Recorded on March 2nd 2026

This week’s episode starts off quite unlike one we have experienced before in the 10 years of this podcast series!

We speak again with our guest, Sam Bayat, who joins us from Dubai, a city that, just merely hours ago, was under missile alerts and explosions. Sam talks about his experience of a weekend of regional conflicts, and the city’s poise in the face of a disaster.  

But the question, of course, comes up: in today’s world, when does a second passport stop being a luxury and become a necessity?

We talk about the UAE’s golden visa, how the Government of Dubai managed to maintain order and the implications of this situation for investor confidence in the region. How is Sam’s second office in Tehran managing? Which countries are open for Iranian people? Sam stresses the point that if you only have a passport of one country, you’re always at the mercy of things beyond your control.

This is a first-person account of the Gulf’s conflict, and a direct discussion about the implications of passport diversification in 2026.