CONFLICTED

By Message Heard

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 w... more

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FAQs about CONFLICTED:

How many episodes does CONFLICTED have?

The podcast currently has 211 episodes available.

CONFLICTED episodes:

June 25, 2026The Middle East’s AI Arms Race
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 infrastructure behind cloud computing.

Cheap Gulf energy and rapid data-centre construction.

The UAE–Saudi competition for AI leadership.

Sheikh Tahnoon, G42 and MGX.

Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN strategy.

The US–China global AI rivalry.

Israel’s cybersecurity and military-AI role.

Whether AI-generated art can be genuinely creative.
Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
And Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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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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57min
June 23, 2026The Betrayal of the Iranian People
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.

The IRGC became a military-economic oligarchy.

Khatami-era reformism failed by refusing to challenge the constitutional source of authoritarian power.

Ahmadinejad promised to overthrow corrupt elites but merely installed new ones.

Rouhani promised economic normalization but enabled even greater corruption.

The destruction of all sources of organized opposition left protesters exposed to overwhelming violence.

Foreign powers encouraged expectations they did not possess the strategy or commitment to fulfil.

Iranian society continues to resist socially and culturally, making the future unstable rather than settled.
Find Yeganeh on X: https://x.com/yjtorbati
And on Instagram: ⁠www.instagram.com/yjtorbatireports

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
And Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.
Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.
Produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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...more
1h 10min
June 18, 2026Video Games: The Global Battleground of Modern Politics
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 — often aligned with authoritarian agendas.
George explains:
The history of video games: from arcades to global digital networks

How gaming helped drive the modern technology revolution

Why video games became the ‘third spaces’ of the internet age

Steam, online gaming, and the rise of digital communities

How China controls and regulates gaming culture

Saudi Arabia's investment strategy in gaming and esports

Russia, information warfare, and influence operations in gaming

Gamergate and the politicisation of gaming communities

Steve Bannon, online culture, and the rise of populist politics
Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Find George on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/georgeosborn.bsky.social
And on Instagram: www.instagram.com/george_e_osborn
And his Newsletter: www.videogamesindustrymemo.com

Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
And Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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
...more
1h 39min
June 17, 2026Memorandum of Misunderstanding
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 been released through Qatar — with American approval

How the proposed $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran has corruption written all over it

How it enshrines the principle that Iran can charge for access to the Strait of Hormuz

Whether Netanyahu lured Trump into a war he did not fully understand

The collapse of the Abraham Accords' vision for a new Middle East

If Conflicted itself has misread Trump, populism, and the future of American power
Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
And Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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
...more
1h 14min
June 11, 2026Israel’s Road to Endless War
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 October

Israel’s shift from deterrence to pre-emption

Why deterrence without a political endgame failed

Gaza, Hamas and the limits of military victory

Hezbollah, Lebanon and Israel’s buffer-zone strategy

Israel’s new "buffer zone" security perimeter

Iran’s missile threat and Israel’s war with Tehran

The Abraham Accords, IMEC and bypassing Palestine

Why real Israeli fears may be producing the wrong answers
Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Elizabeth's personal website: ⁠https://elizabeth-tsurkov.net/en/⁠
Find Elizabeth on X: ⁠https://x.com/LizHurra⁠
Find Elizabeth on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-tsurkov-79491b15/⁠

Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
And Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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
...more
1h 20min
June 09, 2026Has Trump Lost the Middle East?
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.

Oman’s tilt toward Iran amid assumptions of American decline and future Iranian regional weight.

The UAE–Saudi split over Iran: Emirati hawkishness versus Saudi caution and strategic bruising.

Saudi resentment over Yemen, Houthi attacks, Israel’s freer hand, and lack of US security guarantees.

Israel, Hezbollah, Lebanon, and Iran: efforts to decouple the Lebanon front from the US–Iran track
Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Find us on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
And Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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
...more
1h 7min
June 04, 2026The West Bank Is Reaching Breaking Point
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 — a side which goes overlooked, but which is increasingly becoming a zone of almost unbearable conflict.
Hamza and Thomas discuss:
Settler violence as settler terrorism

How Israeli settlements undermine the Oslo process

Settlement expansion as a strategy to prevent a Palestinian state

The shift from a two-state ideal to a one-state reality

The Hardal movement and Smotrich’s political world

The Hilltop Youth: origins, ideology and violence

The dual legal system in the West Bank

The Yehuda Shmuel Sherman incident and the revenge attacks that followed

E1 and the threat to a viable Palestinian state

The West Bank economy after 7 October

Palestinian municipal and national elections

Israeli elections and the lack of hope for political change

Israel’s post-7 October security doctrine

The Board of Peace and the problem of Hamas disarmament

Arab disillusionment with resistance ideology
Find Hamza on X: https://x.com/HowidyHamza

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

Find us on X: https://x.com/MHconflicted
And Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠
⁠And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.
Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.
This episode was produced and edited by Thomas Small.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
...more
1h 6min
June 02, 2026My Road to Conflicted (with Jake Warren)
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 work for Vice Media in North Korea, Rwanda, and Lebanon

How he won the trust of notorious Islamist preacher and organiser Anjem Choudary while covering his story

Visiting the family of murdered soldier Lee Rigby

How Jake first came across Aimen’s story

How Thomas and Aimen became friends
Join the Conflicted Community here: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/

Find Jake on X: https://x.com/TheJakeWarren

Find us on X: https://x.com/MHconflicted
And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted
And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod
And YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ConflictedYoutube
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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
...more
1h 4min
May 28, 2026Jeremy Hunt: Democracy’s Defeat Is Not Inevitable
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:
The view from inside power during Britain’s 2010–2024 crisis years

Britain’s imperial inheritance, post-Brexit identity, and the “Global Britain” problem

Trump’s 2018 NATO shock and Hunt’s case for higher European defence spending

China, Russia and Iran as the new autocratic challenge to liberal democracy

Yemen and the Stockholm Agreement as a tragic test of humanitarian diplomacy

Iran, hostage diplomacy, the JCPOA and the limits of Western coercive power
Join the Conflicted Community here: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm

Find us on X: https://x.com/MHconflicted
And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted
And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.
Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.
This episode was produced by Thomas Small and Ross Field and edited by Mariana Ramirez-Zablah.

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...more
1h 12min
May 21, 2026The Madman Theory from Nixon to Trump
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.
In this new Conflicted Conversation, Boys explains:
What the Madman Theory means

Donald Trump, unpredictability and Trump Derangement Syndrome

Nuclear strategy, Eisenhower, and Cold War brinkmanship

Barry Goldwater, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the politics of nuclear fear

Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger and the Madman Theory in Vietnam

Trump’s use of Madman tactics against North Korea, Iran, NATO and trade partners

Whether Trump’s second-term grand strategy is chaos, coercion or calculated geopolitical pressure
Follow James on X: ⁠https://x.com/jamesdboys⁠
Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm⁠

Find us on X: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠
And Facebook: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠
And Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠
Learn more about your ad choices. ⁠⁠Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.
Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.
This episode was produced and edited by Thomas Small.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
...more
1h 14min

FAQs about CONFLICTED:

How many episodes does CONFLICTED have?

The podcast currently has 211 episodes available.

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