Dan and Joanne talk with Sharmine Narwani about the Southern Front -- US-backed rebels based in southern Syria -- and their affiliation with al Qaeda. We also discuss how the Syrian war is like an irregular world war and how it played a role in accelerating a global shift in power.

Sharmine is a commentator and analyst of Mideast geopolitics based in Beirut, speaking to us today from the United States. She is a former senior associate at St. Antony's College, Oxford University and has been published by a wide variety of publications, including the New York Times, the Guardian, Asia Times Online, al Akhbar English, Al Jazeera and RT.

Follow Sharmine @snarwani and find her work at her website mideastshuffle.com

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Recorded on June 28, 2018. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

Are al-Qaeda Affiliates Fighting Alongside U.S. Rebels in Syria’s South?, Sharmine Narwani, The American Conservative

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