What’s the history of Israel’s genocidal ambitions and the indoctrination that it requires in the Jewish community? Is Zionism really about protecting Jews or does it actually pose a danger to them? What’s the history of Gaza, Hamas and the timeline of Israel’s violence against them? To discuss this and more Rania Khalek was joined by Zachary Foster, a historian of Palestine. 

This is just part of this episode. The full interview is available for Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at https://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content.

The Israelis created a public health crisis in Gaza that has led to the reemergence of polio. 

To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Lebanese medical doctor and public health researcher Anis Germany.

This is just part of this episode. The full interview is available for Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at https://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content.

How did the US end up with a two-party dictatorship? Are Trump and Biden really the only options? Does lesser evil voting work? If it’s meant to prevent the worst case scenario, then how come it didn’t prevent the genocide in Gaza? Is third party voting really as useless and fascist enabling as Democrats say? 

To discuss this and more Rania Khalek was joined by BT’s Eugene Puryear. 

This is just part of this episode. The full interview is available for Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at https://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content.

Bitcoin, Stablecoin, Tether, Blockchain, Coinbase, Binance, Etherium, Luna, Celsius, Circle, FTX,  NFTs: What’s all this crypto jargon really about? What stage of capitalism does it mean we’re in? How has digital currency been impacted by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine? What are the geopolitical implications for the US cold war with China? And what’s the significance of the downfall of Sam Bankman-Fried? Could we see an even more dramatic unraveling in the crypto world in the future, one that spills over into the rest of the economy, or will it bounce back?

To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by economist Ramaa Vasudevan, an Associate Professor at Colorado State University and author of the recent Monthly Review piece Crypto Convulsions, Digital Delusions, and the Inexorable Logic of Finance Capitalism.

Article discussed in the episode: https://monthlyreview.org/2022/12/01/crypto-convulsions-digital-delusions-and-the-inexorable-logic-of-finance-capitalism/ 

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The year 2022 was defined by the war in Ukraine, the expansion of NATO, and continued encirclement of China as the U.S. prepares for “great power conflict.” But the US empire is so overstretched, that sanctions have become the favorite form of warfare— to disrupt and isolate many countries at once. Could they backfire in 2023? To discuss this and more Rania Khalek was  joined by Bikrum Gill, who teaches at the department of political science at Virginia Tech.

Mentioned in the episode: https://developingeconomics.org/2022/09/01/sanctions-and-the-changing-world-order-some-views-from-the-global-south/ 

According to Western media, China can’t do anything right. First it was doing too little to address COVID, then it was doing too much and needed to reopen, and now it’s wrong to open up as it is. But if you look at things objectively, and take off the Western-colored glasses, is all the criticism really warranted? While the rest of the world rushed to fully reopen, it took three years to study and trace the virus, build medical infrastructure, train workers, and wait until a much less deadly strain emerged before the inevitable reopening. It also gained immense experience in future pandemic management.

To understand how and why China’s policies toward COVID evolved, in an attempt to protect a country of 1.4 billion people, Rania Khalek was joined by Tings Chak, a researcher at the Tricontinental Institute and a member of Dongsheng news collective who has lived in China throughout these last three years.

Article discussed in this episode: https://mronline.org/2023/01/01/a-look-back-on-three-years-of-chinas-anti-covid-19-fight/

Past Dispatches episode with Tings on China’s poverty alleviation: https://youtu.be/ZuBCr_15BIk 

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Why is the US willing to risk a nuclear apocalypse to weaken Russia and China? Our leaders say it’s about protecting the international rules based order from an authoritarian axis of evil. But this is just a guise. It’s actually about maintaining US unipolar hegemony over the world, which requires preventing or at the very least delaying the integration of Europe and Asia, an integration that is logical, both economically and geographically. 

To discuss this and more Rania Khalek was joined by Vijay Prashad, Executive Director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research and author of many books including “Washington Bullets: A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations."

