On the Issues with Alon Ben-Meir

Alon Ben-Meir
  • 5.0 (1)
  • News
  • Updated Weekly

Podcast by Alon Ben-Meir

  1. On the Issues Episode 155: Jason Pack

    1d ago

    On the Issues Episode 155: Jason Pack

    Today’s guest is Jason Pack, Senior Analyst for Emerging Challenges at the NATO Defense College Foundation and Associate Fellow at RUSI. He is the Host of the Disorder Podcast, and author of Libya and the Global Enduring Disorder. In this episode, Alon and Jason discuss the end of the post-WWII global order and the prevailing disorder since 2011, the loss of American leadership, the Memorandum of Understanding between Iran and the United States, particularly in comparison to the 2015 JCPOA, and the broader regional fallout from the war with Iran. Full bio Jason Pack is the Founder of Libya-Analysis LLC, and the host of Disorder, a geopolitics podcast co-produced with Goalhanger Podcasts. He is an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and the Senior Analyst for Emerging Challenges at the NATO Defence College Foundation in Rome. His most recent book, Libya and the Global Enduring Disorder (Hurst 2021 / Oxford University Press 2022) is a ‘cross-over’ academic book that explores what Libya’s dysfunctional economic structures and its ongoing civil war reveal about our era of 21st-century geopolitics. Jason’s ‘Enduring Disorder’ concept – that we no longer inhabit the post-Cold War World, but have entered a new era – the ‘Enduring Disorder’ – was conceived to describe the collective action failures that have come to define international politics. Jason has lived in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Israel/Palestine, Oman, Qadhafi-era Libya, and Trump-era Washington, DC. Proficient in Arabic, French, and Hebrew, he has been kidnapped twice, and served as the Executive Director of a K St-based Trade Association. He is open for media appearances about US foreign policy, conspiracy theories, the state of the global system, neopopulism, and especially the Middle East. When not podcasting or consulting on the Middle East, Jason plays backgammon semi-professionally. He was the 2018 World Champion of Doubles Backgammon, came 2nd place in the 2024 World Championship of Speedgammon, and has achieved the rank of Grandmaster – placing him in the top 100 players in the world. He also writes about gambling’s connections to geopolitics.

    1h 2m
  2. On the Issues Episode 154: Daniel Bar-Tal

    Jun 25

    On the Issues Episode 154: Daniel Bar-Tal

    Today’s guest is Dr. Daniel Bar-Tal, Professor Emeritus at the School of Education, Tel Aviv University. Dr. Bar-Tal is a noted psychologist, who since the early eighties has focused on political psychology and the study of the socio-psychological foundations of intractable conflicts and peacebuilding, including reconciliation. In this episode, Alon and Daniel discuss differing narratives between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs and how to bridge that gap, the decline of the Israeli peace movement, and changing public opinion toward Israel abroad. Full bio Dr. Daniel Bar-Tal is Professor Emeritus at the School of Education, Tel Aviv University. Dr. Bar-Tal received his graduate training in social psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, and completed his doctoral thesis in 1974. He previously served as a Director of the Walter Lebach Research Institute for Jewish-Arab Coexistence through Education, Tel Aviv University and as President of the International Society of Political Psychology, and was Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Palestine Israel Journal. He has won numerous awards, including the Alexander George Award of the International Society of Political Psychology, and Morton Deutsch Conflict Resolution Award of the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence. He was awarded the Golestan Fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences in 2000-2001, and in 2013 received honorary membership in the Polish Society of Social Psychology. Since the early eighties his interest has shifted to political psychology and the study of the socio-psychological foundations of intractable conflicts and peace building, including reconciliation. In the latter area, he studied the evolvement of the socio-psychological infrastructure in times of intractable conflict that consists of shared societal beliefs of ethos of conflict, collective memory, and emotional collective orientations. He also studied socio-psychological barriers to peacemaking and ways to overcome them, and acquisition of the conflict repertoire by children and adolescents. Within this scope of studies he developed with his collaborators theoretical frameworks for concepts like siege mentality, intractable conflict, delegitimization, collective victimhood, socio-psychological infrastructure, culture of conflict, effects of lasting occupation, barriers to peace making, construction and struggle over conflict supporting narratives, acquisition of intergroup psychological repertoire, early development of the ethos of conflict, transitional context, collective identity, and peace education, among many others. The work in these areas has resulted in books, Group Beliefs (1990), Stereotypes and Prejudice in Conflict: Representations of Arabs in Israeli Jewish Society (2005), and Intractable conflicts: Socio-psychological foundations and dynamics (2013). He co-edited a wide variety of volumes, and in addition has published over two hundred articles and chapters in major journals, books and encyclopedias. Through the years he has lectured widely on his work, and worked as Visiting Professor at Vanderbilt University, Brandeis University, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, University of Muenster, University of Maryland College Park, Polish Academy of Science, University of Palermo, and Australian National University. He retired in 2015 and decided to devote his second career to political activism. He founded a peace movement Save Israel-Stop the Occupation with the goal to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and establish the Palestinian state.

