It's the end of the world as we know it. Wasn't that what REM once sang? Ironically when the famous US rock band from Athens, Georgia committed those lyrics to popular music folklore, the world made more sense.

Today, after 17 years and many laughs, smiles, tears (and the odd exasperated outburst), Dr Harry Hagopian brings the curtain down on a remarkable podcasting run with this, the final Middle East Analysis.

The epitaph reads: Here lies Middle East Analysis, 2009 to 2026, it lived hard, loved dearly and asks for your prayers as it returns to its maker. Something like that.

So for next hour, alongside our guest, Bishop Jim Curry, who takes the lead for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales for matters related to the Holy Land, we look back on almost two decades of culture and conflict, rancour and resilience not to mention the insight, knowledge and razor-sharp analysis of the good Doctor.

But is this really the end? Seemingly so but Harry leaves the door perhaps not open, but slightly ajar by saying au revoir rather than adieu.

You cannot totally divorce the political and the spiritual in the Middle East North Africa region, so for this special Christmas edition of 'Middle East Analysis' we are splitting the podcast into two parts.

Leading the way with the political analysis is our regular guest Dr Harry Hagopian, an international lawyer and consultant on the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf States. Harry takes us to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Sudan (yes, pushing briefly a little further south into Africa again this month) and Israel/Palestine.

The latter allows us to segue seamlessly into the second part of this episode. This is the 'Christ in Christmas' bit and who better to reflect on the true meaning, and in fact geography, of the season, than Bishop Jim Curry. Bishop Jim is a Catholic bishop who holds the Holy Land brief for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. Light in the darkness, hope in times of despair, all embodied by Jesus Christ born in a stable in Bethlehem in the West Bank.

There's no ducking the realities this Christmas but our two guests do find reasons to cling to hope in tumultuous times.

It's hard to be still and take stock when you're standing on shifting sands. Equally it's impossible to build anything meaningful or lasting when the ground under your feet won't stop moving. That's why the title of this 'Middle East Analysis' podcast feels very appropriate in these uncertain times for the region and its people. Conflicts and wars - proxy or otherwise - come and go from the news headlines and the value and dignity of human life is degraded with every man, woman or child killed in the crossfire. Not much is solid, certain and reliable.

Today Dr Harry Hagopian looks at:

Israel/Palestine - a fragile ceasefire in Gaza and the Kairos II statement.

Lebanon - how can its government disarm Hezbollah and at the same time avoid civil war?

Sudan - the horrors of el-Fasher and a tragedy that has left millions in need of humanitarian aid

Syria - Interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa's visit to the White House and an easing of sanctions.

Saudi Arabia - Crown Prince MBS, Mohammed bin Salman - another leader visiting President Donald Trump - and the small matter of the F35s.

All this and more on the shifting sands of the MENA and Gulf region (and Sudan).

There are two ways of looking at every subject covered in this 'Middle East Analysis' podcast. Recorded just after US President Donald Trump presented his 20 (or 21) point framework for peace in Gaza, resident studio guest Dr Harry Hagopian grapples with the viability of the deal and whether it's one that offers any sort of hope for lasting peace whilst allowing for Palestinian self-determination.

Symbolism is a word that can be associated with the other topics on our radar – recognition of the State of Palestine by the UK (and 10 other states) and the aid flotilla - or Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) - that attempted to reach Gaza with Greta Thunberg and other activists onboard before being intercepted by authorities and transferred to an Israeli port.

Dr Harry Hagopian is joined by Bishop Jim Curry who is the Lead Bishop for the Holy Land for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. Bishop Curry provides the pastoral, Dr Hagopian the political as our guests explore the fading chances of a two-state solution and whether peace is but a distant dream.

Pessoptimism is certainly the word, but Dr Hagopian is more pessimist than optimist with only a few crumbs of comfort to be found.

On occasion, Dr Harry Hagopian, the voice of Middle East Analysis, offers a personal reflection on a key regional topic. This piece focuses on the political story of his family - from his grandparents in Ottoman Turkey, to his parents during the British mandate of Palestine. The story also weaves across Lebanon and Jordan.

But then 1967 happened, the six-day war, and it was downhill from there. Harry concludes with the current horrific war in Gaza.

Ordinarily, a disclaimer would be bolted on at the end of the introductory blurb. However, one of the key talking points in this podcast - Palestinian self-determination and the recognition of Palestine as a state - has taken on a whole new dimension since recording.

On Tuesday, 29 July, our resident studio guest, Dr Harry Hagopian, sat down to discuss the headline topic of the human cost of the war in Gaza. Just an hour after the faders went down, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the UK's intention to join France in recognising the state of Palestine dependent on whether Israel, and indeed Hamas, meet certain conditions.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney then made a similar move saying Canada will also, under certain conditions, recognise a Palestinian state in September - the third G7 nation to make such a pronouncement in the past week.