Articles discussed in this episode: 

The United States wants to prevent a historical fact–Eurasian integration: The Twenty-Seventh Newsletter https://mronline.org/2022/07/08/the-united-states-wants-to-prevent-a-historical-fact-eurasian-integration/

Mali’s Break with France Is a Symptom of Cracks in the Transatlantic Alliance: The Forty-Eighth Newsletter (2022) from Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research: https://thetricontinental.org/newsletterissue/malis-break-with-france-is-a-symptom-of-cracks-in-the-transatlantic-alliance/ 

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It’s springtime for fascists in Israel as the secular war criminals are being replaced by an alliance of the far-right, with religious extremists and organizers of racist mob violence. The head of America’s Union for Reform Judaism called the appointment of Itamar Ben Gvir as public security minister akin to “appointing David Duke, one of the heads of the KKK, as attorney general.” To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Ali Abunimah, director of The Electronic Intifada and author of “The Battle for Justice In Palestine.”

Follow Ali on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AliAbunimah?s=20&t=ioocS-46SPCvVtScMCkY1Q 

Follow The Electronic Intifada on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/electronicintifada 

The US-dominated unipolar world has rapidly eroded, and the recent victory of Lula in Brazil provided a new lift for those struggling against imperialism in the Global South. 

Are imperialist powers less able to impose themselves on the Global South with past tools of invasion, coups, assassinations? 

To discuss the past and present tools used by the United States against popular movements and revolutionary struggles seeking self determination, Rania Khalek was joined by Vincent Bevins, author of the Jakarta Method and a journalist who has worked in Asia and Latin America.

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BT’s Rania Khalek sat down with Palestinian icon and revolutionary Leila Khaled in Beirut, Lebanon to discuss her life and participation in the Palestinian struggle for liberation.

The US and Europe have tried to make Africa a battleground in their Cold War against Russia and China. They‘ve even labeled Africa as NATO’s “Southern Neighborhood” and are using AFRICOM as a mechanism to control the continent under the guise of protecting it from malign Chinese and Russian influence.

What does this mean for sovereignty and independence across Africa and how are African countries pushing back?  To help break it all down Rania Khalek was joined by Mikaela Nhondo Erskog, a researcher at the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research and a member of No Cold War and the Dongsheng News Collective.

Article discussed in the episode: Africa Does Not Want to Be a Breeding Ground for the New Cold War

https://thetricontinental.org/newsletterissue/africa-new-cold-war/ 

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Iran’s protests have been more enduring than previous waves. Some call it a CIA-backed color revolution while others say it is a popular movement. There have been significant incidents of armed violence. And there is no doubt that Iran’s enemies will take advantage of any sign of weakness as they do in all countries deemed rogue. 

To better understand what's going on and what we can expect, Rania Khalek was joined by Mohammad Marandi, professor of english literature and orientalism at the University of Tehran.

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Rania Khalek is joined by UN Special Rapporteur Prof. Alena Douhan who returned from a 12-day visit to Syria where she assessed the negative impact of sanctions across the country. Upon her return, she called for the sanctions, which she deems illegal and a violation of human rights, to be lifted immediately. Prof. Douhan holds the UN position of Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on Human Rights. 

Read her statement here: https://www.ohchr.org/en/node/104160

To discuss the Zionist movement’s untold history of collaboration with fascism, including Nazi Germany, Rania Khalek was joined by Tony Greenstein, a longstanding Jewish anti-Zionist, Marxist and anti-fascist activist from the UK and author of “Zionism During the Holocaust: The Weaponization of Memory in the Service of State and Nation.”

Watch the extended version of this interview on our Patreon. Become a member at https://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content.

The US is trying to reshape NATO into an anti-China alliance while demanding that the EU join in. So far the US has been somewhat immunized from the consequences of cutting economic ties with Russia. For Europe though, the outcome of sanctions has been much more dire as winter approaches.  A decoupling from China would be even more devastating to Europeans, as indicated in the recent meetings with Macron and Scholz. Is the EU really willing to commit economic suicide for the US as it’s already doing with its Ukraine policy?

To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Arnaud Bertrand, a commentator on economics and geopolitics based in Shanghai. 

