Babel: Translating the Middle East

Babel: Translating the Middle East comes from the Middle East Program at CSIS, and it works as a series of extended conversations with people who study the region or write about it. The interviewing is unshowy. Questions are built in layers, restating a guest's field or an earlier point before asking what changed, who has leverage and what might derail a process. Answers get room, and the follow-ups are patient rather than quick. Iran comes up in more than one recent episode. In 'Dina Esfandiary: Will Iran Make a Deal with Trump?', the case is that Iran sees itself as weakened but not permanently so, and sees in the American administration a partner that could deliver a deal and keep its opponents in check. The discussion also reaches Europe's dilemma over a 90-day window to punish countries that did not implement the deal. It asks whether China and Russia would help bring an agreement together or try to break it apart. 'Sanam Vakil: Iran's Trajectory after Raisi' comes at the same country through its internal politics: with no natural successor to Ebrahim Raisi, his death is framed as an opening for contenders and a challenge for the system. The conversation with Vakil, who directs the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House, also covers the Gulf. It covers sanctions that limit Gulf investment in Iran, the normalization of ties between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain, and a Saudi Vision 2030 that depends on foreign direct investment, which is why conflicts now need addressing rather than managing. North Africa gets its own conversation. 'Isabelle Werenfels: North Africa's Relationship with Europe' features a senior fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin and traces a shift: North African countries now want to call the terms of trade, while Europe is still working out how to handle their growing leverage. Tunisia, migration, terrorism and right-wing politics all figure in the account of how Europe's approach to cooperation changed. One follow-up asks whether Europe itself splits into different blocs. The register turns grave with 'Amjad Iraqi: The Future of Palestinians in Israel'. The conversation with Iraqi, a senior editor at 972 Magazine, asks Jewish Israelis to reckon with their power and Palestinians to reckon with how violence feeds Israeli retrenchment. It doubts that the war in Gaza can truly end while occupation continues. It also notes how rarely day-after planning puts Palestinians at the center. Across these subjects the tone stays even. Risks, spoilers and political failures are named plainly, without outrage. The episodes finish by pointing listeners to further analysis on the CSIS website. A listener interested in Iran's bargaining position can start with the Esfandiary episode, and one curious about how Europe looks from North Africa has the Werenfels conversation.