Adam Hanieh, the Director of the SOAS Middle East Institute, MBI Jaber Chair of Middle East Studies and Professor in the Development Studies Department at SOAS, joins Rida Fathima, an MSc Global Development student at SOAS, to discuss the blockade of the strait of Hormuz and the cascading consequences of the US-Iran war in this insightful and very timely episode.

Mapping the oil frontiers of the past, we discuss the future of gulf investment, migratory labour regimes, and what this new crude frontier in eventually means for debt and consumption in the global south and the rest of the world.

This episode features Jonathan Dumont, an Emmy Award–winning journalist and senior United Nations humanitarian official, in conversation with SOAS MSc Humanitarian, Aid and Conflict students Lynn Tabbara and Hassan Karmali. Drawing on more than four decades of reporting from conflict zones and humanitarian emergencies, Dumont reflects on the changing role of journalism in contexts of crisis.

Building on his experience with the BBC, CNN, and the UN World Food Programme, the discussion explores the challenges of access, risk, and ethical responsibility in places including Gaza, Sudan, and Syria. It considers how to bear witness with care and integrity, and what it means to communicate crisis in an era shaped by real-time information and misinformation.

This episode of the SOAS Global Developments Podcast Series features Carlos Oya, Professor of Political Economy and Head of the Department of Development Studies at SOAS University of London, in conversation with Naomi Hossain, Global Research Professor of Development Studies. They explore the complexities of China’s role in Africa’s industrial future.

Drawing on his new book, China for Africa’s Industrialization?, Carlos examines both the opportunities and challenges arising from China’s growing engagement across the continent. Through a labour-centred lens, the discussion considers how these dynamics are shaping employment, working conditions, and industrial development pathways. It also highlights the importance of policy agency, showing how different African countries respond in varied, context-specific ways.

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