    1h 2m
  3. On the Issues Episode 153: Elizabeth Hoffman

    Jun 24

    On the Issues Episode 153: Elizabeth Hoffman

    Today’s guest is Elizabeth Hoffman, Executive Director, North America at ONE, a global, nonpartisan organization advocating for the investments needed to create economic opportunities and healthier lives in Africa. In this episode, Alon and Elizabeth discuss the background to the current civil war in Sudan, Elizabeth’s on-the-ground observations from her journey to the country earlier this year, the atrocities being committed against the people of Sudan, and what the international community, particularly the US, can do to help end this conflict. Full bio Elizabeth Hoffman is Executive Director, North America at ONE, a global, nonpartisan organization advocating for the investments needed to create economic opportunities and healthier lives in Africa. She has extensive experience in government relations and international policy. Before joining ONE, she held positions at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and as a senior staff member in the House of Representatives focused on foreign policy, national security, and human rights. She also worked at the George W. Bush Institute, where she developed and executed a leadership program for Burmese political leaders. Elizabeth is a nonresident senior associate at CSIS and a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations. She has published articles and analysis for a variety of organizations and outlets and is a frequent media commentator on foreign policy and defense. She holds an M.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University and a B.A. in Political Science from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.

    59 min
  4. On the Issues Episode 152: Ambassador Patrick Theros

    Jun 16

    On the Issues Episode 152: Ambassador Patrick Theros

    Today’s guest is Ambassador Patrick Theros, Strategic Advisor and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Gulf International Forum. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to the State of Qatar from 1995-1998, and from 1991-1993, served as the Political Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of Central Command (CENTCOM). In this episode, Alon and Ambassador Theros discuss the US-Israel-Iran war and the pending peace agreement between the US and Iran, the impacts of the war on the region, and how this conflict has affected the political prospects of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. Full bio Ambassador Patrick Nickolas Theros is a Strategic Advisor and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Gulf International Forum. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to the State of Qatar from 1995-1998. Prior to his appointment, he served as Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, responsible for the coordination of all U.S. Government counterterrorism activities outside the United States. From 1991-1993, Ambassador Theros served as the Political Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of Central Command (CENTCOM). Ambassador Theros joined the Foreign Service in 1963, and served in a variety of positions in Washington D.C., Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Nicaragua and Syria, including charge d’affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassies in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. In 1999, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifah Al-Thani awarded Ambassador Theros the Qatar Order of Merit for his efforts in service of the U.S.-Qatar bilateral relationship. His commitment to national service also earned him the President’s Meritorious Service Award and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service (1992). Ambassador Theros has also earned four Superior Honor Awards, the highest awards for distinguished service given by the Foreign Service. After his retirement from the Foreign Service Ambassador Theros assumed the office of President of the U.S.-Qatar Business Council in March 2000 until his retirement in 2017. Ambassador Theros’ personal commitment to community and public service earned him the rank of Knight Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem (1999), as well as the Ellis Island Medal of Freedom (2005). In addition to his duties as President of the U.S.-Qatar Business Council, Ambassador Theros is also active in the following organizations: The Middle East Policy Council, Board of Directors; The Council of Foreign Relations, Member; The Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs, Member; and The American Academy of Diplomacy, Member. Ambassador Theros graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1963. He has done advanced studies at the American University in Washington, D.C., the Universidad Centroamericana in Nicaragua, the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Virginia, and the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. He is married to Aspasia (nee Pahigiannis) and has three children. He speaks and reads Spanish, Arabic and Greek professionally.

