Kamran Bokhari, PhD is Senior Director of the Eurasian Security & Prosperity Portfolio at the New Lines Institute for Strategy & Policy. Previously, he was Director of Analytical Development at New Lines Institute. Dr. Bokhari is also a national security and foreign policy specialist at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute. Bokhari has served as the Central Asia Studies Course Coordinator at U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute. He was a Fellow with the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. Dr. Bokhari has also been a Senior Consultant with The World Bank. He has 15 years of experience in the private sector intelligence space during which he provided intellectual leadership in the publishing of cutting-edge geopolitical analysis & forecasts. Bokhari is the author of Political Islam in the Age of Democratization (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). He has also contributed chapters to edited volumes: Wars of Ideas: Theology, Interpretation and Power in the Muslim World (Rowman Littlefield, 2021); Strategic Analysis in Support of International Policy Making (Rowman Littlefield, 2017), Reassessing Order and Disorder in the Middle East: Regional Imbalance or Disintegration? (Rowman Littlefield, 2017), Oxford Handbook on Islam & Politics (Oxford University, 2013) & Debating Moderate Islam: The Geopolitics of Islam and the West (University of Utah, 2007). His core areas of expertise are: Geopolitical/Intelligence Analysis of the Middle East, South Asia, & Central Asia, Governance, Democratization, Civil-Military Relations, & Comparative Political Systems, Geosectarianism, Countering Violent Extremism. Counterterrorism, Deradicalization, and Islamist & Muslim Moderation. Dr. Bokhari has briefed various US, Canadian & UK government agencies, published thousands of analytical/theoretical/op-ed articles, presented papers in int’l academic/policy forums & given hundreds of interviews to leading global media organizations. Bokhari earned his doctorate from the University of Westminster after successfully defending his thesis ‘Moderations Among Salafists & Jihadists’. He tweets at @KamranBokhari.
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Episode 446
Kamran Bokhari
Trump’s Plan to Remake the Middle East | Kamran Bokhari
Kamran Bokhari, PhD is Senior Director of the Eurasian Security & Prosperity Portfolio at the New Lines Institute for Strategy & Policy. Previously, he was Director of Analytical Development at New Lines Institute. Dr. Bokhari is also a national security and foreign policy specialist at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute. Bokhari has served as the Central Asia Studies Course Coordinator at U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute. He was a Fellow with the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. Dr. Bokhari has also been a Senior Consultant with The World Bank. He has 15 years of experience in the private sector intelligence space during which he provided intellectual leadership in the publishing of cutting-edge geopolitical analysis & forecasts. Bokhari is the author of Political Islam in the Age of Democratization (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). He has also contributed chapters to edited volumes: Wars of Ideas: Theology, Interpretation and Power in the Muslim World (Rowman Littlefield, 2021); Strategic Analysis in Support of International Policy Making (Rowman Littlefield, 2017), Reassessing Order and Disorder in the Middle East: Regional Imbalance or Disintegration? (Rowman Littlefield, 2017), Oxford Handbook on Islam & Politics (Oxford University, 2013) & Debating Moderate Islam: The Geopolitics of Islam and the West (University of Utah, 2007). His core areas of expertise are: Geopolitical/Intelligence Analysis of the Middle East, South Asia, & Central Asia, Governance, Democratization, Civil-Military Relations, & Comparative Political Systems, Geosectarianism, Countering Violent Extremism. Counterterrorism, Deradicalization, and Islamist & Muslim Moderation. Dr. Bokhari has briefed various US, Canadian & UK government agencies, published thousands of analytical/theoretical/op-ed articles, presented papers in int’l academic/policy forums & given hundreds of interviews to leading global media organizations. Bokhari earned his doctorate from the University of Westminster after successfully defending his thesis ‘Moderations Among Salafists & Jihadists’. He tweets at @KamranBokhari.
