“The Political View” is a new podcast produced by the Diwan Think Tank that addresses current political and social issues. In each episode, key political developments in the Middle East are transparently analyzed from a different perspective. Through in-depth discussions with experts and guests, the program provides deep insights, categorizes complex issues and promotes reflective political debate.
In the first episode of Political View, we host Mr. Christian Peter Hanelt, an expert on the Middle East and North Africa at the Bertelsmann Foundation. Mr. Hanelt has extensive experience in the foreign and neighborhood policy of the European Union. He covered the Second Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm against Iraq for the German broadcaster ZDF. Last year, Mr. Hanelt published a new book entitled “Wie Europa den Nahen Osten verloren hat hat und ihn neu gewinnen kann” (in Arabic: “Ring of Fire: How Europe lost the Middle East and how it can win it back”), which prompted Evald König and Darius Hoffmann to ask central questions about the relationship between Europe and its neighbors in the Middle East: How do crises, wars, the rise of right-wing movements and the new US administration’s new policy shape the current relationship? What hopes does Mr. Hanelt have for the new European Parliament? Will European public opinion continue to be anti-immigration in the future? What about Gaza? Like all interviews, this episode is also available with German titles and Arabic subtitles. You can listen to this episode in audio format on all podcast platforms under the title “DIVAN Podcast”!
Dr. Michael Lüders is a journalist, author and Middle East expert with a PhD, who is also the main candidate of the Sarah Wagenknecht (BSW) coalition in the 2025 federal election. He is our guest today on the second episode of Political Perspective. We speak with Dr. Michael Lueders about his recently published scholarly book “War Without End? Why we need to change our attitude towards Israel for the sake of peace in the Middle East”. And why different perspectives are necessary in a complex global situation. To this end, we will reflect on our own positions, discuss the geopolitical importance of the Middle East and consider possible solutions for peaceful coexistence in an increasingly multipolar world order. This episode is available in audio format on all podcast platforms under “DIVAN Podcasts”! You can also find more exciting podcasts in the “Divan in Dialogue” format on the YouTube channel @derdivan!
Daniel Gerlach is a Middle East expert and the editor-in-chief and co-publisher of Zenith magazine. As he puts it, he moves through the Arab world “like a fish in water.” Daniel Gerlach recently traveled to Syria to form his own impression of a country that now faces many uncertainties after years of dictatorship and war. But first and foremost, we would like to know what impact the German federal elections and the new chancellor Friedrich Merz will have on German policy in the Middle East. Is there reason to hope that Germany’s image in the Arab world will improve? Is there really a more troublesome term than the German “state interest”? It is also about the German media discourse, about what is going wrong there and what is going largely well. And who dominates the discourse here? After a current report on Syria, we go back a bit and talk about Gerlach’s highly successful journalistic beginnings under the slogan “Fake it till you make it!”, i.e. Fake it till you make it. Plus, there’s a book announcement at the end… Like all DIVAN Dialogues, this episode also has German and Arabic subtitles. This episode is available in audio format on all podcast platforms under “DIVAN Podcasts”! You can also find more exciting podcasts in the “DIVAN in Conversation” format on the YouTube channel @derdivan
