Undercurrents
Undercurrents is a regular podcast series featuring interviews with Chatham House experts - and others - about the critical underlying issues which are shaping modern society. Hosted by staff from across the institute, each episode goes in-depth on a topic, looking beyond the news to explore the issues shaping global politics.
Chatham House is an independent policy institute based in London. Our mission is to help build a sustainably secure, prosperous and just world.
Jan 23, 2020
As the New Year dawned a serious crisis emerged in the Middle East after US President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran's Quds special forces. In the aftermath Ben and Agnes speak to two experts about the background to the crisis.
Sanam Vakil, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme, joins Ben to provide some historical context to the state of domestic politics in Iran and the factors driving its foreign policy.
Agnes then speaks to Renad Mansour, a Senior Research Fellow in the Middle East and North Africa Programme, who explains the effects of the crisis on the political situation in Iraq and delves into the history of Iran-Iraq relations.
Read the Expert Comments:
How the Soleimani Assassination Will Reverberate Throughout the Middle East