CC Revisited... Alex Anastasiades: Britain, Saudi and the New Multipolar World
CONFLICTED20 Aug 2025

CC Revisited... Alex Anastasiades: Britain, Saudi and the New Multipolar World

This week, we're giving our Conflicted listeners another taste of what they get by joining the Conflicted Community, with an old episode that didn't go out on our normal feed... As Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy seek to find a solution to war in Ukraine, we thought it would be good to throw back to our episode with British diplomat Alex Anastasiades, so you can hear some more about what it is actually like to be in the room when these big diplomatic decisions are made. Enjoy... -- For this week’s Conflicted Community bonus episode Thomas sits down with Alex Anastasiades, a British diplomat working for the Ministry of Defence in Riyadh, about Britain’s place in the Middle East. In a wide ranging interview, we discuss what life is actually like for British diplomats in the region, Britain’s historic place as a colonial power and now ally with countries in the Middle East, and how Britain's position might continue to evolve in the new multi-polar world. Alex is a diplomat with a background in international law and international relations, who has previously worked in Brussels and for NATO, before working for various positions within the British MOD. Now stationed in the Saudi capital of Riyadh at a fascinating and hugely consequential moment in the region’s history, Alex advises the defence secretary and government officials in the Foreign Office on geopolitical matters in Saudi and the wider Middle East.Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episoder(188)

The Iran War: British Uncertainty vs. French Resolve

The Iran War: British Uncertainty vs. French Resolve

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to two friends of the show about how Europe is responding to the war with Iran. In the first half, the Rt Hon Tom Tugendhat MP — former chair of the UK F...

5 Mar 1h 5min

The Death of Ayatollah Khamenei & The Future of Iran

The Death of Ayatollah Khamenei & The Future of Iran

With missiles streaking across Middle Eastern skies and the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader sending shockwaves through the region, Aimen joins Thomas from a Dubai under fire to unpack a histori...

3 Mar 1h 8min

🚨 Emergency Episode: The Iran War Has Begun 🚨

🚨 Emergency Episode: The Iran War Has Begun 🚨

In this very special Emergency Episode, Aimen and Thomas discuss the Iran War, which began this morning with wide-ranging air strikes carried out by Israel and the United States against IRGC and Irani...

28 Feb 56min

African Slavery: The Untold Story

African Slavery: The Untold Story

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to former BBC journalist Martin Plaut about his new book Unbroken Chains: A 5,000-Year History of African Enslavement, which tells the whole story of Afr...

26 Feb 49min

Conflicted Revisited: Spying for Saudi

Conflicted Revisited: Spying for Saudi

As Saudi Arabia celebrates Founding Day, and as the murky underbelly of GCC geopolitics is on everyone's minds, we're re-releasing this classic Conflicted episode from early 2022. Thomas & Aimen disc...

24 Feb 1h 21min

The People Who Became Arabs

The People Who Became Arabs

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to historian Yossef Rapoport about his new book Becoming Arab, and the revolutionary argument at its heart: that Arab identity in Egypt and the Levant wa...

19 Feb 56min

Trump, Netanyahu, and the Iran Endgame

Trump, Netanyahu, and the Iran Endgame

With war clouds gathering once again over the Middle East, Aimen takes us behind the scenes of the indirect negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. He narrates the shifting Iranian position, the will-...

17 Feb 57min

How the US is Abandoning its Afghan Allies

How the US is Abandoning its Afghan Allies

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to U.S. Navy veteran Shawn VanDiver, founder of AfghanEvac, about the fate of Afghans who worked alongside American forces during the U.S. occupation, an...

12 Feb 51min

Populært innen Religion og åndelighet

lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
rss-lilli-isabelle
sektledere
sektpodden-2
rss-espen-er-kristen
rss-det-uforklarlige-med-victoria-skau
andelig-pafyll-hver-tirsdag
rss-paradigmepodden
rss-den-andre-siden
rss-uhoytidelig-spirituell-healer-susanne-og-erik-ertsland-askvik
dokka
ole-martin-og-einar-leser-bibelen
rss-pust-for-livet
rss-losrevet
bibelen-pa-podkast
rss-grenselos-spiritualitet
rss-normalt-paranormalt
rss-kristen-norge
gry-hammer-podcast