Episodios

  • Smuggling Law: Unsettled Sovereignties in Turkey’s Kurdish Borderlands (S. 15, Ep. 9)

    Smuggling Law: Unsettled Sovereignties in Turkey’s Kurdish Borderlands (S. 15, Ep. 9)
    Mar 24 2026
    On this week's episode of the podcast, Fırat Bozçalı of University of Toronto joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Smuggling Law: Unsettled Sovereignties in Turkey’s Kurdish Borderlands. Taking readers from border villages, mountain passes, and road checkpoints to courtrooms, law offices, and forensic laboratories, Fırat Bozçalı examines how Kurdish smugglers, with the help of their lawyers, legally disrupt state sovereignty in criminal courts. The book holds profound relevance in today's world, where ever-expanding regimes of surveillance, oppression, and dispossession unfold in the broader contexts of the global war on terror and data-driven capitalism. Music for this season’s podcast was created by Feras Arrabi. You can find more of his work on his website Music and Sound at www.ferasarrabi.com. POMEPS, directed by Marc Lynch, is based at the Institute for Middle East Studies at the George Washington University and is supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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    43 m
  • Syria: A Modern History (S. 15, Ep. 8)

    Syria: A Modern History (S. 15, Ep. 8)
    Mar 17 2026
    On this week's episode of the podcast, Daniel Neep of the Arab Center Washington DC joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Syria: A Modern History. Modern Syria has seen violence, repression, and autocracy, suffering through tragedy after tragedy over the past century. In the book, Neep offers a gripping narrative of how Syrians have navigated these events. Never losing sight of the fates of ordinary people, it provides a comprehensive account of how a nation born in conflict nevertheless sustained a rich, complex, and diverse society that will now chart its own path into the uncertain future. Music for this season’s podcast was created by Feras Arrabi. You can find more of his work on his website Music and Sound at www.ferasarrabi.com. POMEPS, directed by Marc Lynch, is based at the Institute for Middle East Studies at the George Washington University and is supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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    40 m
  • West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East (S. 15, Ep. 7)

    West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East (S. 15, Ep. 7)
    Mar 10 2026
    On this week's episode of the podcast, Mohammed Soliman of the Middle East Institute joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East. In the book, Soliman argues that it is time for the United States to move decisively away from nation-building and get back to the business of order-building. To do so will require zooming out, in both geographical and historical terms, to build a new regional order across 'West Asia' – from the Middle East to South Asia, connecting Europe to the Indo-Pacific via the Mediterranean and Red Seas. Music for this season’s podcast was created by Feras Arrabi. You can find more of his work on his website Music and Sound at www.ferasarrabi.com. POMEPS, directed by Marc Lynch, is based at the Institute for Middle East Studies at the George Washington University and is supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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    40 m
  • A Waning Crescent: Why the Era of Islamism is Coming to an End (S. 15, Ep. 6)

    A Waning Crescent: Why the Era of Islamism is Coming to an End (S. 15, Ep. 6)
    Feb 24 2026
    On this week's episode of the podcast, Mohammed M. Hafez of the Naval Postgraduate School joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new article, “A Waning Crescent: Why The Era of Islamism is Coming to an End.” In the episode, Hafez argues that "Islamism, in all its forms, has failed in achieving the major goal: which is empowering Muslims through Islamic renewal, and providing good governance and military empowerment in the face of adversaries." Please note that the views expressed in the episode are those of the article author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or the position of the Naval Postgraduate School, the US Navy, or the US Government. Music for this season’s podcast was created by Feras Arrabi. You can find more of his work on his website Music and Sound at www.ferasarrabi.com. POMEPS, directed by Marc Lynch, is based at the Institute for Middle East Studies at the George Washington University and is supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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    39 m
  • Twilight of the Saints (S. 15, Ep. 5)

    Twilight of the Saints (S. 15, Ep. 5)
    Feb 10 2026
    On this week's episode of the podcast, Stéphane Lacroix of Sciences Po joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Twilight of the Saints: The History and Politics of Salafism in Contemporary Egypt. The book examines the history of Salafism in Egypt from its 1920s emergence in Cairo’s scholarly circles through the present day, shedding new light on the movement’s shifting relationship to politics. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and interviews, Lacroix illustrates how Salafism redefined what it means to be Muslim for Egyptians.
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    50 m
  • Jordan: Politics in An Accidental Crucible (S. 15, Ep. 4)