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The crisis of Western capitalism has led to the election of an ultra-right party in Sweden, with historical connection to the Nazi movement. The drive for escalation with Russia prompted Finland and Sweden to join NATO, placing themselves on the frontlines of a war in which they have nothing to gain. While it may appear that NATO is all about countering Russia, the U.S. is in the process of reconfiguring it into an anti-China military alliance, which would cause even more economic devastation to the EU. 

To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by writer and journalist Lily Lynch. 

Lily’s articles discussed in this episode:

Sweden’s Pariahs https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/293 

Looking East https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/287 

Useful Spectres https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/280 

Joining the West https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/joining-the-west?pc=1442 

How did 9/11 change the direction of the US left? What about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the election of Obama and then Trump, the Arab Spring, Russiagate and now the war in Ukraine? How has the new Cold War against Russia and China created new lines of differentiation and what is the path forward?

Brian Becker, host of The Socialist Program, joined Rania Khalek to talk about this and more in part 2 of their discussion about the US left. You can watch Part 1 here: https://youtu.be/Hf-lS_ljOdc 

Check out Socialist Reconstruction, the recently published book Brian contributed to: https://1804books.com/products/socialist-reconstruction-a-better-future 

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Katie Halper joins Rania Khalek to talk about the aftermath of her getting fired from The Hill for criticizing Israeli apartheid as well as the ongoing cynical weaponization of anti-Semitism to discredit advocacy for Palestinian human rights. 

The segment that got Katie fired from The Hill: https://youtu.be/_3xLOxx1ggQ

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When the war in Ukraine began, Western officials bragged that they were going to “turn the ruble into rubble” and bring Russia to its knees. Seven months later, as the war and sanctions drag on with no end in sight, it’s the Euro that is turning to rubble and Europe being brought to its knees. It turns out sanctioning your largest gas supplier with no alternative in place, following years of stagnation and an economy-destroying pandemic, isn’t a great idea. 

To discuss the economic fallout for the Europe and the impact it’s having under neoliberalism, Rania Khalek was joined by Prahbat Patnaik, Marxist economist, Professor Emeritus at JNU, and author of “Capital and Imperialism: Theory, History, and the Present,” co-authored with Utsa Patnaik.

Articles discussed in this episode: 

https://www.newsclick.in/Why-US-Cut-up-With-OPEC-Decision-Cut-Output 

https://www.thenorthlines.com/opecs-decision-to-cut-oil-output-is-a-challenge-to-us-hegemony/ 

https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/the-crisis-within-ascendancy-of-neofascism-and-how-to-counter-it/cid/1890382

https://peoplesdemocracy.in/2022/1009_pd/acceleration-eurozone-inflation-rate

As the U.S. pours a seemingly endless amount of weapons into Ukraine to weaken Russia, Western officials and pundits are very casually setting us up for a potential nuclear war that would be catastrophic for humanity. Meanwhile European hardship continues to skyrocket as sanctions on Russia destroy its economy and cause gas shortages while European leaders and media demonstrate shocking levels of racism and hypocrisy.

To help make sense of it all Rania Khalek is joined by Ali Abunimah, director of The Electronic Intifada and author of “The Battle for Justice In Palestine.”

Follow The Electronic Intifada on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/electronicintifada

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How can we comprehend the victory of Giorgia Meloni, an admirer of Mussolini, in Italy's recent elections? Is she a fascist? Does this represent a surging far-right trend in Europe? How has the war in Ukraine impacted Italian politics? And where is the Italian left in all of this? 

To discuss this and more Rania Khalek was joined by Maurizio Coppola, a member of the international office of the Italian political party Power to the People!.

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Navid Zarrinnal, a Columbia Univ. PhD and Iranian scholar at Stanford University, joined Rania Khalek to help make sense of the unrest in Iran over the morality police or guidance patrol amid the death of Mahsa Amini and the way Western governments are using a legitimate grievance to promote instability in Iran. They also discuss the way the protests have been exaggerated by Western anti-Iran media, the role of hawkish exiles in promoting false narratives about a “revolution” and the actual conversation about the hijab mandate taking place inside Iran. 

