The Pivot by Globely News

Khalil Sayegh of the Agora Initiative joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss conditions on the ground in Gaza, what kind of political future awaits the Palestinian people, and his views on the response of Christian Zionists in the U.S. to the mass killings of Palestinians. CONNECT WITH US: Web: globelynews.com X: @GlobelyNews | @arifcrafiq Facebook: facebook.com/globelynewsweb YouTube: youtube.com/@GlobelyNews

India’s general elections begin this month and are likely to bring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party back to power for a third consecutive term. King’s College London Prof. Christophe Jaffrelot and host Arif Rafiq discuss the fundamental features of Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist project developed in the “laboratory” of the Gujarat state and applied nationally over his first two terms as prime minister. They explore how Modi commandeered India’s Hindu nationalist movement and refashioned it into a Modi-centric populism, backed by a vigilante-driven social surveillance regime and marked by crony capitalism. They assess what an India after Modi might look like and whether democracy and secularism can bounce back once his reign has come to an end. LEARN MORE: Narendra Modi: India's Most Powerful Post-Independence Leader Hindutva: A Deep Dive Into India’s Hindu Nationalist Ideology CONNECT WITH US: Web: globelynews.com X: @GlobelyNews | @arifcrafiq Facebook: facebook.com/globelynewsweb YouTube: youtube.com/@GlobelyNews

University of Maryland Professor Michael Woldemariam joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the recent maritime access agreement between Ethiopia and the breakaway region of Somaliland. They address landlocked Ethiopia’s problem of geography, its regional aspirations, the challenges of federalism and fragmentation in Somalia and Ethiopia, and the contestation between great and regional powers, including the U.S. and China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Turkey. LEARN MORE: https://globelynews.com/africa/ethiopia-somaliland-horn-africa-game-of-ports/ CONNECT WITH US: Web: globelynews.com X: @GlobelyNews | @arifcrafiq Facebook: facebook.com/globelynewsweb YouTube: youtube.com/@GlobelyNews East Africa Map:

Uyghur activist Nury Turkel (@nuryturkel) speaks with host Arif Rafiq on China’s persecution of the Uyghur Muslims; the systems of coercion, surveillance, and collective punishment directed at the Uyghurs; and how you, the listener, may be unknowingly consuming products made in part through forced Uyghur labor. LEARN MORE: https://globelynews.com/asia/china-uyghur-muslim/ CONNECT WITH US: Web: globelynews.com X: @GlobelyNews | @arifcrafiq Facebook: facebook.com/globelynewsweb YouTube: youtube.com/@GlobelyNews

Jacqui Baker (@indobaker) of Murdoch University joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss Prabowo Subianto’s victory in Indonesia’s presidential elections, the legacy and political future of the popular outgoing president Joko Widodo, and the durability of the economic and political status quo in this rising Southeast Asian power. LEARN MORE: After Joko Widodo: What a Prabowo Presidency Means for Indonesia CONNECT WITH US: Web: globelynews.com X: @GlobelyNews | @arifcrafiq Facebook: facebook.com/globelynewsweb YouTube: youtube.com/@GlobelyNews

Jay Mandle, a professor emeritus of economics at Colgate University, joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss whether Guyana, now the world's newest petrostate and fastest-growing economy, can leverage its newfound oil wealth to change its destiny and avoid the "resource curse." By 2035, Guyana could become the world's fourth-largest producer of oil. But it faces a host of challenges in exploiting these resources for the benefit of its population. In this episode, Mandle and Rafiq these obstacles, including climate change, longstanding ethnic and racial divisions, and threats from neighboring Venezuela. LEARN MORE: Guyana: Can the World’s Newest Petrostate Change Its Destiny? CONNECT WITH US: Web: globelynews.com X: @GlobelyNews | @arifcrafiq Facebook: facebook.com/globelynewsweb YouTube: youtube.com/@GlobelyNews

Meredith Weiss, a professor of political science at the University at Albany, joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the many political transformations of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim over his political career. A prominent Islamist student activist, Anwar was cultivated by longtime Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad as his heir apparent, only to be victimized and imprisoned by him later. As a dissident, Anwar became an outspoken Muslim democrat both at home and on the global stage. Today, his politics, in the view of some, can be described as post-Islamist. Anwar Ibrahim's fascinating political journey is not his story alone: it is that of Malaysia too. LEARN MORE: The Many Political Lives of Anwar Ibrahim CONNECT WITH US: Web: globelynews.com X: @GlobelyNews | @arifcrafiq Facebook: facebook.com/globelynewsweb YouTube: youtube.com/@GlobelyNews (Image Credit: Firdaus Latif)

Afshon Ostovar, an associate professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss how Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) transformed from being a ragtag militia to a preeminent outside force in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere in the Middle East. They explore the IRGC’s network of partners, including the so-called Axis of Resistance, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in how IRGC leverages these groups as part of its strategy of asymmetric warfare against its adversaries and rivals, including the U.S. and Israel. LEARN MORE: Iran’s IRGC and the Battle for the Middle East CONNECT WITH US: Web: globelynews.com X: @GlobelyNews | @arifcrafiq Facebook: facebook.com/globelynewsweb YouTube: youtube.com/@GlobelyNews

