CONTESTED GROUND: Iran’s collapsing sphere of influence

01/03/25 • 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

The year in review and a look at the year ahead

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, hosts David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft take a look back at some of the biggest and most intriguing stories of the year, from CrowdStrike’s outage and amazing response to the takedown of ransomware giant LockBit.

Croft kicks off with the epic story of the Change Healthcare hack, which saw the data of about a third of the population of the United States compromised. But it wasn’t just the scale of the hack; it was also the behind-the-scenes manoeuvering between greedy ransomware-as-a-service operators, hacker affiliates just wanting to get paid, and a company realising that it really does have to pay an exorbitant ransom.
The pair then discuss the takedown of ransomware giant LockBit and the remarkably sassy response of the law enforcement agencies behind the operation, before looking back at another ransomware operation that turned out to be nothing but an extensive scam.
Lastly, Croft and Hollingworth look back at July’s CrowdStrike outage, both its wide-ranging impact and what turned out to be an excellent and comprehensive response from CrowdStrike itself, before turning the gaze forward to wonder what they might see in 2025.

Enjoy the podcast, The Cyber Uncut team

Next Episode

CONTESTED GROUND: 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