Uzair talks to Dr. Neda Bolourchi about the recent Israel-Iran-US conflict and its key takeaways. We also talked about whether the Iranian government is secure, the chances of diplomacy working, and Iran’s future role in the Middle East.

Dr. Neda Bolourchi is an interdisciplinary Middle East scholar and Associate Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers-New Brunswick. Her work includes international and comparative human rights legal analysis and foreign policy studies.

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

3:00 Key takeaways

16:50 Is the Iranian regime secure?

24:45 Understand regime politics

31:05 Iran’s future in the Middle East

38:15 Reading recommendations

Book Recommendations:

- Total Defense: The New Deal and the Invention of National Security by Andrew Preston

- Opera as Drama by Joseph Kerman

- Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding... Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-class Metropolis by Sam Anderson

In this episode, Uzair talks to Khurram Husain about the 2025 budget and what the government got wrong. We also talked about Pakistan’s ability to extract geopolitical rents and how this stunts the reform agenda in the country.

You can read Khurram’s latest column on the budget here - https://www.dawn.com/news/1916673/thrashing-around

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

1:45 Budget assessment

11:10 Solar power access

20:20 Geopolitical rents and Pakistan

38:40 Conclusion

Uzair talks to Dr. Kamran Bokhari about what the Trump Administration and his MAGA movement wants to achieve in the foreign policy and geopolitical realms. This is an area where there is still a lot of misconceptions about what Trump wants and the goals of his movement. Dr. Bokhari breaks down his assessment of the White House’s goals from Europe and the Middle East to China.

Finally, Dr. Bokhari also shares what he has picked up from the conversation in Washington about the recent India-Pakistan war.

Dr. Kamran Bokhari is the Senior Director of the Eurasian Security and Prosperity portfolio at the New Lines Institute. He served as Director of the Analytical Development Department from 2019 to 2023. Dr. Bokhari is also a national security and foreign policy specialist at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute. Some of the recent pieces of analyses he has written are worth a read:

- https://geopoliticalfutures.com/what-the-latest-india-pakistan-conflict-means-for-the-us/

- https://geopoliticalfutures.com/pakistans-crucial-role-in-chinas-military-strategy/

- https://geopoliticalfutures.com/postwar-security-in-gaza/

- https://geopoliticalfutures.com/a-new-reality-in-the-india-pakistan-conflict/

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

2:20 What does Trump want?

10:30 Evolving situation in Europe

20:18 Russia-China nexus

26:50 Israel, Iran, and the Middle East

43:30 Dealing with a rising China

54:40 Washington’s view on India-Pak War

Uzair talks to Dr. Sahar Khan about her key takeaways from the recent India-Pakistan war and why this conflict was an inflection point. We also talked about the role of international diplomacy, particularly the United States. Finally, the conversation also looked at what could happen in the next crisis, and the ways in which better engagement could avert total disaster.

Dr. Sahar Khan is an independent analyst and an expert on South Asian regional dynamics and strategic stability. She is based in Washington, DC.

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

1:50 Key takeaways from the war

27:50 Role of diplomacy and the US

37:30 What happens in the next crisis?

51:45 Reading recommendations

You can access Dr. Khan’s recent commentary here:

- https://inkstickmedia.com/the-myths-that-keep-india-and-pakistan-at-war/

- https://theworld.org/segments/2025/05/22/surge-in-popularity-for-pakistani-military

- https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3310688/rapid-escalation-india-pakistan-clashes-warning-new-tech-dangers

Uzair talks to Colonel Ajai Shukla (retired) about the fallout of the Pahalgam terror attack in Kashmir. We spoke about the state of the insurgency in the region, how their tactics and strategies are evolving, and what can be done to improve security. In addition, we also touched on the prospects of a India-Pakistan war and potential off ramps that could be available for either side to take.

Colonel Ajai Shukla (Retired) is a columnist and freelance journalist. He writes on strategic affairs, defence policy, military technology and the defence economy. He has written extensively for Business Standard, a pan-India daily; and for The New York Times, Guardian, BBC, Al Jazeera and South China Morning Post. He hosts a defence affairs blog, Broadsword (ajaishukla.com), which is visited daily by over 5,000 readers from across the world.

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

2:00 Normalcy in Kashmir

6:00 Evolution of tactics

11:40 Intelligence failures and counterinsurgency

19:20 Evidence about links to Pakistan

25:30 India-Pakistan tensions

31:10 General Munir’s strategy

35:10 Conclusion

Uzair talks to Dr. Hassan Abbas about the ongoing standoff between India and Pakistan following the recent terror attack in Kashmir. We talked about what options are on the table for both sides, the role of the United States, and why engagement and negotiations are the only path forward for both countries.

Dr. Hassan Abbas is Distinguished Professor of International Relations at the Near East South Asia Strategic Studies Centre (NESA), National Defense University in Washington DC. He serves as a senior advisor at Project on Shi’ism and Global Affairs at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and his current research work focuses on building narratives for countering political and religious extremism & rule of law reforms in developing states.

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

2:30 Backdrop of the terror attack

14:20 Allegations and evidence

18:50 Narratives and media

25:10 Commitment traps

29:40 US response so far

36:30 Misreading the other side

Uzair talks to Muhammad Faisal about the fallout from the recent terror attack in Kashmir and the options both India and Pakistan have moving forward. We talk about the nuclear stability risks in the region as well as potential off-ramps that can help deescalate the situation.

Muhammad Faisal is a Research Fellow at the University of Technology in Sydney and an expert in strategic stability and India-Pakistan relations.

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

2:30 What led to this crisis?

15:40 Options for both sides

33:30 Off ramps and deescalation

In this episode, Uzair talks to Adil Husain about his perspective on how AI is going to disrupt the labor market and create new opportunities for young talent in markets like Pakistan. Adil is an entrepreneur and strategist based in Washington.

You can read his full piece here - https://adilhusain.substack.com/p/the-real-ai-threat-is-a-27-year-old

If you want to get in touch with Adil, message him on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adilhusain

In this episode, Uzair talk to Abdul Moiz Jaferii about the frivolous cases against journalist Farhan Mallick, who was arrested during Ramzan and given bail after Eid. We discussed the ways in which a process was used to deliver punishment against him, and how the state of Pakistan is moving towards criminalizing thought in the country.

Abdul Moiz Jaferii was part of the legal team that is continuing to represent Mr. Mallick in his ongoing cases.

Uzair talks to Zahid Husain about the worsening security situation in Balochistan, which has led the army chief to assert that Pakistan must become a “hard state.” We discussed what can be defined as a hard state, and also try to understand the reasons for why Zahid Husain calls Pakistan a “predator state.”

Zahid Husain is an author and journalist who writes a weekly column for Dawn. You can read his latest column titled “A Predator State” here: https://www.dawn.com/news/1900408

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

1:40 What is a predator state?

15:10 The state’s colonial mindset

24:10 Difference in KPK and Balochistan

33:50 Anti-military sentiment in Punjab

38:10 Evolving views on military intervention