Podcast series covering various topics in security and technology
Episodes
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.
Sunday Sep 29, 2013
Episode 87- Update on the insurgency in Syria and a profile of the shabiha
Sunday Sep 29, 2013
Sunday Sep 29, 2013
Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi (@ajaltamimi) and Phillip Smyth (@phillipsmyth) discuss the ongoing conflict in Syria and profile the shabiha, pro Assad militias.
Check out the two updates from Syria Comment which formed the basis of this conversation: "Islamist Groups Declare Opposition to National Coalition and US Strategy" and "A Case Study of "The Syrian Resistance," a Pro-Assad Militia Force"
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?
Monday Aug 26, 2013
Episode 76- Al Qaeda and jihadi movements post 2008
Monday Aug 26, 2013
Monday Aug 26, 2013
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross (@daveedGR) and J.M. Berger (@intelwire) discuss Al Qaeda post 2008 in terms of organization, leadership, and goals.
Monday Aug 05, 2013
Episode 65- Can the war in Syria be considered a Shia jihad?
Monday Aug 05, 2013
Monday Aug 05, 2013
Phillip Smyth (@phillipsmyth) and I (@rejectionking) discuss whether the war in Syria can be considered a Shia jihad. The discussion opens up with an update on the war in Syria, followed by discussion of the transnational aspect of the war in Syria for Shia that includes a focus on sectarianism, the concept of defensive jihad, Iran's role, and Shia militia's media and music.
Please check out Phillip's work at "Hizballah Cavalcade" including "The Lion of Damascus, and Afghans, and Africans! Oh my!: Fighters from Exotic Locales in Syria's Shia Militias", "Liwa'a 'Ammar Ibn Yasir: A New Shia Militia Operating in Aleppo, Syria", and "The Songs of Liwa'a Abu Fadl al-Abbas: Militant Iraqi Shia Music and Syria".
Monday Jul 22, 2013
Monday Jul 22, 2013
Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi (@ajaltamimi) talks to me (@rejectionking) about the Syrian jihad including the key players, Iraq's role in the conflict, the political goals of groups like Jabhat al Nursa and the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham, and the role of foreign support.
Check out Aymenn's latest: "Where does Jabhat al-Nursa end and Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham begin?" and "The Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham expands into Rural Northern Syria."
You can check out Aymenn's complete body of work here.
Tuesday Jul 16, 2013
Episode 52- Iraqi Politics
Tuesday Jul 16, 2013
Tuesday Jul 16, 2013
Kirk Sowell (@uticensisrisk) and I (@rejectionking) discuss Iraqi politics in detail including a look at Sunni politics, Shia politics, Kurdish politics, and ending with Syria.
Make sure to check out Inside Iraqi Politics, a great resource if you're studying Iraq and Iraqi politics.
Wednesday Jul 10, 2013
Episode 51-Iraq Update
Wednesday Jul 10, 2013
Wednesday Jul 10, 2013
Joel Wing (@JoelWing2) and I (@rejectionking) discuss what is happening in Iraq.
Please check out Joel's informative and in depth analysis at Musings on Iraq.
Monday May 13, 2013
Episode 30-Security implications of Syria and the Arab Spring for Israel
Monday May 13, 2013
Monday May 13, 2013
Michael Ross (@mrossletters) and I (@rejectionking) talk about the security implications of the Arab Spring and Syria for Israel.