Navid welcomes feedback, you can get in touch with him at nz67@stanford.edu

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To discuss the history of the Arab Gulf states as Western imperial outposts and the damage they have done and continue to do to the left and progressive movements around the world, Rania Khalek was joined by As’ad Abukhalil, a Lebanese-American professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus.

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To understand what Brazil has gone through in recent years, the significance of the recent election results and what it could mean for the country and the world, Rania Khalek was joined by Michael Fox, a freelance journalist based in Latin America, former editor of NACLA and host of the new podcast Brazil on Fire. 

Michael on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mfox_us
Michael’s podcast Brazil on Fire: https://nacla.org/brazil-on-fire-podcast 

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Is the fierce resistance to the genocide in Gaza a sign of an imperialist system in crisis? What are the various anti-imperialist fronts aligned against the US around the world and what is China’s role? What are the characteristics and contradictions of the US-led imperialist order and in what ways are the chickens coming home to roost in the imperial core? 

To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Nina Farnia, Assistant Professor of Law at Albany Law School, a longtime activist and a scholar of Critical Race Theory, with a focus on US imperialism and its impact on domestic law. Her forthcoming book is called “Imperialism: An American Story.”

Watch the extended version of this interview on our Patreon. Become a member at https://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content. 

With the Democratic Party hopelessly incapable of doing anything to address our many crises, the far-right has managed to brand itself as subversive using oligarch funding for anti-woke and pseudo-populist campaigns. The result is to send more and more lost and alienated people down the reactionary rabbit hole. 

How do we understand and navigate our way through this dystopian political scene? To discuss this and more Rania Khalek was joined by Matt Christman, co-host of the popular podcast Chapo Trap House.

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Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez sat down with BT’s Rania Khalek following the UN General Assembly to discuss why so many countries oppose the U.S. blockade, how U.S. official hostility towards Cuba hurts both countries and his own personal history volunteering in the liberation struggle of Angola against racist apartheid. 

The British Queen’s death has given rise to conversations about the crimes of colonialism as well as defenses and denials of it. Meanwhile the US can’t impose itself on the Global South the way it used to, it appears both at home and abroad to be an empire in decline. 

To discuss empires, both dead and dying, why colonialism still matters and the anti-imperialist struggle around the world, Rania Khalek was joined by Sina Rahmani, creator of East Is A Podcast.

Sina on Twitter: https://twitter.com/urorientalist

East Is A Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/east_podcast

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To discuss the disinformation industry and how it's contributed to the collapse of foreign reporting in the West, Rania Khalek was joined by Ben Norton, a Latin America based journalist and founder of Multipolarista. 

Ben’s article discussed in the episode: https://multipolarista.com/2022/04/14/new-york-times-attack-propaganda/

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Are Russia & China imperialist like the US? Will the decline of the west lead to more fascism in the global north? What is sovereignty? Is every country entitled to it? Where do sanctions fit in? What does it mean that the Global South is refusing to get on board with them? And what are the alternatives to the current so-called rules-based international order? 

To discuss this and more Rania Khalek was joined by Bikrum Gill, who teaches at the department of political science at Virginia Tech. 

Follow Bikrum on Twitter @bikrumsinghgill: https://twitter.com/bikrumsinghgill 

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TIME CODES 

0:30 Intro

2:06 Relevance of imperialism

6:32 China as an alternative: Is China imperialist?

11:14 Projecting European colonialism onto China

15:34 Ukraine proxy war & Western decline

19:39 Is Russia imperialist in Ukraine?

26:02 A changing Global South?

37:19 Resistance movements

40:33 Sanctions 

45:20 Racial Capitalism 

50:21 Sovereignty

1:00:00 Reparations for imperialists?

1:09:22 Disempowered Americans

1:19:16 Alternatives?

What does the US Cold War with China and Russia mean for Africa? Can China’s rise benefit the continent, providing it leverage and another partner to rely on? Or is the State Department correct that China is engaging in neocolonialism and that African countries should be cautious and prioritize their relationship with the US? 