    1h 2m
  5. On the Issues Episode 151: Anne Speckhard

    Jun 10

    On the Issues Episode 151: Anne Speckhard

    Today’s guest is Anne Speckhard, Director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism. She's an expert in rehabilitation and repatriation of terrorists and their families, and has consulted with foreign governments on issues of terrorist prevention, interventions and repatriation; and the rehabilitation and reintegration of ISIS foreign fighters, wives and children. Her latest book, Homegrown Hate, examines the deepening threat of domestic violent extremism in the US through in-depth interviews with current and former members of domestic hate groups. In this episode, Alon and Anne discuss the psychosocial dimensions of violent extremism, what attracts people to these ideologies, how terrorists and violent extremists have been able to utilize social media to draw people in, and what can be done to try to prevent people from falling into extremist ideologies. Anne Speckhard, Ph.D., is Director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE) and served for over 2 decades as Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine as well as an Affiliate in the Center for Security Studies, Georgetown University. She has interviewed over 800 terrorists, violent extremists, their family members and supporters around the world. Over the past 5 years, she has conducted in-depth psychological interviews with 275 ISIS defectors, returnees and prisoners, as well as 16 al Shabaab cadres, studying their trajectories into and out of terrorism, and their experiences inside ISIS and al Shabaab. Speckhard developed ICSVE’s Breaking the ISIS Brand Counter Narrative Project from these interviews, which includes over 250 short counter narrative videos that mimic ISIS recruitment videos but contain actual terrorists strongly denouncing ISIS as un-Islamic, corrupt and brutal. Beginning in 2020, she launched the ICSVE Escape Hate Counter Narrative Project, interviewing 54 white supremacists and members of hate groups, developing counternarratives from their interviews, and creating anti-recruitment videos. She has also conducted rare interviews with five Antifa activists. Dr. Speckhard is also an expert in rehabilitation and repatriation of terrorists and their families. In 2007, she designed the psychological and Islamic aspects of the Detainee Rehabilitation Program in Iraq to be applied to 20,000+ detainees and 800 juveniles. This work led to consulting with foreign governments on issues of terrorist prevention, interventions and repatriation; and the rehabilitation and reintegration of ISIS foreign fighters, wives and children. She has also worked on these issues with NATO, OSCE, UN Women, UNCTED, UNODC, the EU Commission and EU Parliament, and to the US Senate & House, Departments of State, Defense, Justice, Homeland Security, Health & Human Services, and the FBI. Dr. Speckhard actively trains key stakeholders in law enforcement, intelligence, elite hostage negotiation teams, educators, and other professionals in countering violent extremism, locally and internationally, focusing on the psychology of terrorism, the effective use of counter-narrative messaging materials produced by ICSVE, as well as studying the use of children as violent actors. Her consultations and trainings include US, Australian, German, Swiss, Belgian, Iraqi, Jordanian and Thai national police and security officials, among others. She also serves as an expert witness, testifying on a variety of topics pertaining to trauma, loss, dissociation, violent extremism and terrorism. Dr. Speckhard is the author of 5 books & has appeared on CNN, BBC, NPR, Fox News, CTV, CBC, and in the New York Times, London Times, TIME Magazine, Daily Beast and more. She regularly writes a column for Homeland Security Today. Her research has been published in Global Security: Health, Science and Policy, Journal of African Security, Journal of Strategic Security, Journal for Deradicalization, Perspectives on Terrorism & more.