With that context in mind, this Middle East Analysis podcast spans a bumper 68 minutes, exploring many varied subjects, so to make things easier for our listeners, here are the topics and time codes:

Start - 3m 46s

Introduction.

3m 47s - 7m 15s

Pre-analysis topic.

7m 16s - 42m 29s

ISRAEL/PALESTINE: Gaza, humanitarian devastation, patriarchs' visit, Palestinian statehood, settler attacks in the West Bank and more.

42m 30s - 47m 39s

LEBANON: De-militarisation, funeral of renowned musician and composer Ziad Rahbani, son of legendary Lebanese singer Fairuz.

47m 40s - 54m 55s

ARMENIA: An unholy spat between Church and State.

54m 56s - 1h 1m 41s

SYRIA: Armed conflict between Druze groups and Bedouin tribes in Sweida.

1h 1m 42s - End

AFTERTHOUGHT: Book recommendation on Contemporary Arab Thought.

A Papal death, conclave and election, in tandem with our key contributor's multiple regional travels have dented our once-a-month aspirations for Middle East Analysis but, at last, June sees a fresh podcast episode.

Regular studio guest, Dr Harry Hagopian, who brings more than three decades of experience of the ever-complex Israel/Palestine conflict to the table, brings us up to date with the tragic realities of the situation in Gaza.

For this episode, he sits alongside a special guest, the Right Reverend Jim Curry. Bishop Curry has long been a passionate supporter of the Christians and peoples of the Holy Land. He is a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre and the Lead Bishop for the Holy Land for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

Dr Hagopian talks politics, Bishop Curry talks pastoral realities. It's an interesting mix.

In this Middle East Analysis podcast, we look at the necessary ingredients for a ceasefire, the desperate need for 'dignified' humanitarian aid and an end to the suffering, Pope Leo's calls for peace, the situation regarding international law and war, Palestinian self-determination - viability of two-state or single state solutions, the small Christian community in Gaza, hope in the darkness, and more.

Being lost for words is no state to be in when preparing to record a podcast. This 50-minute 'Middle East Analysis' episode started with head-scratching on the presenter's part whilst grasping for the right questions to get us underway.

Despite being somewhat fatigued, regular guest Dr Harry Hagopian takes on what we're terming the discombobulated realities of Israel-Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Iran.

What are the rules of engagement? Are there any? Is mention of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict so fanciful as to be a waste of breath? Talk is cheap, says Dr Hagopian. When are the key players going to do the right thing and walk the talk?

Passing comment on the myriad of complex issues playing out in the Middle East North Africa region is challenging at the best of times. These are not the best of times. Whilst we see shards of light casting cautiously down on Syria and hesitantly over Lebanon, the metaphoric storm clouds are dense and impenetrable over Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

Add to the mix the incendiary and sweeping 'solutions' posited by the 47th President of the United States and you have all the necessary ingredients for trouble, termoil and tragedy.

But what about the human beings trapped in the middle experiencing the horrors of war? With the insight of our regular studio guest Dr Harry Hagopian, we spend this Middle East Analysis podcast focusing on the humans caught between a rock and a hard place.

'Middle East Analysis' started in earnest in 2010-11 when a series of anti-regime uprisings took place across a large swathe of the Middle East North Africa region - what was termed the Arab Spring. Dr Harry Hagopian, an international lawyer, regional analyst - and the voice of these podcasts - helped us to understand the context and long advocated for the voice of the people to be heard rather than supressed.

A semi-constant topic in the early 2010s was the turmoil and civil war in Syria and the oppressive, often brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad, himself the successor of his father Hafez al-Assad who ruled with an iron fist from 1971. That dynasty held a stranglehold on the country for over half a century.

We spent years discussing government brutality, barrel bombing, international players, the descent into long-term civil war. Then, in 2014, we witnessed the rise of the violent, rampaging terror group IS, or Daesh, under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. IS shocked the world by setting up a caliphate across parts of Iraq and Syria. Once again, the Syrian people suffered and, somehow, Bashar al-Assad clung on.

Fast forward a decade and on 8 December 2024, the Assad regime collapsed after opposition forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept through Syria eventually taking the capital Damascus forcing the Assad family to flee to Moscow.

So the main sentiment percolating through this episode is what Harry terms 'pessoptimism' surrounding the seismic shift in Syria. We all know vacuums are dangerous and what fills them can be worse than what went before so caution is necessary.

Christmas cheer may be in short supply but we also have a segment on the Christians of the region and whether any peace or consolation can be found in these challenging days.