Arab Tyrant Manual Podcast Arab Tyrant Manual Podcast

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused global energy prices to spike, the US looked to its traditional gulf partners to increase supply. However, Mohamed bin Zayed and Mohamed bin Salman chose not to - refusing President Joe Biden's calls and even raising prices, whilst making overt gestures of support for Putin.
In this episode, Iyad El-Baghdadi and Ahmed Gatnash discuss how the war in Ukraine has pushed a wedge between the US and its traditionally-close gulf allies, and what this means for the future of the Middle East.
Episode timetags:
02:40 - The economic context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine
04:40 - Alternative sources of energy & autocracies
08:00 - The gulf oil producers are acting differently
09:30 - Why Saudi's reaction is a bad idea
12:30 - Changing dictatorships through economic engagement
14:00 - Europe's reaction to war & the dictators' underestimations
18:20 - The shift in relationships from unconditional to transactional
21:00 - MBS taking political changes personally
23:55 - The Atlantic interview, disinformation, and MBS' continued self-owns
27:30 - US security guarantee isn't in doubt, but it's not enough
33:25 - The failure of dictatorship as a management system
38:10 - Is Saudi Arabia maximising profit for its national budget?

Support the Arab Tyrant Manual on Patreon: https://patreon.com/kawaakibi
Our other podcast, Intergalactic Tarboush: http://tarboush.co/

In this episode, Ahmed Gatnash speaks to Elham Saudi, co-founder and director of Lawyers for Justice in Libya, about the fight for accountability and how human rights defenders can work towards accountability in areas that are ordinarily pushed to the sidelines.
Elham can be found on Twitter (@elham_lfjl) and at libyanjustice.org (@LibyanJustice). They publish the Libya Matters podcast, and created the Ali Nouh fund, which provides emergency assistance to human rights defenders who are at risk due to their work. You can donate to the fund here: https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/15937#!/DonationDetails
Support the Arab Tyrant Manual on Patreon, where you can find a bonus clip from this conversation: https://patreon.com/kawaakibi

In this episode, Iyad and Ahmed interview each other about their own book, The Middle East Crisis Factory. They discuss the origin and context of the book, detail various struggles that were overcome through the writing process, and share their reflections on the project 12 months on from its publication.
Buy The Middle East Crisis Factory: https://menacrisisfactory.com/
Support the Arab Tyrant Manual on Patreon: https://patreon.com/kawaakibi
Our other podcast, Intergalactic Tarboush: http://tarboush.co/
Episode timetags:
03:15 - What was your motivation in writing the book?
13:40 - Were you trying to influence policy?
19:35 - Why was this difficult to write for you?
20:20 - A quick summary of the "Vicious Triangle"
29:40 - What do you like about the book and what did you dislike?
34:50 - Which part of the book was most important to you?
38:15 - What would you do differently if you wrote it again?
40:00 - Who do you want this book to be read by?
41:50 - What do you want the reader to walk away having understood?
45:30 - If this book is the start of a conversation, what would you want that conversation to be?
49:00 - What worries you about this book, as the author?

This is a repost of an interview on the Gaslit Nation podcast, hosted by Sarah Kendzior and Andrea Chalupa. Iyad discusses the origin of the Middle East Crisis Factory book, the context of the Middle East's struggle for democracy in the world, and how that shapes the work of Kawaakibi Foundation.
Find the Gaslit Nation podcast online: https://www.gaslitnationpod.com/ and on Twitter: @sarahkendzior, @AndreaChalupa and @gaslitnation
Buy The Middle East Crisis Factory: https://menacrisisfactory.com/
Support the Arab Tyrant Manual on Patreon: https://patreon.com/kawaakibi

Iyad and Ahmed discuss human rights and political activism around the world, and why it seems to fail so often.
Follow us on Twitter @ArabTyrantMan, and join our Patreon to support our work and gain access to exclusive clips and pre-release episodes: https://patreon.com/kawaakibi
Episode Time tags:
2:00 – Feelings of pointlessness in human rights activism
4:30 – "Folk politics"
6:00 – Trump, pandemic & a new phase in geopolitics
10:00 – How do we continue human rights work into the future
16:30 – Creating solutions & tools
20:00 – Incrementalism vs radical change
26:00 – Centring people, not policy
31:30 – Outdated outlooks & ineptitude
36:00 – Climate change as a global crisis
41:00 – Changing politics & spheres of influence
43:00 – Legal challenges, boycotts & sanctions
50:00 – Establishing a theory of change
56:00 – Raising awareness vs creating change
59:00 – Thinking systemically rather than specifically
1:01:00 – Demonstrating leadership in human rights

A continuation of the previous episode, Iyad and Ahmed discuss new changes in world politics, human rights activism and the podcast!
Follow us on Twitter @ArabTyrantMan and join our Patreon to support our work and gain access to exclusive clips and pre-release episodes.
Episode timestamps:
0:30 - The growth of Arab Tyrant Manual
5:00 - Overhauling the western democratic paradigm
10:00 - Evolving from defensive human rights work into active powerbuilding
14:30 - Understanding & targeting trauma in the MENA
17:20 - The scope of ATM; looking back, looking forward
21:00 - Updates on podcast releases and publications
23:00 - Redefining 'long-term' objectives
27:10 - Developments in our content; shifting to visual media
29:20 - A message of gratitude to our audience