    Jordan: Politics in An Accidental Crucible (S. 15, Ep. 4)
    Feb 3 2026
    On this week's episode of the podcast, Sean Yom of Temple University joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Jordan: Politics in an Accidental Crucible. In the book, Yom provides a concise yet authoritative synthesis of the Hashemite Kingdom's development from its founding over a century ago to the present. He explores Jordan's government, society, economy, and foreign policy in a systematic manner, offering an immersive tour of this vital Arab country. Uniquely, he combines theoretical work from political science, sociology, and other scholarly fields with firsthand knowledge of Jordan garnered over decades of study. His insights show how Jordan's political experiences form a microcosm for understanding the entire Middle East. This year, in addition to the book conversations, POMEPS Director and podcast host Marc Lynch will be providing more context on the book itself or topics related to the book. Each week you'll hear about published academic research and other interesting material on the topic that Marc wants to share. You'll be able to find all of the citations and links at the end of the weekly podcast post. Music for this season’s podcast was created by Feras Arrabi. You can find more of his work on his website Music and Sound at www.ferasarrabi.com. POMEPS, directed by Marc Lynch, is based at the Institute for Middle East Studies at the George Washington University and is supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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    42 m
  • Return of Tyranny (S. 15, Ep. 3)

    Return of Tyranny (S. 15, Ep. 3)
    Jan 27 2026
    On this week's episode of the podcast, Killian Clarke of Georgetown University joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed. Clarke explains both why counterrevolutions emerge and when they are likely to succeed. He forwards a movement-centric argument that emphasizes the strategies revolutionary leaders embrace both during their opposition campaigns and after they seize power. Movements that wage violent resistance and espouse radical ideologies establish regimes that are very difficult to overthrow. By contrast, democratic revolutions like Egypt's are more vulnerable, though Clarke also identifies a path by which they too can avoid counterrevolution. By preserving their elite coalitions and broad popular support, these movements can return to mass mobilization to thwart counterrevolutionary threats. In an era of resurgent authoritarianism worldwide, Return of Tyranny sheds light on one particularly violent form of reactionary politics. You can listen to this week’s podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or SoundCloud: Music for this season’s podcast was created by Feras Arrabi. You can find more of his work on his website Music and Sound at www.ferasarrabi.com. POMEPS, directed by Marc Lynch, is based at the Institute for Middle East Studies at the George Washington University and is supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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    39 m
  • Mirages of Reform (S. 15, Ep. 2)

    Mirages of Reform (S. 15, Ep. 2)
    Jan 20 2026
    On this week's episode of the podcast, Steven Monroe of the National University of Singapore joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Mirages of Reform: The Politics of Elite Protectionism in the Arab World. Monroe uses the case of Jordan to discuss the broader failures of economic reform across the Middle East. He develops a theoretical framework focused on the ability of connected elites to shield themselves from the effects of reforms enacted on paper. The liner notes for this episode focus on the political economy side of the ledger. We already highlighted a wide range of books about Jordan in our recent episode on Sean Yom's Jordan: Politics in an Accidental Crucible. Anyone interested in Monroe's topic should also read Yom's book, as well as Curtis Ryan's Jordan and the Arab Uprisings, Jillian Schwedler's Protesting Jordan, and Scott Williamson's The King Can Do No Wrong. On Jordanian/Palestinian identity politics, my book State Interests and Public Sphere: The International Politics of Jordan's Identity. On the failures of economic reform, Peter Moore's Doing Business in the Middle East is in many ways a direct ancestor of Mirages of Reform, and still highly relevant today. The same is true for Melani Cammett's Globalization and Business Politics in the Middle East, Clement Henry and Robert Springborg's Globalization and the Politics of Development in the Middle East, and the authoritative textbook authored by Cammett and Ishac Diwan (taking over from Alan Roberts and John Waterbury for the fourth edition), A Political Economy of the Middle East. On this week's episode of the podcast, Steven Monroe of the National University of Singapore joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Mirages of Reform: The Politics of Elite Protectionism in the Arab World. Monroe uses the case of Jordan to discuss the broader failures of economic reform across the Middle East. He develops a theoretical framework focused on the ability of connected elites to shield themselves from the effects of reforms enacted on paper. POMEPS Director Marc Lynch recommends that anyone interested in Monroe's topic and political economy should read Sean Yom's book Jordan: Politics in an Accidental Crucible, as well as Curtis Ryan's Jordan and the Arab Uprisings, Jillian Schwedler's Protesting Jordan, and Scott Williamson's The King Can Do No Wrong. On Jordanian/Palestinian identity politics, Marc Lynch's book State Interests and Public Sphere: The International Politics of Jordan's Identity. On the failures of economic reform, Peter Moore's Doing Business in the Middle East is in many ways a direct ancestor of Mirages of Reform, and still highly relevant today. The same is true for Melani Cammett's Globalization and Business Politics in the Middle East, Clement Henry and Robert Springborg's Globalization and the Politics of Development in the Middle East, and the authoritative textbook authored by Cammett and Ishac Diwan (taking over from Alan Roberts and John Waterbury for the fourth edition), A Political Economy of the Middle East. Amr Adly's Cleft Capitalism traces similar dynamics in Egypt, while Steffen Hertog's Locked Out of Development: Insiders and Outsiders in Arab Capitalism, Robert Kubinek's Making Democracy Safe for Business, and Ferdinand Eibl's Social Dictatorships expand the scope to multiple countries.
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    37 m