We continue our coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran with a discussion of Trump’s unilateral ceasefire extension, the US naval blockade, the prospects for renewed hostilities, and the looming economic crisis.

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Adam Hanieh joins us to discuss the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, how the petrodollar system shaped US-Gulf relations, the role of oil in US foreign policy, the economic rise of China, and what the war on Iran means for the climate crisis.

Texts discussed: Crude Capitalism, Venezuela’s Oil in the Grip of US Empire. Also check out Hanieh’s latest in the FT, The Coming Global Food Crisis.

Adam Hanieh is Director of the SOAS Middle East Institute and Professor in the Development Studies Department at SOAS, University of London. His current research looks at the interplay of fossil fuels, capitalism, and the climate emergency, with a particular focus on the Gulf states of the Middle East. He is the author of four books, including Money, Markets, and Monarchies: The Gulf Cooperation Council and the Political Economy of the Contemporary Middle East (Cambridge University Press, 2018), which won the 2019 British International Studies Association IPE Group Book Prize and Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market (Verso 2024), which was co-winner of the 2025 Best Book by an International Scholar, Global and Transnational Section of the American Sociological Association.

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Theme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)

Art: Vivek Venkatraman

We continue our coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran with a discussion of the diplomatic smoke and mirrors around renewed ceasefire talks, the US blockade outside the Strait of Hormuz, and the Israel-Lebanon direct negotiations.

We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.

For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.

Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.

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Theme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)

Art: Vivek Venkatraman

Karim Makdisi joins us to discuss the recent widespread Israeli attacks on Lebanon, the re-emergence of Hezbollah as an active fighting force in the broader regional war, what the Lebanese government is hoping to achieve with diplomacy, and the future of Israel’s struggle for hegemony.

Karim Makdisi is an Associate Professor of international politics at the American University of Beirut, and the co-host of the Makdisi Street Podcast. His research focuses on the international politics of the Middle East, politics and history of the United Nations, and disarmament. He is currently working on a book project centered around Israel’s 2006 war on Lebanon.

We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.

For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.

Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.

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Theme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)

Art: Vivek Venkatraman

We continue our coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran with a discussion of the “ceasefire” “agreement” brokered by Pakistan, the rescue operation following the downing of an American fighter jet, and Israel’s genocidal attacks on Lebanon.

We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.

For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.

Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.

Subscribe today at turbulencepod.substack.com

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Theme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)

Art: Vivek Venkatraman

In the second installment of our Political Economy of Genocide series, we are joined by Tim Barker to discuss the role of the defense industry in the US economy, how the trade in weapons shapes foreign policy, and whether the war on Iran is following a capitalist logic.

Texts mentioned: Merchants of Death by H.C. Engelbrecht & F.C. Hanighen; How To Ensure Israel Has the Weapons it Needs; The Inside Story of How the Navy Spent Billions on the “Little Crappy Ship”; Adjusting Certain Delegations Under the Defense Production Act. See also Weapons of the Week #4: White Phosphorus.

Tim Barker is a historian who writes the Substack Origins of Our Time. His book on the political economy of the Cold War is forthcoming from Verso.

We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.

For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.

Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.

Subscribe today at turbulencepod.substack.com

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Theme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)

Art: Vivek Venkatraman

We continue our coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran with a discussion of the strategic landscape, Trump’s address to the nation, and whether the US is about to do something extremely stupid.

We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.

For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.

Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.

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Theme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)

Art: Vivek Venkatraman

Laleh Khalili joins us to discuss the mechanics, strategy, and economics of Iran’s wartime closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Laleh Khalili is a professor of Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter and the author or editor of seven books, including Heroes and Martyrs of Palestine: The Politics of National Commemoration (Cambridge 2007), Sinews of War and Trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula (Verso 2020), and Extractive Capitalism: How Commodities and Cronyism Drive the Global Economy (Profile Books 2025).

We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.

For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.

Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.

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Theme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)

Art: Vivek Venkatraman

Darryl Li joins us to discuss his work deconstructing the concept of the “foreign fighter” and how ideology shapes our perception of who is fighting for what on battlefields from Palestine, to Afghanistan, to Syria, and beyond.

Darryl Li is an anthropologist and legal scholar thinking mostly about questions of war, law, migration, empire, and racialization in the currents between the Middle East, South Asia, and the Balkans. He is the author of The Universal Enemy: Jihad, Empire, and the Challenge of Solidarity (Stanford University Press, 2020), an ethnographic and archival study of "jihadist foreign fighters" in the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.

For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.

Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.

Subscribe today at turbulencepod.substack.com

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Theme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)

Art: Vivek Venkatraman

We continue our coverage of what’s been called the “The Ramadan War” with a discussion of the strategic landscape, the supposed ceasefire negotiations, Iran’s development of the “Hormuz weapon,” and the prospects of a US ground invasion.

This is a special public release of our News of the Week series, which is usually available exclusively to paid subscribers.

We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.

For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.

Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.

Subscribe today at turbulencepod.substack.com

Follow along on Twitter/X and Instagram @turbulence_pod

Theme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)

Art: Vivek Venkatraman