Podcast series covering various topics in security and technology
Episodes
Tuesday Feb 27, 2018
Shia Militias in Syria and Iraq
Tuesday Feb 27, 2018
Tuesday Feb 27, 2018
Phillip Smyth discusses Shia militias in Syria and Iraq.
The interview today was conducted by Chelsea Daymon, and the show is produced by Chelsea Daymon and Sina Kashefipour.
If you have enjoyed listening to The Loopcast please consider making a donation to the show through our Patreon. We greatly appreciate it.
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
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"
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.
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"
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?
Friday Aug 16, 2013
Episode 72-The Sunni Jihad in Syria
Friday Aug 16, 2013
Friday Aug 16, 2013
Thomas Hegghammer (@hegghammer), Aaron Zelin (@azelin), and I (@rejectionking) discuss the Sunni side of the Syrian Jihad. We discuss Qardawi's call to jihad and the theological underpinnings of that statement, foreign fighters in terms of numbers and motivations, the relationship of the Syrian jihad to the Sunni religious establishment in Saudi Arabia, and briefly comparing the jihad in Syria to previous contemporary jihads.
Thomas and Aaron have a good article in Foreign Affairs: "How Syria's Civil War Became a Holy Crusade"