Ali Wyne, a senior advisor at the International Crisis Group, joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the implications of Taiwan's recent elections, how China is responding to the results, the risks of a U.S.-China war over Taiwan, and the broader challenge of managing a rising China. LEARN MORE: The China Challenge: How to Manage Strategic Rivalry With Beijing CONNECT WITH US: Web: globelynews.com X: @GlobelyNews | @arifcrafiq Facebook: facebook.com/globelynewsweb YouTube: youtube.com/@GlobelyNews

Journalist Emily Tamkin, author of "Bad Jews," joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the evolving and often contentious debate over what it means to be an American Jew and how today's conversations about Jews, whiteness, and wealth fit into the broader historical, American Jewish experience. They also discuss the parallels between neoconservatism in the 60s and 70s and today's counter-progressivism — or anti-wokeism — among Jewish public intellectuals. The conversation concludes with Tamkin's thoughts on the crisis of American Zionism. LEARN MORE: American Jews: Beyond the Tropes CONNECT WITH US: Web: globelynews.com X: @GlobelyNews | @arifcrafiq Facebook: facebook.com/globelynewsweb YouTube: youtube.com/@GlobelyNews

Bangladesh has seen rapid economic growth and development gains amid poor governance, rampant corruption, and growing repression. On Sunday, Bangladeshi voters went to the polls to take part in elections that were neither free nor fair. Ali Riaz, a distinguished professor of political science at Illinois State University, joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss how deep and durable Bangladesh's socio-economic gains are and whether they can be sustained under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's authoritarian regime. LEARN MORE: Bangladesh Elections: Trouble Lurks Beneath Sheikh Hasina’s ‘Victory’ CONNECT WITH US: Web: globelynews.com X: @GlobelyNews | @arifcrafiq Facebook: facebook.com/globelynewsweb YouTube: youtube.com/@GlobelyNews

Hesham Sallam of Stanford University joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss Pres. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's 10 years as ruler of Egypt and how this one man has dominated Egypt, its institutions, and its 110 million people for a decade. They dive deep into El-Sisi's motives, how his brand of authoritarianism differs from those of his predecessors, and what the future holds for this new pharaoh and the 110 million people over whom he rules. LEARN MORE: How El-Sisi Rules Egypt CONNECT WITH US: Web: globelynews.com X: @GlobelyNews | @arifcrafiq Facebook: facebook.com/globelynewsweb YouTube: youtube.com/@GlobelyNews

Francisco Rodríguez of the University of Denver joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss Venezuela's long political and economic crises, the drivers of its instability, the role played by the U.S., its links to the migrant crisis, and the potential for a way out. In this episode, we take a deep look at the broader political and economic crisis that Venezuela has been experiencing for more than two decades and is driving the ongoing migrant crisis. We’ll unpack the roots of populist authoritarianism in Venezuela and the impact of the U.S. sanctions regime on the country's politics and society. Learn more

Murtaza Hussain of The Intercept joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss India’s global assassination campaign, its modes, methods, and motivations, and what it means for the future of India’s partnership with the United States and the West. Previously limited to its neighborhood, India's assassination campaign is now extending to the West. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed it has charged an Indian man of attempting to kill a Sikh American supporter of the Khalistan separatist movement. The development comes just months after the killing in Canada of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Khalistani activist. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attributed the murder to "agents of India." Learn more

University of Michigan-Dearborn Professor Sally Howell joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the history of the Arab Americans of Detroit and Dearborn and their rise as a force that is not only reshaping the political landscape in Michigan but could also play a decisive role in choosing the next president of the United States. Learn more

Rice University scholar Kristian Ulrichsen joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss how the October 7 attacks by Hamas have impacted Saudi Arabia's moves toward normalizing ties with Israel, its relations with Iran, and plans by its de-facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to transform the country's economy and society through Vision 2030. Learn more

King's College London Professor Jeroen Gunning joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss Hamas's ideology, internal struggles between pragmatists and hardliners, competition with other Palestinian groups, and use of violence against Israel. The episode concludes with a discussion on how to hold both state and non-state actors accountable for violence against civilians. Gunning lived in Gaza in the late 1990s and interviewed most of Hamas's leading political leaders as well as many rank-and-file members of the group. His first book, "Hamas in Politics: Democracy, Religion, Violence," is informed by this field research. Learn more

International Crisis Group analyst Mairav Zonszein joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the mood on the ground in Israel after the October 7 attacks by Hamas, how it may shape Netanyahu’s decision-making, and what the ongoing crisis means for his legacy. Read more

The Middle East Institute's Khaled Elgindy and host Arif Rafiq discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, U.S. policy toward Palestine, and the future of the Palestinian national movement. Learn more

Host Arif Rafiq speaks with journalist Rana Ayyub and Professor Audrey Truschke on the danger Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a "New India" poses to Muslims and other minorities, free speech, and academic inquiry in India. Read more