The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey
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The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey
Dr. James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the University of Würzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and co-host of the New Books in Middle Eastern Studies podcast. James is the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog, a...
Episodis Recents
618 episodis
A birthday present with a price tag
By James M. Dorsey
Out of character, Iran gave US President Donald Trump an unexpected birthday present.
It agreed on Mr. Trump’s 80th to...
Middle East Report 12062026
James discusses on Radio Islam this week’s rollercoaster in the Iran war.
Trump and Iran agree on one thing The definition of insanity
There is one thing US President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders agree on.
They both religiously adhere to the principle that “insanity is doin...
Casting Shadows
With an unprecedented eight teams competing, the Middle East casts its long shadow over this year’s World Cup; not always for the right reasons.
...
Spinning out of control
James discusses the Iranian-Israeli tit-for-tat, the Lebanon war, and US-Iranian negotiations to end the Iran war on CNA938.
Reshaping the Islamic Republic
Like the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and last June’s 12-day Israel-Iran war, this year’s Iran war has reshaped the Islamic Republic.
Middle East Report
James discusses this week’s Iran war developments, Gulf splits on post-war relations with Iran, and the Middle East’s shadow hanging over the 2026 Wor...
Living by the sword
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stands accused of waging war in his personal rather than Israel’s national interest.
Mr. Netanyahu’s c...
A game of chicken
A US-Iranian tit-for-tat in the Strait of Hormuz amounts to a game of chicken that risks spinning out of control.
US President Donald Trump’s im...
Lebanon ceasefire is about more than Hezbollah
James argues on TRT World that for Iran and the US a Lebanon ceasefire is not just about Hezbollah. It’s also about leverage in US-Iranian negotiation...
Gulf states prepare for long-term Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz
Disregard the US, European, Iraqi, and Gulf states’ rejection of Iran’s insistence that it will control the Strait of Hormuz no matter what.
The...
US-Iranian negotiations are a performative tug-of-war over who blinks first
US-Iranian negotiations to end the Iran war have evolved into a performative tug-of-war over who has the longer breath rather than an all-out effort t...
The Strait of Hormuz A battle for regional dominance
For Iran, control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz is about dominance in a post-Iran war era, in which the Gulf is looking at an adapted, if not new,...
How close are the US and Iran to a deal
James argues on TRT that the United States and Iran are nowhere close to an agreement to end the Iran war.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis could help Saudi Arabia reduce dependency on the Strait of Hormuz
Three months into the Iran war, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have largely been absent, depriving Iran of an opportunity to increase further press...
Middle East Report: A Weekly Roundup
James discusses on Radio Islam this week’s Middle East developments.
Pakistan’s Iran war mediation ties the South Asian nation up in knots
A resumption of Iran war hostilities could jeopardise Pakistani mediation and turn the South Asian nation into a combatant as differences between Saud...
Iran war disrupts Gulf states' economic ambitions
James discusses on TRT World the Iran war’s economic fallout in the Gulf states
Gulf states’ differences were baked into the GCC’s DNA from the outset
The Gulf states’ divergent responses to the Iran war are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)’s DNA.
Founded in Abu Dhabi in 1981 by the r...
Trump fails to camouflage differences with China over Iran
A US and Bahraini draft United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a halt to Iran's throttling of traffic through the strategic Strait of...
Middle East Report 15052026
James discusses the struggle for the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump’s visit to China, US-Gulf relations, and the return of sectarianism o...
US-Iran diplomacy amounts to motion without movement
US President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s response to peace talks as tensions rise ahead of his trip to China, while global powers prepare militar...
Are the US and Iran close to a deal
The United States and Iran are closer to a deal that would end the Iran war. James M. Dorsey tells TRT World why that does not mean that they are clos...
The US and Iran hold their fire. The question is for how long
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was on thin ice when he declared this week on the White House press podium that “Operation Epic Fury is concluded.”<...
US and Iran tap dance into reviving hostilities
The good news is that Iran’s latest ceasefire proposal apparently includes elements that US President Donald Trump finds worthwhile considering, even...
Iran’s proposal puts Trump in a bind
The gap between the US and Iranian positions is widening.
Whatever understandings existed have vanished.
Driving the widening of the gap a...
Celebrated Orban’s defeat-That may have been premature
Celebrated Orban’s defeat-That may have been premature by James M. Dorsey
Resumption of US-Iran talks hangs in the balance
An Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has arrived in Islamabad for talks with Pakistan’s leadership, as uncertainty hangs over...
US Strait of Hormuz blockade threatens to backfire
The US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz threatens to backfire as the Trump administration and Iran seek to gain the upper hand.
Iran assum...
Will the Iran war gun remain silent
Will the Iran war gun remain silent by James M. Dorsey
Playing bluff poker on a knife’s edge
It’s going to take more than a knife-edge game of bluff poker to get US-Iranian talks back on track.
To successfully pull back from the brink,...
What the 1987 Tanker War teaches us about the Strait of Hormuz stand-off
The 1987 Iran-Iraq Tanker War offers important lessons for today’s US-Iranian stand-off in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The war erupted as a...
Iran has a leg up in the war of narratives
US embassies in three Muslim-majority countries have warned the State Department that the United States is losing the war of narratives with Iran.
Infusing religion in the military risks sliding down a slippery slope
If the US, Israeli, and Iranian armed forces have anything in common, it may be militant interpretations of faith as a motivational driver that demoni...
Politics obstruct a US-Iran nuclear deal
US President Donald Trump has made Iran’s nuclear ambitions, alongside free passage through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the key to permanently end...
The Islamabad talks were doomed from the outset
Several factors doomed US-Iranian negotiations in Islamabad to end the Iran war from the outset.
Even so, the failure did not immediately spell...
Middle East Report
In anticipation of Pakistan-mediated US-Iranian talks In Islamabad on ending the Iran war, James discusses the prospect for a permanent halt to hostil...
Did Trump blink first?
A fragile halt to Iran war hostilities was always a question of who blinks first.
Even so, both the United States and Iran are declaring victory...
Iran war: Paying the Piper
On this edition of Parallax Views, James M. Dorsey discusses the Iran War's potential consequences for the United States, Europe, the Gulf States, Isr...