Podcast Review: Our Man in the Middle East - Jeremy Bowen

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If you are looking for a podcast that gives you an in-depth analysis of the Middle East today, then Jeremy Bowen’s ‘Our Man in the Middle East’ is not for you. If, however, you are someone like me, who knows next to nothing about the politics and modern history of the region, Bowen’s podcast is a good place to start.

Made up of 25 episodes, ‘Our Man in the Middle East’ reflects on some of the biggest events to have happened in the region over the last quarter of a century. Starting with the run-up to the Gulf War and finishing with the war in Syria, the podcast is a combination of Bowen’s personal accounts of his time in the Middle East, alongside a retrospective analysis of how Western intervention, oil, and religion have shaped the region as it stands today.

The most poignant episodes for me are the ones which Bowen personally witnessed. From the remains of a bomb shelter, targeted by the US in the first Gulf War, killing 400 civilians, to the murder of Bowen’s driver in Lebanon by the Israeli Defence Force, what struck me most about the podcast was the clear sense that throughout the struggle for influence over the region, it is always the civilians who suffer the most. There is no clearer example than ongoing war in Syria today.

‘Our Man in the Middle East’ effectively joins together the complicated last quarter of a century in the Middle East. I was left with a greater understanding of the struggle for power that we are witnessing in the region today and it opened my eyes to the continuing competition for influence by some of the world’s most commanding foreign powers.

My appreciation of the podcast may, however, be biased. Having been the daughter of a foreign correspondent, some parts of Jeremy Bowen’s story fills me with a strange nostalgia to my childhood days; hearing stories from my father’s trips to Iraq, Afghanistan and later, Syria. I also believe that when it comes to the Middle East, one side of the story is never sufficient. All in all, I found ‘Our Man in the Middle East’ to be a good starting block into my understanding into the complex and often confusing politics of the Middle East today.