CONFLICTED

Is Donald Trump mad? Or is he a practitioner of the Madman Theory — and therefore not mad at all?

James D. Boys, author of ⁠⁠U.S. Grand Strategy and the Madman Theory: From Nixon to Trump⁠⁠, argues that the Madman Theory is not madness, but the performance of madness: a tactic by which a sane leader feigns irrationality to make an adversary believe there is even a one percent chance of overwhelming, disproportionate force.

In this new Conflicted Conversation, Boys explains:

What the Madman Theory means

Donald Trump, unpredictability and Trump Derangement Syndrome

Nuclear strategy, Eisenhower, and Cold War brinkmanship

Barry Goldwater, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the politics of nuclear fear

Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger and the Madman Theory in Vietnam

Trump’s use of Madman tactics against North Korea, Iran, NATO and trade partners

Whether Trump’s second-term grand strategy is chaos, coercion or calculated geopolitical pressure

Follow James on X: ⁠https://x.com/jamesdboys⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced and edited by Thomas Small.
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*** ⁠⁠DONATE to Thomas’s fundraising campaign!⁠⁠ ***

*** ⁠⁠WATCH Thomas's documentary film!⁠⁠ ***

Aimen is back with a huge amount of behind-the-scenes information on what’s been happening in the Middle East in the past three weeks—especially on the real reasons the UAE withdrew from OPEC, and what’s been going on inside Donald Trump’s head as he tries to chart a course to victory in the Iran War.

Aimen and Thomas discuss:

The recent discovery of HUGE shale oil reserves in the UAE

The Mar-a-Lago deal the UAE struck with Trump

Why the recent OPEC shake-up had NOTHING to do with Saudi Arabia

The truth about UAE and Saudi attacks on Iran

Did the UAE, Saudi, and Qatar really beg Trump not to resume the war?

How Iran’s military capability remains STRONGER than people think

The corruption behind Pakistan’s mediation efforts in the Iran War

The benefits and liability of Trump as a War Leader

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.
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In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas talks to Marc David Baer, Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, about his new book Children of Abraham: The Story of Jewish-Muslim Relations.

Marc discusses:

The recent stabbing in Golders Green, North London

The myth of utopian co-existence and the counter-myth of total antagonism

The earliest encounters of Jews and Muslims in Arabia

The Qur'an's mixed messaging about Jews

The reality of Sharia dhimmitude laws

Jewish-Muslim relations in the Khazar Kingdom, in Al-Andalus, and in the Ottoman Empire

Colonialism and the rupture of Jewish-Muslim relations

Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Jewish-Muslim solidarity today

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm⁠⁠⁠

Find Marc on X: https://x.com/MarcDavidBaer1

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And YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sdlF1mY5t4⁠⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced and edited by Thomas Small.
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As we eagerly await Aimen’s return to Conflicted next week, today Wassim Nasr returns to the show. As only Wassim can, he draws on his expertise of the Sahel to explain the remarkable events in Mali over the past several weeks — events which Aimen forecast on the show back in January.

Wassim explains:

France’s failed counterterrorism strategy in Mali

JNIM’s emergence from AQIM and local insurgencies

Iyad Ag Ghaly’s political and jihadist leadership

The junta’s repression and strategic miscalculations

The JNIM–FLA alliance in northern Mali

The 25 April 2026 coordinated attacks

Negotiating with Islamists after the War on Terror

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Wassim on X: https://x.com/SimNasr

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.
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In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas talks to Sir Vince Cable, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats in the UK, about his new book Eclipsing the West: China, India and the forging of a new world.

Sir Vince discusses:

Postcolonial state-building, development economics, and his formative experiences in Kenya

Globalisation, financialisation, and the legacy of the 2008 financial crisis

The rise of China and India as “superstates” in a new tripolar world

Geo-economics, US–China rivalry, and the breakdown of the liberal international order

Democracy versus authoritarianism and the crisis of liberal governance

Ideology, nationalism, and the limits of rationality in geopolitics

Multipolarity, global disorder, climate crisis, and the future of world order

Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm⁠⁠

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And Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠

And YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sdlF1mY5t4⁠⁠

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced by Thomas Small & Ross Field and edited by Lizzy Andrews.
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