Podcast series covering various topics in security and technology
Episodes
Tuesday Nov 01, 2016
The Current Offensive on Mosul
Tuesday Nov 01, 2016
Tuesday Nov 01, 2016
Nate Rabkin discusses the current offensive on Mosul.
Be sure to check out Nate's current piece Beyond Islamists & Autocrats and the newsletter, Inside Iraqi Politics.
Tuesday Apr 26, 2016
Vanguard of the Imam
Tuesday Apr 26, 2016
Tuesday Apr 26, 2016
A discussion with Afshon Ostovar on his new book Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, Politics, and Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
Thursday Oct 15, 2015
Thursday Oct 15, 2015
Charlie Winter continues his research on Islamic State (IS/ISIS) propaganda and discusses his newest paper Documenting the Virtual 'Caliphate'.
Here's his recent BBC News article which was also mentioned in the show: Fishing and Ultraviolence
Thursday Mar 19, 2015
Shiite Foreign Fighters and the Shiite Jihad
Thursday Mar 19, 2015
Thursday Mar 19, 2015
Phillip Smyth discusses Shiite foreign fighters and the Shiite jihad.
You can read his in-depth paper on this topic via the link below:
The Shiite Jihad in Syria and Its Regional Effects
Further reading and research can be found at:
Hizballah Cavalcade
Friday Dec 19, 2014
Terrorist Financing and the Islamic State
Friday Dec 19, 2014
Friday Dec 19, 2014
Sunday Jun 22, 2014
Shia politics and the current situation in Iraq
Sunday Jun 22, 2014
Sunday Jun 22, 2014
Phillip Smyth discusses Shia politics and the current situation in Iraq.
Make sure to check out Phillip's article "Iranian Proxies Step Up Their Role in Iraq" and his work on "Hizballah Cavalcade"
Wednesday Feb 19, 2014
Sectarianism and the War in Syria
Wednesday Feb 19, 2014
Wednesday Feb 19, 2014
The Loopcast talks to Phillip Smyth (@phillipsmyth) and Aaron Zelin (@azelin) about the use of sectarian discourse within the Syrian war.
Please make sure to check out "The Vocabulary of Sectarianism" written by Phillip and Aaron, and make sure to check out Jihadology and Hizballah Cavalcade.
Thursday Dec 12, 2013
Episode 96 - Discussion about the Iran Geneva Agreement
Thursday Dec 12, 2013
Thursday Dec 12, 2013
Ali Scotten (@scottenconsult) discusses Iran and the recent Geneva Agreement.
You can find Ali's work at Scotten Consulting.
Friday Sep 20, 2013
Friday Sep 20, 2013
Charles Lister (@charles_lister) and Aaron Zelin (@azelin) discuss the Syrian insurgency. Below I've listed an outline of the conversation and the questions we covered.
First, update us on the war. What is the state of the insurgency post chemical weapon use? At this point in the war how can we relate FSA to other parts of the insurgency (jihadis, Islamist, etc)[ infighting ]. Where do we factor in sectarianism? Where do we factor in the level of violence?
How much of the insurgency can be considered "secular" vs "Islamist" vs "jihadi"? How would you define each category, and more importantly has there been shift from one category to another?
In the US there has been a heated debate about the "good" and "bad" guys: Broadly, is it possible to define and separate the "good" from the "bad" in a complex insurgency? How has funding and arming affected the aforementioned categorization?
Whenever experts and or intelligence services can offer foreign policy decision-makers nuance and in depth view of a complex event, that analysis meets (a) entrenched policies and party pressures, (b) the impressive force of lobbyists and interested campaign contributors, and (c) uninformed or misinformed popular public opinion, which will likely turn into votes next time around.
What has been your experience in dealing with the pressures
in producing a genuinely in depth and nuanced product vs the political forces
and domestic politicization of the conflict in Syria particularly in dealing
with the call for intervention?
Monday Sep 09, 2013
Episode 81- A conversation about Shiism with Hayder al-Khoei
Monday Sep 09, 2013
Monday Sep 09, 2013
Hayder al-Khoei (@Hayder_alKhoei) talks to the Loopcast about Shiism in the modern world. Our conversation roughly follows the outline below.
Describe Shiism in the modern world: What is the
relationship between the state, the clergy, and the followers. Are there
Shia Islamists? Islamists being defined here as a "Shia Ikwan" lay people who use
religion as a method to access politics.
Najaf and Qum are the two most important cities in Shiism. How would you describe the relationship between them? How is politics structured between them? Where do we place Karbala?
How would you describe Iran's approach to Shiism, and Iraq's approach to Shiism as far as the individual experience is concerned? Has the differing ideologies of the state have had a different effect on the respective clergy and seminary schools?
How would compare the scholarship and students of Iran vs Iraq? The relationship between government, scholarship, and students?
In navigating the politics of the faith where do we place young men who have lesser religious credentials but are in the position of leadership like Sadr and Nasrollah? Moreover how important is the idea of marja taqlid to leadership in the faith if Sadr, Nasrollah, and even Khamenei have all used politics to circumvent it?
Syria: how do we understand Syria within the context of
Shiism. It seems that the Sayyida Zayneb, the protection of it, is playing a
large role in defining the conflict in starkly sectarian terms. Furthermore, a
great deal of the media being produced by Shia militias have evoked
sectarianism ( vs jihadis of the opposition) as reason to fight. Can we
consider Syria as a "Shia transnational jihad" in the vein of the
role that Afghanistan in the 80s played for Sunni jihadists?