75 episodes

An ex-Al Qaeda jihadi turned MI6 spy and a former monk turned filmmaker, have been embedded at the heart of conflicts in the Middle East. Together Aimen Dean and Thomas Small unpack the realities of war, fundamentalism and their global implications through first-hand experience.

CONFLICTED CONFLICTED by MH

    • History
    • 4.8 • 373 Ratings

An ex-Al Qaeda jihadi turned MI6 spy and a former monk turned filmmaker, have been embedded at the heart of conflicts in the Middle East. Together Aimen Dean and Thomas Small unpack the realities of war, fundamentalism and their global implications through first-hand experience.

    Conflicted Community: Q&A - From the intricacies of Middle Eastern Diplomacy to... Eurovision?

    Conflicted Community: Q&A - From the intricacies of Middle Eastern Diplomacy to... Eurovision?

    Enjoy a clip from the first exclusive Q&A episode for our Conflicted Community! Thanks so much to our supporters for sending in all these brilliant questions on our Discord chatroom.
    This week, Thomas and Aimen answer your burning questions, from Eurovision to Qatar, visiting corners of the world they’ve not touched on before… 

    To keep listening, you’ll need to subscribe. And don’t forget, subscribers can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can ask questions for future Q&As, interact with your fellow listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, and so much more.

    All the information you need to sign up is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 

    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
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    • 6 min
    Bonus Content: Aimen gives evidence in Parliament

    Bonus Content: Aimen gives evidence in Parliament

    Thomas introduces a whole hour of extra content, as Aimen gives evidence to the Foreign Affair Committee in the UK Parliament. To hear more about this trip to the palace of Westminster, as well as other bonus content, sign up to the Conflicted Community!
    Members also get access to our chatroom on Discord, where you can engage in riveting post-episode debates, and ask questions for upcoming exclusive Q&A episodes.
    All the information you need to sign up is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 

    This audio is available to the public on and taken from the Parliament TV website.
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 1 hr 12 min
    Conflicted Community: Jihadis for Hire

    Conflicted Community: Jihadis for Hire

    The second episode for our Conflicted Community is here! 

    This bonus episode is the final one going out to all of our dear listeners on this feed, so to keep listening, you’ll need to subscribe. Subscribers can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom on Discord, which is already brimming with conversation and analysis.

    All the information you need to sign up is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 

    For our second episode, Thomas and Aimen are returning to their bread and butter: jihadi terrorism. The attacks on a Moscow concert hall in March 2024, carried out by ISIS Khorasan Province, have revealed the return of a kind of terror not witnessed for a few years. But there’s a difference: could they have been jihadi mercenaries? Are they in fact jihadis for hire? Thomas and Aimen discuss how Afghanistan has once again become a hotbed of terror, and what this all means for the country and the rest of the world.

    Sign up to the Conflicted Community: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 
    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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 54 min
    Conflicted Community: The Gaza War – What Are Both Sides Thinking?

    Conflicted Community: The Gaza War – What Are Both Sides Thinking?

    Welcome to the first episode for our Conflicted Community! 
    We’ll be coming to you every two weeks with interactive episodes for our subscribers. We’re giving the first couple of episodes out for all of our dear listeners, but to keep listening, you’ll need to subscribe. And don’t forget, subscribers can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom on Discord, to discuss everything you hear, and so much more.
    All the information you need to sign up is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 
    In our first Conflicted Community episode, Thomas and Aimen discuss the unavoidable topic of war in Israel and Gaza, giving you an update on where things stand, what they’ve been hearing about the Hamas leadership and the threats posed by Iran and the wider axis of resistance. They also dig deep into Netanyahu and the ways in which Israel is prosecuting the war – does it legally constitute ethnic cleansing? Even a genocide?
    Sign up to the Conflicted Community: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 
    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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 1 hr 16 min
    The Conflicted Community is Live!

    The Conflicted Community is Live!

    The Conflicted Community is now live! 
    Want to hear bonus episodes of Conflicted and chat with fellow Dear Listeners? Now you can! We’re going to be putting out new interactive episodes every two weeks for subscribers, as well as giving access to our Conflicted Community chatroom on Discord, where you can engage in riveting post-episode debates.
    All the information you need to sign up is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ 
    This is a paid for community and these new episodes and access to the chatroom will be for subscribers only. We’ll be releasing the first couple of these episodes to all of our dear listeners on this normal Conflicted Feed, but you’ll have to join the Conflicted community to continue listening…
    Episode one for our Conflicted Community is coming next week on April 17th – so watch this space!
    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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 4 min
    Q&A - Airstrikes on Yemen and the Future of the Middle East

    Q&A - Airstrikes on Yemen and the Future of the Middle East

    On Friday, January 12th, the Houthis added their muscle to the spreading conflict in the Middle East. By attacking commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea, they have brought reprisal strikes from a US and UK led coalition which could bring the west into the war and even reignite the Yemeni civil war which has engulfed the country since 2014.

    We covered Yemen extensively over 5 episodes at the end of Conflicted season 4, so it was only right that Thomas and Aimen come back together to answer our dear listeners’ questions about this huge new development. 

    We answer your questions like: What are the Houthis’ objectives in the Middle East? Was the Western military response the right move? How will Iran and its proxies respond in turn? And what does this all mean for the future of the war in Israel, Gaza and the wider Middle East.

    This episode is also a taster of the kind of content you’ll get as we launch a new platform - the Conflicted Community. This will be your community hub on Discord for all things Conflicted. Discord is essentially an instant messaging community platform which will allow you to discuss all things Conflicted with fellow dear listeners, share resources we mention in the show and engage in riveting post-episode debates. 

    This is a paid for community, and for a small monthly fee you’ll get access to the Discord chat channels, the opportunity to chat with Thomas and Aimen, exclusive content and bonus episodes like this one, as well as ad-free listening.

    Please do register your interest through the link: www.levellr.com/conflicted 

    We’ll be launching the Conflicted Community very soon, so keep an eye out for further details on it once you have registered interest.

    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
    Join the Conflicted Community hub on Discord to discuss all things Conflicted with fellow dear listeners, get exclusive content, bonus episodes and ad-free listening. Register your interest through the link: http://www.levellr.com/conflicted
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 1 hr 6 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
373 Ratings

373 Ratings

ChiChar ,

Thank you for making this podcast

If you actually want to learn about the Middle East and not just engage in mindless moralizing, invest the time to listen to this podcast. It is time very well spent.

john snow65 ,

Sounds like an Israeli sponsored show

Aiken Dean is the Arab version of an Unvle Tom, this is a completely Israeli/western perspective being pushed forward by Israeli puppets. Worst podcast about the Middle East I have yet to hear. Negative stars I’d possible

SolomonH21 ,

The best!!!

I recommend this podcast to anyone looking to grow their knowledge of the Middle East. An orthodox Christian and a former jihadi don’t sound like the perfect pair for a podcast, but they are.

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