Show Notes
Believed to be ‘the mastermind’ behind the October 7th attack on southern Israel, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in an IDF attack in Gaza in October 2024. So who was he and how did he rise to power? Three observers, including one who has met Sinwar, grapple with the factors that led to the man and the leader he became. This episode was recorded before Yahya Sinwar was killed. Guests: Ben Wedeman - CNN senior international correspondent Khaled Hroub - Professor of Middle Eastern studies at Northwestern University in Qatar Michael Koubi - Former chief interrogator for Shin Bet, Israel's security service Producers: Zoe Ferguson and Linda Lopresti Executive Producer: Amruta Slee Sound Engineer: John Jacobs
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To many in the West, Paul Kagame is Rwanda’s saviour, the man who restored the country after its recent genocide. But those who have dealt with him inside and outside the country paint a very different and much darker picture. Guests: Noel Zihabamwe - Survivor of 1994 genocide, now a leading member of Sydney's Rwandan community
Make Argentina Great Again. That's the catchcry Javier Milei has borrowed from his friend, Donald Trump. Wildly brash (like Trump) deliberately unkempt (like Boris Johnson), Milei has made his way to the top job with no government experience and a whole lot of chutzpah. And you won’t believe who – or what – set him on this path... Guests: Dr Constanza Sanhueza - Lecturer in Political Science, Australian National University
He’s leader for life, his word is final in the highly factionalised theocratic regime of Iran and his influence extends across the flashpoints of the Middle East. Yet we know almost nothing about the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And as you’ll hear, his loyalists defend him as stridently as his critics attack him. Guests: John Limbert – One of the 55 American hostages held in captivity in Iran in 1979
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He’s Indonesia’s hard man of politics - Prabowo Subianto is a former military leader who stands accused of human rights abuses. But in the latest election campaign he pitched himself as a cute, dancing Grandpa. Now he’s the country’s newest president. So, what kind of leader will he be? Guests: Yoes Kenawas - Research Fellow at the Atma Jaya Catholic University in Jakarta