Conflicts of Interest
The world is in turmoil — from wars in Europe and the Middle East, to political crises, violent protests, and rising global unrest.
Conflicts of Interest goes beyond the headlines to explain the forces shaping today’s conflicts. Hosted by conflict experts Professor Clionadh Raleigh and Dr Caitriona Dowd, this fortnightly podcast unpacks wars, protests, political violence, and international power struggles with clarity and context.
No drama, no sensationalism — just what happened, why it matters, and how it fits into the bigger picture. For listeners who want to understand war, politics, and global conflict without the noise, Conflicts of Interest makes sense of a world on edge.
Brought to you by ACLED (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data)
Conflicts of Interest
America - your problem rhymes with ‘buns’
Comedian Simon Brodkin once asked, ‘If I had a phone, am I more or less likely to make a call than someone without one?’
In this episode of Conflicts of Interest, Professor Clionadh Raleigh and Dr Caitriona Dowd unpack the narratives around gun violence and political violence in the United States, and interrogate where they come from.
Drawing on data and analysis from ACLED, the hosts explore the distinction between political violence and criminal gun violence, and why the two are so often conflated in public debate.
The conversation looks at why Americans report feeling less safe even when certain forms of violence are declining, how high-profile attacks skew perception, and how US gun violence compares to political violence patterns seen elsewhere in the world.
Rather than treating the United States as an outlier, the episode places it in a broader global context, asking what is genuinely changing, and what is being amplified by media cycles and political rhetoric.
#GunViolence #PoliticalViolence #UnitedStates #PublicSafety