The Limits of the UAE’s Push for Food Security
The UAE has spent billions of dollars on African farmland, supposedly to address its food insecurity. Now, with Iran blocking food shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategy’s limits are being revealed.
Alawite Politics After Assad
After the fall of the Assad regime, Syria’s Alawites are navigating collective blame, political exclusion and existential fear. With no armed force, no institutions and no trusted leadership, their turn to religious protest reflects not sectarian ambition but a desperate search for survival.
The Academic Justification for Male Supremacy
Jeffrey Epstein funded academic research to the tune of around $20 million per year. As the names of academics started appearing in news headlines, I checked the Epstein files myself, which revealed the names of old associates and painted a picture of a cozy circle of mutually supporting elites.
What the Epstein Files Reveal About How Elites Operate
Sarah Chayes and Emran Feroz join Faisal Al Yafai on the podcast to discuss the Epstein files, transnational networks of kleptocracy from Afghanistan to Washington, and what elites do when they think we’re not watching.
In Lebanon, There Are No More Clever Exits
For decades, Lebanese politicians survived by lying to everyone at once. Israel’s war has made that impossible. The country is facing a choice it can no longer defer: confront Hezbollah, or watch Israel do it for them, and then stay.