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About James M. Dorsey

NBN Episodes hosted by James M.:

Middle Eastern Studies June 23, 2022

The Fate of Abraham

Why the West is Wrong about Islam

Peter Oborne

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Peter Oborne’s The Fate of Abraham: Why the West is Wrong about Islam (Simon and Schuster 2022) is as much a history of US, British, and French attitudes towards Islam …
Middle Eastern Studies May 25, 2022

Wahhabism and the World

Understanding Saudi Arabia's Global Influence on Islam

Peter Mandaville

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Saudi global export of an ultra-conservative strand of Islam and its impact on Muslim countries and communities across the globe has been a hotly debate topic for more than two …
Middle Eastern Studies March 21, 2022

Rivals in the Gulf

Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, Abdullah Bin Bayyah, and the Qatar-Uae Contest Over the Arab Spring and the Gulf Crisis

David H. Warren

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Rivals in the Gulf: Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, Abdullah Bin Bayyah, and the Qatar-UAE Contest Over the Arab Spring and the Gulf Crisis (Routledge, 2021) goes to key questions of governance at the …
Middle Eastern Studies February 23, 2022

Islam and the Arab Revolutions

The Ulama Between Democracy and Autocracy

Usaama Al-Azami

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Usaama al-Azami’s Islam and the Arab Revolutions: The Ulama Between Democracy and Autocracy (Oxford UP, 2022) focuses on the responses of several prominent Muslim religious scholars towards the 2011 Arab …
Middle Eastern Studies February 8, 2022

A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

The Saudi Struggle for Iraq

Katherine Harvey

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Iraq has in the last year taken a lead in sponsoring talks between Middle Eastern arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran in an effort to prevent tension in the region spinning …
Middle Eastern Studies January 25, 2022

Libya and the Global Enduring Disorder

Jason Pack

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Libya stands out as an example of a complex, internecine Middle Eastern and North African conflict in which regional and global powers as well as jihadists exploit tribal and sectarian …
Middle Eastern Studies November 25, 2020

Vision or Mirage

Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads

David Rundell

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
David Rundell brings to his book, Vision or Mirage: Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads (I. B. Tauris, 2020), a granular analysis and insider’s understanding of the inner workings of the …
Middle Eastern Studies November 3, 2020

Masters of the Pearl

A History of Qatar

Michael Quentin Morton

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
History is not the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of young, energy-rich monarchies of the Gulf that often punch above their weight in geopolitics and geoeconomics …
Middle Eastern Studies October 16, 2020

Critical Reflections on China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Alan Chong and Quang Min Pham

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Political scientists Alan Chong and Quang Min Pham bring with their edited volume, Critical Reflections on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (Palgrave MacMillan, 2020), originality as well as dimensions and …
Middle Eastern Studies September 4, 2020

The Tumultuous Decade

Arab Public Opinion and the Upheavals of 2010–2019

James Zogby

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
James Zogby’s The Tumultuous Decade: Arab Public Opinion and the Upheavals of 2010–2019 (Steuben Press, 2020) takes the reader on a decade-long tour of the Middle East as the region …
Middle Eastern Studies July 29, 2020

Sport, Politics, and Society in the Middle East

Danyel Reiche and Tamir Sorek

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Sports scholars Danyel Reiche and Tamir Sorek’s edited volume, Sport, Politics, and Society in the Middle East (Oxford University Press, 2019), makes a significant contribution to what remains a largely …
Middle Eastern Studies July 21, 2020

The Gulf Region and Israel

Old Struggles, New Alliances

Sigurd Neubauer

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Gulf scholar Sigurd Neubauer’s The Gulf Region and Israel: Old Struggles, New Alliances makes a significant contribution to our understanding of what drives shifting alliances in the Middle East, an …
Middle Eastern Studies May 5, 2020

Iran and Saudi Arabia

Taming a Chaotic Conflict

Ibrahim Fraihat

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Ibrahim Fraihat’s latest book, Iran and Saudi Arabia: Taming a Chaotic Conflict (Edinburgh University Press, 2020) is much more than an exploration of the history of animosity between Saudi Arabia …
Middle Eastern Studies March 25, 2020

Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment

A Global and Historical Comparison

Ahmet T. Kuru

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Ahmet T. Kuru’s new book Islam, Authoritarianism and Underdevelopment, A Global and Historical Comparison (Cambridge University Press, 2019) is a ground-breaking history and analysis of the evolution of the state …
Middle Eastern Studies February 19, 2020

More Noble Than War

A Soccer History of Israel-Palestine

Nicholas Blincoe

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Nicholas Blincoe’s More Noble Than War: A Soccer History of Israel-Palestine (Bold Type Books, 2019) is a beautifully narrated and written history of a century of conflict between pre-state Jews …
Middle Eastern Studies October 23, 2019

Dark Shadows

Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan

Joanna Lillis

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Joanna Lillis’ Dark Shadows, Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan (I. B. Tauris, 2018) takes the reader on a penetrating, colourfully written journey into the recesses of a little known …
Literature September 27, 2019

Singapore, Singapura

From Miracle to Complacency

Nicholas Walton

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Nicholas Walton’s Singapore, Singapura: From Miracle to Complacency (Hurst, 2019) is far more than a portrait of the rise of a resource-poor nation that has become a model of economic …
Middle Eastern Studies August 8, 2019

Changing Saudi Arabia

Art, Culture and Society in the Kingdom

Sean Foley

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
In Changing Saudi Arabia, Art, Culture and Society in the Kingdom (Lynne Rienner, 2019), Sean Foley offers eye-opening insights into a changing society that is under the international magnifying glass …
National Security May 13, 2019

Divided Gulf

The Anatomy of a Crisis

Andreas Krieg

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Andreas Krieg’s edited volume, Divided Gulf: The Anatomy of a Crisis (Palgrave, 2019), brings together a group of prominent Gulf scholars to discuss the Gulf crisis that pits a Saudi-United …
Middle Eastern Studies January 17, 2019

China's Relations with the Gulf Monarchies

Jonathan Fulton

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Jonathan Fulton's China's Relations with the Gulf Monarchies (Routledge, 2018) sheds light on China’s increasing economic role at a moment that the traditionally dominant role in international oil markets of …
Middle Eastern Studies December 28, 2018

External Powers and the Gulf Monarchies

Jonathan Fulton and Li-Chen Sim, eds.

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Jonathan Fulton and Li-Chen Sim’s edited volume, External Powers and the Gulf Monarchies (Routledge, 2018) is a timely contribution to understanding the increasingly diversified relations between the Gulf’s six oil-rich …
Middle Eastern Studies December 20, 2018

Securing the Belt and Road

Risk Assessment, Private Security and Special Insurances Along the New Wave of Chinese Outbound Investments

Alessandro Arduino and Xue Gong

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Alessandro Arduino and Xue Gong’s Securing the Belt and Road: Risk Assessment, Private Security and Special Insurances Along the New Wave of Chinese Outbound Investments (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) significantly contributes …
Middle Eastern Studies November 29, 2018

The Politics of Common Sense

State, Society and Culture in Pakistan

Aasim Sajjad Akhtar

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Aasim Sajjad Akhtar’s The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan (Cambridge University Press, 2018) is an incisive study of continuity as well as change in Pakistan …
Middle Eastern Studies November 28, 2018

India, Turkey and the Future of Secularism

Sumantra Bose

Hosted by James M. Dorsey
Sumantra Bose's new book Secular States, Religious Politics: India, Turkey and the Future of Secularism (Cambridge University Press, 2018) is a fascinating comparison of the rise of religious parties in …