Podcast series covering various topics in security and technology
Episodes
Thursday Jul 24, 2014
The Caliphate's Scholars-at-Arms and Al-Qaeda's Quasi-Caliph
Thursday Jul 24, 2014
Thursday Jul 24, 2014
Cole Bunzel discusses some of the rifts between the Islamic State and Al Qaeda.
You can check out some of Cole's work at Jihadica, and make sure to check out his latest: "Understanding the Islamic State (of Iraq and al-Sham)" and "A New Caliphate?"
Wednesday Jul 09, 2014
The linkages between the wars in Syria and Iraq
Wednesday Jul 09, 2014
Wednesday Jul 09, 2014
Aymenn Al-Tamimi discusses the ways the wars in Syria and Iraq are linked
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"
Thursday Jun 19, 2014
Sunni politics and the current situation in Iraq
Thursday Jun 19, 2014
Thursday Jun 19, 2014
Uticensis Risk's Kirk Sowell discusses Sunni politics and the June crisis in Iraq.
You can find Uticensis Risk's biweekly publication covering the latest developments in Iraq at Inside Iraqi Politics. They've provided our listeners with a complimentary copy of April's publication which can be accessed here.
Wednesday Jun 18, 2014
ISIS and Iraq
Wednesday Jun 18, 2014
Wednesday Jun 18, 2014
Aaron Zelin discusses ISIS and Iraq including, its history and role in the June crisis.
Make sure to check out Aaron's work at the following links: "Return of Sunni Fighters in Iraq", "ISIS Has a Consumer Protection Office", and "The Massacre Strategy"
Wednesday Jun 11, 2014
June 2014: The situation in Mosul, Iraq
Wednesday Jun 11, 2014
Wednesday Jun 11, 2014
Monday Feb 03, 2014
Foreign Fighters in Syria
Monday Feb 03, 2014
Monday Feb 03, 2014
Chelsea Daymon (@cldaymon) talks to Timothy Holman (@atgm2010) about foreign fighters in Syria.
You can check out Timothy's work here.
Make sure to check out "Blind: Five Factors Influencing Foreign Fighter Impact"
Wednesday Dec 04, 2013
Episode 95 - Politics in Iraq and ISIS
Wednesday Dec 04, 2013
Wednesday Dec 04, 2013
@UticensisRisk's managing editor of Inside Iraqi Politics newsletter, Nathaniel Rabkin, discusses politics in Iraq and Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham.
Tuesday Sep 17, 2013
Episode 83 - A talk with Nada Bakos
Tuesday Sep 17, 2013
Tuesday Sep 17, 2013
Nada Bakos (@nadabakos) talks to the Loopcast about her time as a target analyst in Iraq and the Emmy award winning documentary "Manhunt".
Nada blogs here. Check it out!
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?