Iran’s collapsing sphere of influence

01/02/25 • 23 min

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Phil Tarrant, Major General (Ret’d) Marcus Thompson and Liam Garman discuss the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the ongoing Israel–Hamas war.

They begin the podcast debating whether the unfolding Israel–Hamas conflict will have the same level of strategic significance for Israel as the Yom Kippur War or the Six-Day War.
Tarrant, Thompson and Garman then discuss how the conflict has altered the balance of power in the Middle East, severing Iran’s crescent of influence by weakening Hamas and Hezbollah, coupled with the fall of Assad.
They wrap up the podcast examining what nations, if any, might assume the role of a security benefactor in the Middle East with a weakened Iran, and emerging open-source intelligence (OSINT) collection vectors.

Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Phil Tarrant, Major General (Ret’d) Marcus Thompson and Liam Garman discuss the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the ongoing Israel–Hamas war.

They begin the podcast debating whether the unfolding Israel–Hamas conflict will have the same level of strategic significance for Israel as the Yom Kippur War or the Six-Day War.
Tarrant, Thompson and Garman then discuss how the conflict has altered the balance of power in the Middle East, severing Iran’s crescent of influence by weakening Hamas and Hezbollah, coupled with the fall of Assad.
They wrap up the podcast examining what nations, if any, might assume the role of a security benefactor in the Middle East with a weakened Iran, and emerging open-source intelligence (OSINT) collection vectors.

Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

Previous Episode

Ukraine’s freedom of manoeuvre in the information domain

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Phil Tarrant, Major General (Ret’d) Dr Marcus Thompson and Liam Garman discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine and the future of warfighting in the information domain.

They begin the podcast unpacking major national security developments for 2024 and how global powers have continued to exploit the grey zone, before unpacking an absence of ownership of the information domain in Australia when examining the DIME construct – diplomacy, information, military, and economic.
The trio then discuss Ukraine’s exploitation of the information environment, and how the modern battlefield nevertheless reflects the Clauswitzian notion that the nature of war never changes.
Tarrant, Thompson and Garman then predict how the incoming US administration will impact the conflict.

Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

Next Episode

Picking up where we left off, 2025 shapes up to be a disruptive year

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, hosts Phil Tarrant and Liam Garman are joined by Momentum Media’s senior defence and national security analyst and government relations manager, Steve Kuper, to discuss the latest geopolitical developments. The trio discuss the key developments over the Christmas and New Year period that are setting the scene for a truly transformative midway point for the 2020s.

They also discuss:

Ongoing diplomatic efforts by the incoming Trump administration to resolve the Russia–Ukraine war and the situation on the ground.
The Boxing Day revelation of apparent sixth-generation fighter aircraft by the People’s Republic of China and Beijing’s ambitious ship commissioning schedule for 2025, which will dramatically reshape the balance of power.
The implications of the incoming Trump administration on the global geopolitical and economic environment.

Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team