Marc Eliot Stein talks to Matthew Petti, an up-and-coming journalist studying Arabic in Amman, Jordan. The wide-ranging conversation covers the politics of water, the credibility of journalism, the status of refugee communities in Jordan from Palestine, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, the outlook for peace in an age of imperial decline, empires from USA to Russia to China to Iran to France, "middle east" vs. "west asia" vs "holy lands", Saddam Hussein nostalgia and much more. Musical excerpt: "Yas Salam" by Autostrad.