To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Kambale Musavuli, an activist, writer, and analyst with the Center for Research on the Congo-Kinshasa. 

Kambale’s organization: https://cereck.org/ 

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To discuss the censored reality of the war in Ukraine and its horrific consequences, Rania Khalek was joined by Tarik Cyril Amar, a historian from Germany, who is currently associate professor of history at Koc University in Istanbul, working on Russian, Ukrainian, and generally East European history.

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The misnamed “Arab Spring” unleashed restrained aspirations of the region and like all uprisings saw an eruption of expression in songs, music, lyrics, spreading, much like these intifadas, through social media, massive crowds, and sharing ideas and trends across borders. 

But just as the initial optimism of the protests was crushed by the harsh reality of reactionary governments, western interventions, oligarchs and capitalism, so too was the new music of Arab youth co-opted, suppressed, corrupted and infiltrated by the West and the Gulf monarchies. 

Lebanese writer Mohamad-Ali Nayel has recently written a two part series that is the definitive examination of post Arab Spring hip-hop and popular music. He joined Rania Khalek to talk about this and much more.

Moe’s articles discussed in the episode:

Part 1: https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/44193/Music-Politics-After-the-Arab-Uprisings-Part-1

Part 2: https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/44194/Music-Politics-After-the-Arab-Uprisings-Part-2 

The US left is often smeared and mocked, accused of being weak, ineffective, unserious, fractured, obsessed with identity issues and prone to destructive infighting. While capitalist media has a stake in portraying the left in this way, the organized US left is rebuilding and growing stronger. Still, it is weaker today than it was many decades ago and that’s no accident.  

To discuss the history of repression against the US left and how it relates to the challenges we face today, Rania Khalek was joined by Brian Becker, host of The Socialist Program, which you can watch every Wednesday right here on Breakthrough News.

The occupation of Palestine continues with no end in sight, and this remains the primary political struggle in the region as America’s client states normalize with Israel. But now there’s a new backdrop: the war in Ukraine exposing Western double standards alongside the US-China New Cold War. 

Fundamental to US geostrategic aims in the region is taming the “axis of resistance” stretching from Iraq to Iran to Syria to Lebanon and Palestine. This played out in yet another Israeli bombing campaign against the besieged Gaza Strip. 

Here to help us understand the state of the resistance in Palestine and beyond, and the shifting regional alliances in the Middle East is Ali Abunimah, executive director of the Electronic Intifada and author of “The Battle for Justice in Palestine.”

Follow the Electronic Intifada on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/electronicintifada

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TIME CODES

0:00 Intro

2:11 Palestine as central to anti-imperialist resistance 

5:15 Why does Israel keep killing Palestinians? “Mowing the lawn” 

15:33 Why is Israel attacking the West Bank?

23:49 Armed resistance & Ukraine double standards

34:26 What is the right to resist?  

45:06 Iran backs the resistance Resistance Axis stronger than ever 

47:54 Potential war? Hezbollah warns Israel not to steal Lebanon’s offshore gas

59:23 Salman Rushdie

1:08:50 The Edward Said & Obama photo: Have progressives learned their lesson? 

Israel's leadership looks increasingly irrational and desperate as they seek to escalate on all fronts, eyeing Lebanon next. What would an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah look like in the Levant and across the region? To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by veteran war correspondent and analyst Elijah Magnier.

Watch the extended version of this interview on our Patreon. Become a member at https://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content.

NATO expansion might have provoked the war in Ukraine, but surrounding Russia isn’t the organization’s only pursuit. NATO participated in the US “war on terror” in Afghanistan, NATO destroyed Libya and today NATO is expanding into Africa. 

To help break it all down, Rania Khalek was joined by Vijay Prashad, Executive Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and author of many books, including “Washington Bullets: A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations."