    58 min
  6. On the Issues Episode 150: Dimitris Eleas

    Jun 3

    On the Issues Episode 150: Dimitris Eleas

    Today’s guest is Dimitris Eleas, a political scientist, writer, and independent researcher. His work explores the role of personality in the social-historical, philosophy, global politics, antisemitism, and modern history, with a particular focus on the Holocaust. In this episode, Alon and Dimitris discuss the repercussions of the October 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s retaliation, the rise of antisemitism, and the Israel-Iran war. Full bio Dimitris Eleas is a New York City–based political scientist, writer, and independent researcher. His work explores the role of personality in the social-historical, philosophy, global politics, antisemitism, and modern history, with a particular focus on the Holocaust. He has written a plethora of articles, and his writing has appeared several times in the letters sections of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. Dimitris Eleas supports the democratic ideals of Israel and the Jewish people. He believes in civil liberties, and that all people deserve a decent income, quality food, clean water and air, and equal human rights. He strongly opposes wars, because in the end it is always the poor, their children, and the workers who pay the price of every war. He has published several books in Athens, and is the author of the novel-essay When Shakespeare Was Lost, 1585–1592, published in 2025 by Govostis Publishers (Est. 1926). He is currently developing his long-term project, the novel-essay The Black Birds of Warsaw.

    1h 1m
  7. On the Issues Episode 149: Lulzim Peci

    May 27

    On the Issues Episode 149: Lulzim Peci

    Today’s guest is Lulzim Peci, principal founder and Executive Director of the Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development (KIPRED), and a member of the Board of the Council of Kosovo Ambassadors. In this episode, Alon and Lulzim discuss political instability in Kosovo, particularly as the country is set to return to the polls for the third time in less than 18 months. They discuss what led to the series of elections and what we may be able to expect out of this upcoming election, as well as how this impacts Kosovo’s ongoing efforts toward EU candidacy. Full bio Mr. Lulzim Peci holds a PhD in Political Science from the South East European University in North Macedonia, an M.A. in International Relations from the University Institute Ortega y Gasset in Spain, and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Prishtina in Kosovo. He is the principal founder and Executive Director of the Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development (KIPRED), and a member of the Board of the Council of Kosovo Ambassadors (CKA). In the past, Mr. Peci served as Ambassador of Kosovo in Stockholm (2009-2013). He also was Chair of the Board of the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society (2019 – 2023), Member of the Board of the Kosovo American Education Fund (2021 – 2023), Member of the Board of the American University in Kosovo (2007 – 2009), Executive Director of the Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (1999 – 2003), and as a Researcher at the Kosovo Center for International Studies (KCIS)/Foreign Policy Team of the late Kosovo’s President, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova (1995-1998). Mr. Peci’s research interests primarily focus on foreign and security policies, inter-ethnic relations, and political parties.

    59 min
  8. On the Issues Episode 148: Jane Olson

    May 20

    On the Issues Episode 148: Jane Olson

    Today’s guest is Jane Olson, a noted humanitarian who has worked many decades as a volunteer promoting international peace and justice and humanitarian work. She has chaired the International Board of Trustees of Human Rights Watch, from 2004 to 2010, and chaired the board of Survivor Corps for 12 years since its founding as Landmine Survivors Network. In this episode, Alon and Jane discuss the current rise in human rights abuses globally, what roles international organizations have played in combatting human rights abuses, and the importance of educating people about their basic universal human rights, including starting in schools. Full bio Jane Olson has worked many decades as a volunteer promoting international peace and justice and humanitarian work. She chaired the International Board of Trustees of Human Rights Watch, the largest US-based international human rights organization, from 2004 to 2010, having worked on behalf of HRW since 1988. She also chaired the board of Survivor Corps for 12 years since its founding as Landmine Survivors Network. LSN and HRW were among the five organizations to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997for the International Landmine Ban Treaty. Jane is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science and a board member of both the National World War II Museum in New Orleans and Direct Relief, based in Santa Barbara, CA. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Pacific Council on International Policy. She served as co-chair of the Women’s Refugee Commission in New York and continues to support the WRC as a commissioner. Jane has received numerous awards, including the 2010 inaugural Alison Des Forges Award from Human Rights Watch, and the inaugural Eleanor Roosevelt Award from Feminist Majority in 2005. California Senator Barbara Boxer presented the “Women Making History” Award to Jane in 2010. She received Public Counsel’s Community Achievement Award and the Silver Achievement Award from the Los Angeles YWCA.

    57 min
See All (154)

About

Podcast by Alon Ben-Meir

Information