In Episode 446 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with geopolitical analyst and forecaster Kamran Bokhari about Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan and the new security order taking shape in the Middle East.
Kamran first appeared on Hidden Forces in the days following the October 7th attacks to discuss the wider war unfolding between the U.S., Israel, and Iran, and how Hamas’s attacks could serve as a catalyst for the remaking of the modern Middle East. In his subsequent appearances, he has provided critical context for understanding U.S., Israeli, and Iranian strategic aims and limitations, as well as the interests and constraints of other states in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey.
For all intents and purposes, Israel has won its war against the Islamic Republic of Iran. It has decimated both its conventional and unconventional forces and revealed to its proxies, affiliates, and supporters across the region—and even to its own people—that Iran is a weak and tottering power. With the initiation of Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan and the cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip, we may be witnessing the emergence of a new security order in the Middle East—one that relies more on regional stakeholders, allowing the United States to reduce its direct exposure and the commitment of U.S. forces while still maintaining influence over regional politics.
Kamran and Demetri spend the first hour of their conversation recapping the Middle East’s transformation over the last two years. They revisit Israel’s systematic campaign against Hezbollah’s leadership, the subsequent collapse of the Assad regime, and the consequences of the U.S.’s strategic strikes on Iran’s known nuclear facilities. They also discuss the diplomatic fallout from Israel’s recent attacks in Qatar, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s subsequent apology call from the White House, and Washington’s push for an international stabilization force in Gaza led by regional partners.
The second hour turns to what a new regional security architecture could look like and how U.S. strategy is shifting from direct management to burden-sharing among regional powers such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. They explore the practical implications of this emerging arrangement for Gaza—including discussions about an Arab-Muslim stabilization force, governance over the Palestinian territories, and a long reconstruction financed by Gulf and international donors—while setting realistic expectations for the creation of an independent Palestinian political entity over the next decade.
They conclude by assessing which countries stand to gain the most from Iran’s retreat and the decimation of its proxies, closing with a frank discussion about America’s polarized media ecosystem and the growing anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiments being expressed on both the American left and right.
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Kamran Bokhari, PhD is Senior Director of the Eurasian Security & Prosperity Portfolio at the New Lines Institute for Strategy & Policy. Previously, he was Director of Analytical Development at New Lines Institute. Dr. Bokhari is also a national security and foreign policy specialist at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute. Bokhari has served as the Central Asia Studies Course Coordinator at U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute. He was a Fellow with the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. Dr. Bokhari has also been a Senior Consultant with The World Bank. He has 15 years of experience in the private sector intelligence space during which he provided intellectual leadership in the publishing of cutting-edge geopolitical analysis & forecasts. Bokhari is the author of Political Islam in the Age of Democratization (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). He has also contributed chapters to edited volumes: Wars of Ideas: Theology, Interpretation and Power in the Muslim World (Rowman Littlefield, 2021); Strategic Analysis in Support of International Policy Making (Rowman Littlefield, 2017), Reassessing Order and Disorder in the Middle East: Regional Imbalance or Disintegration? (Rowman Littlefield, 2017), Oxford Handbook on Islam & Politics (Oxford University, 2013) & Debating Moderate Islam: The Geopolitics of Islam and the West (University of Utah, 2007). His core areas of expertise are: Geopolitical/Intelligence Analysis of the Middle East, South Asia, & Central Asia, Governance, Democratization, Civil-Military Relations, & Comparative Political Systems, Geosectarianism, Countering Violent Extremism. Counterterrorism, Deradicalization, and Islamist & Muslim Moderation. Dr. Bokhari has briefed various US, Canadian & UK government agencies, published thousands of analytical/theoretical/op-ed articles, presented papers in int’l academic/policy forums & given hundreds of interviews to leading global media organizations. Bokhari earned his doctorate from the University of Westminster after successfully defending his thesis ‘Moderations Among Salafists & Jihadists’. He tweets at @KamranBokhari.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