Vijay’s articles discussed in the episode: 

The rise of Nato in Africa https://mg.co.za/top-six/2022-06-02-opinion-wests-military-muscle-forcing-its-way-into-africa/ 

Africa is on the move https://monthlyreview.org/2022/05/01/africa-is-on-the-move/ 

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TIME CODES:

0:00 Intro

2:00 What is NATO?

4:50 A global NATO

7:59 Europe’s military footprint in Africa

11:00 NATO goes to Africa 

12:10 NATO in Libya: Chaos and consequences

17:32 Flood of weapons into Libya destabilized Africa 

22:40 New mood growing in Africa

26:43 Bully Africa over Ukraine

33:45 Germany becomes third largest military spender

41:15 Africa is on the move

49:02 Taiwan

53:06 Sri Lanka update

How is it that judges arbitrarily chosen by presidents who didn't even win the popular vote are appointed for life and can overturn our most cherished rights? What’s with the veneration of the US constitution, which was written by slave owners? Is America really a democracy?

To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Aziz Rana, a professor of law at Cornell University and author of the book “The Two Faces of American Freedom.”

Follow Aziz’s work here: https://www.azizrana.com/ 

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TIME CODES

0:00 Intro

1:50 Judges for life 

5:29 Why are Democrats so weak on this? 

11:13 How can liberal and conservative justices be so chummy?

14:27 Supreme Court’s drift to the extreme right 

18:49 Cult of personality around supreme court justices

22:12 Court’s achievements or people’s achievements? 

27:01 Reducing the power of the Supreme Court

31:06 The myth of steady progress

35:42 Can we achieve through legislation what we fail to achieve to litigation?

40:43 The constitution as counter-revolutionary

46:23 History of constitution worship tied to imperialism

50:24 Liberalism vs the constitution: Contradictions 

53:33 Have elections and democracy lost their meaning?

56:27 Is the US a democracy?  

59:08 Foreign policy

1:02:57 Internal violence and mass shootings

1:07:00 Mass incarceration 

1:12:12 America does NOT have universal suffrage 

1:16:21 Radical constitutional transformation 

1:21:48  Federal judiciary system, is it flawed?

A few months ago Democrats bragged that Americans were so supportive of President Biden's "unprecedented" Russia sanctions turning the ruble into rubble, that they couldn't wait to pay higher gas prices. But now that prices are higher with no end in sight, Americans are irate with high costs eating into their earnings, and Democrats and Republicans are pretending the sanctions they enacted have nothing to do with it. 

Meanwhile mainstream economists are warning of a possible recession and saying the only way to get inflation down is to raise interest rates and unemployment. And that’s exactly the Fed’s plan. 

To help us make sense of what's happening, how we got here, and what should be done to contain it, Rania Khalek is joined by Eugene Puryear, a journalist for Breakthrough News and host of The Punch Out.

You can listen to all episodes of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

0:00 Intro

2:24 What’s really behind inflation? 

11:24 Sanctions on Russia

20:22 Intentionally raising unemployment to save capitalism 

32:16 What is a recession? Is it a built-in feature of capitalism? 

39:21 Causing suffering around the world to hurt Russia

48:32 Political consequences for Democrats 

59:03 Europe cuts its own throat

1:04:09 It’s socialism or barbarism

In his recent Harper's cover piece, “Empire Burlesque,” Daniel Bessner traced the evolution of the foreign policy vision that defined the so-called American century and how it has been reshaped by failures and a changing world order, including a new multipolarity and the rise of China. He draws a distinction between the liberal internationalists and the “restrainers,” the two dominant foreign policy camps in Washington, and he calls for planning a future beyond the American century. But can America act like a normal country? 

Bessner, an Associate Professor of International Studies at the University of Washington and co-host of the podcast American Prestige, joined Dispatches with Rania Khalek to discuss this and more. 

Daniel’s article: https://harpers.org/archive/2022/07/what-comes-after-the-american-century/

From his perch at the Chapo Trap House podcast, Felix Biederman has been an acerbic observer and commentator. He joined Dispatches with Rania Khalek for a wide-ranging discussion about America’s cultural and political decline. 

Listen to every episode of Dispatches with Rania Khalek anywhere you get podcasts.

Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW 

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK

TIME CODES: 

0:00 Intro 

1:18 Why does America have so many mass shootings? 

6:44 America’s loneliness crisis

12:38 Cowboy foreign policy 

14:37 Online left vs the grassroots real world

23:08 Reactionary Supreme Court 

26:59 MMA & physical fitness 

33:23 Growing political polarization & fears of civil war

37:18 Who will run for president in 2024? Do Democrats like to lose? 

43:50 War in Ukraine

53:03 Disingenuous far right

54:15 The obsession with culture

1:04:49 Media challenges on the left

On its face, nothing seems more benign and positive than “wildlife conservation.” But the Wildlife Conservation Society and the German and US governments have now been implicated in supporting organized violence against Congolese villagers, using mortars, RPGs, indisciminate fire, murder and rape. This is the finding of award-winning investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker Robert Flummerfelt. 

Flummerfelt and his team uncovered a three-year campaign of violence by park authorities to expel Batwa people from their lands, using funding and trained by the West and conservation groups. Investigators were targeted for murder after their report came out. He joined Dispatches with Rania Khalek to discuss his investigation, the history of Western violence in the Congo and the racist settler roots of some of the biggest players in the conservation movement. 

Read the investigation here: https://minorityrights.org/publications/pnkb/ 

TIME CODES

0:00 Intro

1:55 What Robert uncovered in the Congo

9:35 Western-funded extermination 

14:14 Wildlife Conservation Society 

19:41 Racist settler roots of the conservation movement

27:14 Militarization of conservation 

38:59 Germany’s role

42:34 NGOs behaving like settler/occupiers

51:24 History of Western imperialism in the Congo

1:02:11 Rwanda and Uganda collaborate with Western imperialism in the Congo

1:07:23 UN mission in the Congo: Helpful or harmful?

1:19:40 Is ISIS really in the Congo?

To understand why the European Union exists and how it is changing due to the financial crisis and the war in Ukraine, Rania Khalek was joined by Costas Lapavitsas, a professor of economics at SOAS, author of “The Left Case Against the EU” and a former Syriza MP. He also has a forthcoming book out in 2023 called “The State of Capitalism” published by Verso Books. 

Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW 

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK

TIME CODES: 

0:00 Intro

2:08 What is the EU?

6:24 What happens if Ukraine joins the EU?

10:32 Evolution of European left’s view of the EU

18:48 EU as an anti-democratic arrangement 

26:41 EU creates European periphery and core

30:55 Common currency: the Euro

33:42 How Germany came out on top

39:38 Germany’s conditional hegemony 

45:16 American hegemony over Europe

52:05 Freedom of capital to move cheap labor 

1:03:18 Far right vs the EU?

1:08:25 How the left responds

1:12:06 The state of capitalism today

Rania Khalek was joined by Arnaud Bertrand, a commentator on economics and geopolitics based in Shanghai, to discuss the sanctions blowback on the West, the narrative management surrounding it, and growing tensions between the US and China. 

Arnaud on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand 

TIME CODES:

0:00 Intro

1:32 Is the West isolating itself?

6:09 Russia & China can survive US sanctions

11:51 US-led West weaker today than in 1st cold war

14:59 How Arnaud ended up in China

17:56 Who’s really responsible for global food insecurity?

22:16 The latest McCarthyist list

26:11 Western aggression unites its adversaries 

32:16 US warmongering over Taiwan

41:36 Perception over US vs China in Africa

46:10 Democracy perception in China vs the West

52:45 Xinjiang genocide accusation falling apart 

What’s cryptocurrency really? What are NFTs? Is it as revolutionary as its advocates claim or is it a libertarian fake money Ponzi scheme? Is this digital funny money really the future, and if so why is it tanking? 

To help break it all down, Rania Khalek was joined by Tom Redshaw, a sociologist and lecturer in digital society at the University of Salford.

Tom’s articles on cryptocurrency mentioned in the episode:

https://mronline.org/2021/12/28/cryptocurrencies-a-view-from-the-left/ 

https://mronline.org/2020/12/07/should-the-left-care-about-blockchain-technology/

TIME CODES:

0:00 Intro

1:58 What is cryptocurrency?

7:11 Can crypto fit into a leftist system? 

13:43 Is crypto a ponzi scheme?

17:17 Environmental dangers of cryptocurrency

21:07 What are NFTs?

25:08 Capitalism’s dying breaths? 

31:20 Libertarian influences on crypto 

36:12 Paying celebrities to sell Bitcoin 

43:57 El Salvador’s crypto gamble 

50:07 Utopian technology won’t save us

54:14 Crypto integration into global financial flows

59:43 What is tether? 

1:01:39 Who determines bitcoin’s value?

Europe has ceded its core decisions to the US warmongers flooding Ukraine with arms, expediting the global economy’s collapse and extending the war against their own interests. But Ukraine isn’t the only major event stressing the global order: the US flexing against China, global inflation, a possible victory for the left in Colombia, massive protests in Sri Lanka, and even the senseless school shootings in the US reverberate across the world. 

To help make sense of it all, Vijay Prashad, Executive Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and author of “Washington Bullets: A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations,” joins Dispatches with Rania Khalek. 


Time codes:

0:00 Intro

1:46 Why has Europe ceded control to the US?

8:43 Inflation & madman theory to dominate Russia & China

16:43 NATO expands to Sweden & Finland

22:03 Is Ukraine losing?

31:08 Media complicity in whitewashing Nazis

37:59 Russia’s resilience against sanctions 

46:10 Food insecurity & fuel shortages in Sri Lanka

55:00 Republicans are NOT antiwar

1:00:49 Mass shootings in the US

1:06:38 Death of liberalism

To discuss Israel’s holocaust in Gaza, Rania Khalek was joined by journalist Abby Martin, creator and host of The Empire Files. 

Watch the extended version of this interview on our Patreon. Become a member at https://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content.

Iran nuclear deal negotiations appear frozen and the Biden administration is busy pouring fuel onto the Ukrainian fire and trying to encircle China. 

To help us understand why attempts to salvage an agreement with Iran have not succeeded, Rania Khalek was joined by Mohammad Marandi, professor of English literature and orientalism at the University of Tehran. Prof. Marandi also speaks about recent events in the region.

TIME CODES

0:00 Intro

1:56 Why is there no agreement yet? Who’s at fault?

11:55 Western dishonesty

18:34 What do the Europeans want?

22:56 Did Russia obstruct an agreement?

28:12 American sanctions 

31:23 What’s wrong with Biden’s negotiating team? What do the Americans want?

36:27 An escalatory cycle? 

41:56 Yemen, Syria, Palestine

45:50 Saudi-Iranian talks

58:42 Increased cooperation between UAE & Iran

1:04:33 America is starving Afghanistan

1:11:58 Assassination of IRGC officer in Tehran (we recorded this before the Israelis took credit)

1:22:23 The PKK in the region

Lebanon’s May 15 elections results were confusing, with contradictory claims of victory and defeat. Much of the mainstream media coverage further obfuscated the results, with journalists celebrating the few self-described independents and reformists as a sign that some kind of change might be coming, while also appearing to cheer the apparent defeat of Hezbollah and its allies. Except they weren’t defeated, and the independents are actually quite dependent, and the reforms they propose are likely to expedite the nation’s collapse. 

To help parse what actually happened and why, Rania Khalek was joined by Jamal Ghosn, a columnist and editorial board member at Lebanon’s Al Akhbar newspaper.

Africa’s Sahel region encompasses Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad and has been an arena of French colonialism, liberation struggles, ongoing imperialist interventions, the war on terror, and coups d’etat. 

To discuss this and more Rania Khalek, was joined by Hannah Rae Armstrong, a long-time researcher with years of experience living and working in Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco and then covering the Sahel for the International Crisis Group from her base in Senegal.

Hannah’s latest article in Foreign Affairs: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/morocco/2022-05-12/north-africas-frozen-conflict