Kopi Time E170: Bernard Haykel on foreign policy in the Americas and the Middle-East

Kopi Time E170: Bernard Haykel on foreign policy in the Americas and the Middle-East

From Kopi Time podcast with Taimur Baig by DBS Bank

January 28, 2026 · 57 min · Episode 170

About this episode

Bernard Haykel discusses US foreign policy interventions in the Americas and the Middle-East.

Bernard Haykel, Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, returns to Kopi Time to walk us through various geopolitical flashpoints. We begin with the US’s recent intervention in Venezuela and the cohesiveness of the strategy at play. Heavy on economic coercion and light on ground-level involvement, to what extent US can achieve control on the region remains to be seen, although the goal of reducing China’s influence is being achieved to some extent. We then touch on what lies ahead for other central and Latin American leaders who are not aligned with the White House. Next, Greenland, where Professor Haykel does not see military intervention, nor does he see the fraying of the NATO. We then move on to the various moving parts in the Middle-East, from Iran to Saudi Arabia to UAE to Israel to Syria. There are few academics like Professor Haykel who can parse through these complex issues with such ease. A tour de force.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: Taimur Baig

Guest: Bernard Haykel

Topics covered

  • foreign policy
  • geopolitics
  • economic coercion
  • US intervention
  • Middle-East dynamics
  • Latin America

Keywords

  • foreign policy
  • geopolitics
  • Venezuela
  • China
  • Middle-East
  • Iran
  • Saudi Arabia
  • UAE
  • Israel
  • Syria

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Princeton University

Places: Venezuela, China, Greenland, Middle-East, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, Syria

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