43 episodes

Iyad El-Baghdadi and Ahmed Gatnash study global authoritarianism, with a focus on the MENA region, and dive deep into universal strategies and tactics of authoritarians, as well as the best ways to resist.

Support us on Patreon:
www.patreon.com/kawaakibi

Arab Tyrant Manual Podcast Arab Tyrant Manual Podcast

    • News
    • 4.7 • 34 Ratings

Iyad El-Baghdadi and Ahmed Gatnash study global authoritarianism, with a focus on the MENA region, and dive deep into universal strategies and tactics of authoritarians, as well as the best ways to resist.

Support us on Patreon:
www.patreon.com/kawaakibi

    043 - Ukraine is Dividing the Gulf States from the West

    043 - Ukraine is Dividing the Gulf States from the West

    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/

    • 41 min
    042 - Working for Libyan Accountability, with Elham Saudi

    042 - Working for Libyan Accountability, with Elham Saudi

    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

    • 42 min
    041 - Authors' Retrospective of the The Middle East Crisis Factory

    041 - Authors' Retrospective of the The Middle East Crisis Factory

    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?

    • 56 min
    040 - The Middle East Crisis Factory: an Interview on Gaslit Nation

    040 - The Middle East Crisis Factory: an Interview on Gaslit Nation

    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

    • 59 min
    039 - The Changing Activism Paradigm

    039 - The Changing Activism Paradigm

    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

    • 1 hr 4 min
    038 - Changing Horizons

    038 - Changing Horizons

    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

    • 31 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
34 Ratings

34 Ratings

Semperphi ,

A well done primer

This podcast has given me an insight and a framework for understanding some of the dynamics and interactions and rationale for what’s happening in the Middle East, from the Arab perspective. A valuable resource and well worth the time investment.

ThisIsAReview456 ,

Worth your time

I’ve been following Iyad al-Baghdadi on twitter for years. His intellectual integrity is a rare gem. I don’t always agree with him. But I almost always learn from him.

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