the region’s geopolitics throughout his career. After spending time in Iran (and evading arrest), he is now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and a contributing writer at the Atlantic and the New York Times, as well as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

In our first of two episodes with Karim, we discuss Iran’s global strategy towards foreign policy, how it intersects with the new multipolar world, and what they actually get from their axis with Russia and China. This first part is going out to all Conflicted listeners, but part two (coming out tomorrow on June 13th) is exclusively for Conflicted Community subscribers.

To listen to part two, you’ll need to subscribe to the Conflicted Community, where you will get bonus episodes like this one, alongside many other benefits, including our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more.

All the information you need to sign up is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 

And finally: Conflicted Season 5 is coming soon on July 17th! Watch this space for more information…

Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted

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

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