Traders, tribes and political alignments

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to journalist and author Anand Gopal about his wonderful new book Days of Love and Rage, a profoundly moving and intellectually stimulating history of the Syrian revolution told from the perspective of the northern town of Manbij.

Anand and Thomas discuss:

• Anand's first-hand witnessing of 9/11
• How Anand embedded with the Taliban
• Revolution as a crisis of faith and collapse of social reality
• Manbij as a microcosm of the tensions of Syrian modernity
• The failure of Manbij's democratic experiment and the limits of liberalism
• How ISIS exploited both material grievances and liberal norms
• Baathism: egalitarian ethos vs authoritarian reality

Find Gopal on X: https://x.com/Anand_Gopal

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

Find Conflicted on X: ⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠

And Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠

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

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠

Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices