Rania Khalek Dispatches: Recent Episodes
Rania Khalek
Catch Rania Khalek's Dispatches for insight, analysis, investigations, interviews and on the ground reports on global issues from a left perspective.
Journalist Jasper Nathaniel just spent a month in the occupied West Bank, and he came back with a warning: while the world watches Gaza, Israel is finishing a decades-long project to dominate the West Bank and drive Palestinians off their land for good.
Rania Khalek talks with him about what settler expansion actually looks like on the ground: armed settlers storming villages on so-called “hikes,” stealing homes and launching attacks from the houses they’ve stolen, cutting off a village’s spring water and building a settlers-only swimming pool in the middle of a Palestinian town. They get into the Israeli state’s role, the wall being built to annex the fertile Jordan Valley, and the looting of ancient ruins in Sebastia.
They also dig into Congressman Ro Khanna’s trip to the West Bank, his detention by settlers and soldiers, and the incoherence of coming home to tell Palestinians they must resist nonviolently. They also discuss incoming Congressman Brad Lander, the collapse of “liberal Zionism” and Jasper’s own story as the grandson of Iraqi Jews who never needed Israel.
This is just part of this episode. The full interview is available to Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at https://breakthroughnews.org/subscribe/
Jasper’s Substack piece: https://open.substack.com/pub/infinitejaz/p/a-hellish-month-in-the-occupied-west?r=eexe&utm_medium=ios
Jasper’s The Drift piece on Sebastia: https://thedriftmag.com/in-ruins/
The media wants you to think “Greater Israel” is a fringe fantasy belonging to Ben Gvir and the settler far right. It's not. It's a project for dominating the entire Middle East, and it goes far beyond land grabs.
Daniel Levy, former Israeli peace negotiator and president of the US/Middle East Project, joins Rania Khalek to explain what “Greater Israel” actually is: annexation in Palestine, military occupation zones in Lebanon and Syria, and beyond that, a region where every state is subservient, dependent, or collapsed. Levy breaks down why Israel has no recognized borders by design, how the Lebanon "framework agreement" serves the Israelis and was signed by a Lebanese government that got nothing in return, why Israeli leaders now openly declare that Turkey is next, and the contradiction at the heart of it all: Netanyahu calls Israel a superpower while insisting it was on the brink of annihilation. Is this project achievable or is it imperial overreach?
Plus, Levy reflects on his own evolution from an Orthodox Zionist upbringing in London, with a seat at the negotiating table, to becoming a sharp critic of Israel and Zionism.
Follow Daniel Levy's analysis on Substack: https://daniellevy2.substack.com
This is just part of the episode. To watch the full interview, become a Breakthrough News member at https://breakthroughnews.org/subscribe
It's been over a thousand days since Israel began its livestreamed genocide in Gaza, and global politics is still shifting as a result. Candidates who refuse AIPAC money are toppling Democratic incumbents across the US, support for Israel has become a political liability and the establishment's answer has been a full-blown red scare.
Rania Khalek speaks with Palestinian novelist, poet, and activist Susan Abulhawa, author of “Mornings in Jenin,” to discuss how Palestine has become the litmus test of American politics, how AIPAC was dragged out of the shadows, and why she believes the cultural boycott and solidarity movement must stop centering Israeli feelings. She addresses Netanyahu's cynical claims about protecting Christians in Lebanon, Iran's demonstration that the empire can be defeated, and how accusations of antisemitism are weaponized to shield a state committing genocide.
This is only part of the episode. The full interview is available to Breakthrough News members only. Become a member at breakthroughnews.org/subscribe.
Ali Abunimah joins Rania Khalek on Dispatches to discuss the dramatic collapse of global support for Israel, the growing backlash against Western support for genocide in Gaza, and why governments are increasingly resorting to repression as public opinion shifts in favor of Palestine.
In this episode they discuss:
- New polling showing Israel’s popularity collapsing across the world
- Why propaganda and celebrity endorsements aren’t working anymore
- The crackdown on Palestine solidarity activists in the U.S. and Europe
- The October 7 rape narrative versus documented Israeli sexual violence against Palestinians
- Lebanon, Iran, and why submission to Israel doesn’t bring peace
- Whether Israel controls the U.S. or serves U.S. imperial interests
- The rise of anti-Israel voices on the American right
- Why Ali believes Israel is facing a long-term legitimacy crisis
- The Gwyneth Paltrow debacle
This is just part of this episode. The full interview is available to Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at breakthroughnews.org/subscribe
As Israel’s genocide in Gaza continues and Lebanon faces ongoing aggression and political pressure to capitulate, many people are grappling with fear, exhaustion, and despair.
But what if hopelessness itself is part of the strategy?
Psychoanalyst and author Lara Sheehi joins Dispatches with Rania Khalek to discuss the psychological dimensions of fascism, empire, colonial violence, and resistance — from Israeli psychological warfare and sexual humiliation as a tool of domination, to the weaponization of sectarianism in Lebanon, the role of media propaganda, and why revolutionary optimism is itself a political act.
Sheehi also discusses her new book, From the Clinic to the Streets: Psychoanalysis for Revolutionary Futures, and explains why the work of Frantz Fanon is more urgent than ever.
Topics include:
- Psychic militancy and psychological warfare
- How fascism reshapes society psychologically
- Israeli violence, humiliation & domination
- Lebanon, sectarianism & capitulation politics
- Why empire depends on despair
- The limits of liberalism
- The politics of the wellness industry
- Media propaganda and psychological control
- Revolutionary optimism and resistance
🎥 The full episode is available to Breakthrough News members.
Become a member at: https://www.patreon.com/BreakthroughNews
Follow Lara’s podcast Psychic Militancy on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PsychicMilitancy
And on IG: @psychicmilitancypod https://www.instagram.com/psychicmilitancypod/#
Follow Lara on IG: @psychoanalystactivist https://www.instagram.com/psychoanalystactivist/
The U.S. and Israel launched a massive war on Iran expecting quick capitulation. Instead, Iran absorbed the assault, retaliated across the region, and exposed major limits to American and Israeli power.
Now the Trump administration appears to be searching for an off-ramp while Israel continues pushing for escalation, including in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz crisis, sanctions, economic warfare, and the risk of a wider regional conflict continue to threaten the entire Middle East.
To break down the latest developments, the shaky ceasefire negotiations, Trump’s contradictory messaging, and whether this war is entering a dangerous new phase, Rania Khalek is joined by Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute.
The Trump administration has announced a new military operation in the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran is warning that any unauthorized U.S. presence will be treated as hostile.
At the same time, Washington is rejecting key parts of Iran’s proposal to end the war, including sanctions relief and limits on the blockade.
So what is this “ceasefire,” really?
Is Iran actually weakened, as Trump claims — or has the war strengthened internal support for resistance?
And is the next round already underway?
In this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined from Tehran by Iranian-American academic Navid Zarrinnal, to discuss:
- Whether the war is actually over — or just paused
- The escalating standoff in the Strait of Hormuz
- Iran’s real military capacity vs. U.S. claims
- Public opinion inside Iran after the attacks
- The economic pressure of sanctions and war
- Iran’s 14-point proposal — and why Washington is rejecting it
- Why nuclear enrichment is a red line
- The role of Lebanon in any regional settlement
- Gulf state positioning behind the scenes
- China, Russia, and Pakistan’s role
- How Iran may be winning the information war online — especially in English
- What the left’s position should be — and why opposing U.S. aggression means defending Iranian sovereignty
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Follow Navid on Instagram @navidwahraman: https://www.instagram.com/navidwahraman/
As war spreads across Lebanon and Iran, the U.S. and Israel claim they are making progress.
But on the ground, the picture looks far more complicated.
After a supposed pause in fighting and failed negotiations, Israel escalated dramatically, launching massive strikes on Beirut while continuing its ground invasion in southern Lebanon.
At the same time, Iran has held firm in negotiations, raising questions about whether Washington’s strategy is working.
So who’s actually winning?
In this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek speaks with journalist Jon Elmer of The Electronic Intifada to break down the military realities:
-Israel’s war in south Lebanon and the battle for Bint Jbeil
-Hezbollah’s resurgence and military capabilities
-The U.S.-Israel strategy against Iran
-What the failed negotiations reveal
-Whether this war is escalating toward a second phase
As Israel escalates its war on Lebanon, one narrative dominates: that Hezbollah is the cause of the conflict.
But that story erases decades of history.
Long before Hezbollah existed, southern Lebanon was already a frontline of anti-colonial struggle led by Palestinian fighters, Lebanese leftists, and marginalized communities resisting Israeli aggression and internal neglect.
In this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek speaks with scholar Nate George about:
THE ORIGINS OF RESISTANCE IN SOUTH LEBANON
THE ROLE OF THE LEBANESE LEFT AND THE PLO
HOW ISRAEL, THE US, AND REGIONAL POWERS CRUSHED THAT MOVEMENT
THE SHIFT FROM SECULAR REVOLUTION TO ISLAMIST RESISTANCE
WHY HEZBOLLAH EMERGED — AND WHAT IT REPLACED
This conversation challenges the dominant narrative and reveals a deeper truth:
🎥 The full episode is available to Breakthrough News members.
Become a member at: https://www.patreon.com/BreakThroughNews
Donald Trump has issued a shocking ultimatum to Iran: submit, or face the destruction of its civilian infrastructure and the total devastation of the country within hours.
As Washington and Tel Aviv escalate their war threats, Iran says it will retaliate in kind with potentially catastrophic consequences for Israel, the Gulf, and the wider region.
Meanwhile, Israel continues its assault across the region: threatening Tehran with the Dahieh doctrine, demanding unilateral disarmament from every force that resists it, and pushing Lebanon toward collapse and capitulation.
To break down what this moment means, Rania Khalek is joined by Mouin Rabbani, co-editor of Jadaliyya.
They discuss:
Trump’s ultimatum and the threat of massive war crimes against Iran
Iran’s response and what Tehran is demanding
The US-Israeli divide over war aims
How the Strait of Hormuz could become Washington’s Suez
Israel’s campaign for regional military supremacy
Lebanon, displacement, and the attempted “Shia Nakba”
Whether Israel’s regional hegemony is beginning to crack
What this war reveals about American decline
The global costs of Israel’s unchecked power
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has entered its second month, and despite repeated assassinations, attacks on infrastructure, and growing civilian casualties, Iran has not collapsed.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is threatening to take Iran “back to the Stone Age,” floating the seizure of oil infrastructure, Kharg Island, and even a military reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, all while claiming negotiations may be underway.
So what is actually happening inside Iran? Is Tehran looking for a way out, or preparing for a longer war? How is Iranian society responding to mounting destruction and civilian targeting? And what would any eventual settlement mean for Lebanon and the wider region?
To discuss all this, Rania Khalek is joined by Foad Izadi, Associate Professor of World Studies at the University of Tehran.
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Journalist and lawyer Dimitri Lascaris just returned from Iran, where he traveled from Tehran to the Strait of Hormuz, witnessing firsthand the impact of the US-Israeli war.
From hospitals treating the wounded to the world’s most important oil chokepoint, Lascaris saw a side of this war that Western media is barely covering.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most critical waterways on earth, responsible for a massive share of global energy flows. But today, it has become a frontline in a rapidly escalating conflict. Trump says only with its opening would he consider a ceasefire.
In this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek speaks with Dimitri Lascaris about:
- What he witnessed inside Iran during wartime
- The situation on the ground at the Strait of Hormuz
- Civilian infrastructure and the human toll of the war
- Whether US and Israeli actions constitute war crimes
- How Iran is responding and what comes next
This is a rare, on-the-ground account from inside a country under attack.
You can follow Dimitri’s work on his YouTube channel Reason2Resist https://www.youtube.com/@reason2resist
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Speaking from Tehran, Al Jazeera correspondent and columnist Ali Hashem explains how Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq are all part of a single, interconnected battlefield, a coordinated confrontation between the axis of resistance and the United States and Israel.
That means what happens in Lebanon is directly tied to what happens in Iran, and vice versa.
Despite months of attacks, Hezbollah remains operational and has restored its ability to strike deep into Israel, underscoring that this front is far from contained.
At the same time, the war is becoming increasingly unpredictable.
With no clear endgame and contradictory signals coming from Washington, both sides appear to be embracing escalation, what some describe as a “madman strategy”, signaling they are willing to go to the brink with no limits.
So what happens when multiple fronts become one war?
And what happens when no one is playing by predictable rules?
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As the U.S.–Israeli war on Iran escalates into a second month, the situation is becoming increasingly unpredictable and uncontrollable.
Iranian missiles are hitting Israeli targets at higher rates than expected, while the U.S. is deploying massive firepower, including 2,000-pound bombs.
At the same time, conflicting signals are emerging from Washington, with reports that Trump may be seeking an off-ramp even as the war intensifies.
So what is the strategy? Who is actually winning? And how far could this go?
In this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek speaks with Trita Parsi to break down:
-The real military balance in the war
-Whether the U.S. has a coherent strategy
-Iran’s position and whether it’s overplaying its hand
-The risk of regional escalation
-And whether there is any off-ramp left
As Israel expands its war across the region, Lebanon is once again in the crosshairs.
Israeli officials are openly calling for pushing the border to the Litani River, annexing southern Lebanon, and preventing displaced civilians from returning. At the same time, the country is being bombed, depopulated, and pushed toward internal collapse.
So what is Israel actually trying to achieve?
In this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek speaks with Karim Makdisi, co-host of the Makdisi Street podcast and Associate Professor of International Politics at the American University of Beirut.
They discuss:
-Israel’s long-term ambitions in southern Lebanon
-Whether this is a plan for annexation or permanent control
-Hezbollah’s actual strength after 2024
-Lebanon’s internal divisions and the role of the army
-The risk of civil strife and regional escalation
This isn’t Israel’s first invasion of Lebanon, but the stakes may be higher than ever.
The United States and Israel are pushing the region toward a dangerous escalation with Iran, threatening strikes on energy infrastructure and even raising the possibility of a ground invasion.
But Iran isn’t backing down.
As the war expands across the region and the global economy, the risk of a wider conflict is growing by the day.
So what is the real strategy here? Is this brinkmanship, or the early stages of a war that could spiral far beyond anyone’s control? Have the U.S. and Israel fundamentally misjudged Iran?
Rania Khalek is joined by Mohammad Marandi, professor at the University of Tehran, to break it all down.
In week 4 of the U.S.-Israeli war of aggression on Iran, the global economy has been pushed to the brink.
Iran’s disruption of the Strait of Hormuz shows just how key it is to global energy markets, supply chains, and food systems, putting millions at risk.
So what happens when the U.S. no longer has a monopoly on economic coercion?
Has Trump overplayed his hand?
Are we witnessing the limits of American power and the beginning of a more chaotic global order?
To break it all down, Rania Khalek is joined by Marxist economist Prabhat Patnaik, professor emeritus at Jawaharlal Nehru University and co-author of Capital and Imperialism: Theory, History, and the Present.
Three weeks into the war on Iran, the conflict is expanding more than ever.
The Strait of Hormuz is closed, energy infrastructure is under attack, and U.S. bases are increasingly vulnerable. Israel and Washington are escalating.
According to Middle East expert Vali Nasr, this is actually all part of Iran's strategy.
Iran isn’t trying to win quickly. To “win” is to survive — and for that it wants to make the war longer, more expensive, and politically unsustainable for the United States.
In this conversation with Rania Khalek, Nasr explains:
-Why Trump gets weaker the longer the war extends
-How energy and Hormuz became the central battlefield
-What Washington fundamentally miscalculated
-Why regime change is unlikely
-The role of Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iraqi factions
-And whether any real off-ramp still exists
-If this war continues, the consequences won’t just be regional, they will be global.
Israel has expanded its war across the region, bombing Lebanon and Iran while preparing a potential ground invasion into southern Lebanon.
Israeli officials claim the goal is simply to create a “buffer zone” for security. But many Israeli politicians and commentators are openly discussing something much bigger: territorial expansion to the Litani River and beyond.
This is not about security, it’s part of much longer historical Greater Israel project
On this live episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined by historian Zachary Foster to examine the long history of Israeli invasions of Lebanon, the ideological roots of the “Greater Israel” concept, and how the Gaza model of destruction is now spreading across the region.
The war between the U.S., Israel, and Iran could send shockwaves through the global economy.
Energy markets, shipping routes, fertilizer supply, and cloud infrastructure are all at risk. Even a short disruption could drive inflation, food shortages, and economic instability worldwide.
Rania Khalek speaks with economist Yanis Varoufakis, former Finance Minister of Greece, about why this conflict could become one of the most economically disruptive wars in decades.
As war between Iran, Israel, and the United States escalates, what’s actually happening on the battlefield, and how is the conflict being viewed inside the U.S. military itself?
On this live episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined by two guests to break down both the military realities of the war and the growing opposition to it inside the United States.
Jon Elmer, contributing editor at The Electronic Intifada, joins the show to analyze the military dynamics of the US-Israeli war on Iran — including Iran’s strategy, the effectiveness of Israeli and U.S. defenses, and who appears to have the strategic advantage so far.
Then Mike Prysner, Executive Director of the Center on Conscience and War and a U.S. Army veteran, discusses widespread opposition to war on Iran among American soldiers and what it reveals about morale, public opinion, and the limits of U.S. war-making power.
As Israel expands its war on Iran and U.S. officials float the possibility of American boots on the ground, what is really happening behind the headlines?
Iran expert at Johns Hopkins Vali Nasr joins Rania Khalek to explain:
- Why Iran prepared for decapitation strikes
- Why “regime collapse” is far from guaranteed
- How global oil supplies “have become a battlefield”
- Why Trump may already be looking for an off-ramp
- The growing divide between U.S. and Israeli war goals
- The chances this conflict could spiral into something far bigger
Nasr argues that Iran’s strategy isn’t to win quickly. It’s to make the war long, costly, and politically dangerous for Washington.
If this is the “last battle” for Iran’s leadership, what does that mean for the region — and for the global economy?
Mike Huckabee’s reference to borders stretching “from the Euphrates to the Nile” has sparked a diplomatic firestorm across the Middle East.
Even governments that normalized relations with Israel — including the UAE — publicly condemned the remarks. Why did this rhetoric hit such a nerve? And is it really new, or just unusually blunt?
At the same time, tensions between Israel and Saudi Arabia are rising, fractures between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are deepening, and the risk of a U.S.–Iran war looms in the background, a conflict that could drag Gulf states into a confrontation they don’t control.
What does this moment reveal about the future of normalization, regional alliances, and the possibility of a wider war?
Rania Khalek was joined by Giorgio Cafiero on Dispatches to break it all down.
🎥 The full episode is available to Breakthrough News members.
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At the Munich Security Conference, Marco Rubio said the quiet part out loud.
No more “rules-based order.” No more liberal pretense. Just open coercion.
After Gaza — after a genocide livestreamed for the world — U.S. empire isn’t even pretending anymore.
In this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined by Dylan Saba — attorney with Palestine Legal and co-host of Turbulence — to unpack what this moment represents:
• Gaza as the capstone of the War on Terror
• The return of gunboat diplomacy
• Why imperial “decline” means escalation, not collapse
• Fascist consolidation at home under Trump
• The Democratic Party’s containment of dissent
• Why the U.S. still lacks a real left foreign policy
This isn’t a deviation in American foreign policy.
It’s its logical endpoint.
🎥 The full episode is available to Breakthrough News members.
Become a member at: https://www.patreon.com/BreakthroughNews
The United States is mobilizing for a new war on Iran — repositioning military forces, floating assassination threats, and insisting on negotiations at the same time.
As this military buildup intensifies, Western media is reviving a familiar propaganda narrative: that Iran is collapsing, its government has lost control, and foreign intervention might actually help.
To cut through the noise, Rania Khalek is joined by Navid Zarrinnal, an Iranian-American academic and host of The Colony Archive, speaking from inside Tehran. Navid breaks down what’s actually happening on the ground — from internal debates over negotiations, to Iran’s potential military retaliation, to why the myth of Iran’s imminent collapse keeps getting recycled.
They also discuss the end of Iran’s so-called “strategic patience,” the reality of U.S. hybrid warfare, the role of foreign intervention in recent protests, and the dangerous push to fracture Iran along ethnic and sectarian lines — a policy openly floated by Western elites.
Finally, Navid explains why the nuclear deal failed, why sanctions and regime-change politics won’t bring justice, and what the Western Left should actually be focusing on.
Read Navid’s Breakthrough News article here; https://breakthroughnews.org/irans-protests-explained-a-diary-from-tehran/
Join Rania Khalek and Zoe Alexandra for a special live show as Minneapolis erupts after Border Patrol agents killed nurse and legal observer Alex Pretti, just hours after a historic general strike shook the state. Zoe will report from Minneapolis as protests surge nationwide and fury at ICE and federal occupation explodes. With special guests, Rania and Zoe will discuss the Democrats’ weak response, the connections between imperial violence from Gaza to Minnesota, and the rising calls to defund ICE and a national general strike against ICE terror.
Special Guests:
-Craig Mokhiber, Human Rights Lawyer
-Meghdad Bose, Independent journalist and professor of journalism at the University of Memphis
-Simon Elliott, Community Activist in Minnesota
Rania Khalek is joined by former UN human rights official Craig Mokhiber, whose recent Mondoweiss article, "Ushering in the age of impunity: Venezuela, Palestine, and the end of international law," unpacks how recent U.S. aggression from Venezuela to Gaza signals a dangerous unraveling of the post-World War II legal order.
We’ll discuss:
• What the U.S. attack on Venezuela reveals about the limits of global legal restraints.
• How the violence in Palestine fits into a broader pattern of unchecked power.
• The crisis facing international law and global institutions like the UN, ICC, and ICJ.
• What meaningful resistance and accountability might look like.
The U.S. military raid on Venezuela on January 3 shocked the world. On Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined by Jorge Arreaza, Venezuela’s former foreign minister, to explain what actually happened and to respond directly to U.S. media narratives about “betrayal,” regime change, and control.
Rania Khalek is joined by journalist and political economist Ben Norton, editor of the Geopolitical Economy Report, to break down why the Trump administration attacked Venezuela—and what comes next.
Norton explains how Trump’s bombing of Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro are not isolated acts, but part of a broader U.S. imperial offensive in Latin America. The goal: control strategic resources like oil, gas, rare earths, and critical minerals, reassert U.S. dominance in the region, and build a supply chain that cuts out China.
Rania Khalek is joined by Zoe Alexandra of People’s Dispatch and special guests for a live episode of Dispatches examining the Trump administration’s unprecedented attack on Venezuela. The US has invaded and bombed Venezuela, kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and is openly threatening to expand its campaign against Venezuela’s neighbors and allies. We break down the lies used to justify this aggression — and what comes next.
A DSA member just won one of the most significant left-wing electoral victories in recent memory with Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York — despite red-baiting, anti-Palestinian smears, and a full-on campaign to demonize socialism.
But that victory has raised big questions: Why keep Jessica Tisch as NYPD commissioner? Why discourage a primary against Hakeem Jeffries — and then endorse him for Speaker? What does accountability look like when socialists actually win power?
To unpack all this, Rania Khalek is joined by the national co-chairs of the Democratic Socialists of America, Megan Romer and Ashik Siddique, to talk about Zohran’s win, DSA’s national strategy, Venezuela, Cuba, Palestine and how they plan to hold their elected members accountable.
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As the world slides deeper into imperial rot — from Trump’s transformation of the U.S. into a Department of War state, to Europe’s political collapse, to global leaders shamelessly bowing to Washington — a socialist shockwave has erupted in New York City: Zohran Mamdani has just won the mayoral race while proudly defending Palestine.
What does this contradiction reveal about the global moment we’re living in?
Yanis Varoufakis — economist, political leader, former Greek finance minister, and author of “Technofeudalism” — joins Rania Khalek to unpack the rise of fascistic politics, the failures of global capitalism, the myth of Western “democracy,” and the lessons of Zohran’s victory.
Watch the full member-only episode at: https://www.patreon.com/BreakthroughNews
As Israel continues its relentless assault on Gaza, killing and starving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians with Western backing, even during so-called ceasefires, one thing has become clear: this isn’t just about Palestine. It’s about Western supremacy, empire, and the racism that underpins them both.
To discuss this, Rania Khalek is joined by Dr. Ghada Karmi — academic, physician, and Nakba survivor — who has written powerfully about how Western imperialism, Arab complicity, and Zionism’s own contradictions have led us here. Dr. Karmi is a former research fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter and author of many books including “One State: The Only Democratic Future for Palestine-Israel.”
She has spent her life exposing the deeper roots of this catastrophe: the colonial mindset that made Palestine disposable, the Western guilt that turned Jewish suffering into Palestinian punishment, and the moral rot that allows genocide to be broadcast live without consequence.
Dozens have been killed in U.S. airstrikes on boats off the Venezuelan and Colombian coasts.
The Trump administration claims it’s targeting drug traffickers — but there’s no evidence. And now they’re threatening airstrikes inside Venezuela.
U.S. warships now encircle Venezuela, joined by 10,000 troops and the Navy’s largest aircraft carrier.
This is a war in slow motion, justified by recycled lies, CIA covert ops, and billionaire-backed propaganda.
Rania Khalek speaks with Zoe Alexandra, managing editor of Peoples Dispatch and co-author of “Why Venezuela? How the US tries to undermine democracy and sovereignty in Latin America,” to unpack the truth behind Washington’s latest regime-change operation and what it means for Latin America and the Global South.
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Big Tech loves to sell itself as a liberatory force for connection, free speech, and empowerment.
But when it comes to Palestine, those same companies have partnered with Israel to censor, surveil, and criminalize.
To unpack this “digital settler colonialism,” Rania Khalek was joined by Omar Zahzah, Assistant Professor of AMED Studies at San Francisco State University and author of "Terms of Servitude: Zionism, Silicon Valley, and Digital Settler/Colonialism in the Palestine Liberation Struggle,” which argues that understanding Palestine is essential to understanding the global struggle against Big Tech and U.S. imperialism.
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What we’re witnessing in Gaza is not just another chapter of Zionism — it’s the final stage. That’s the argument of Israeli historian Ilan Pappé, who joins Rania Khalek on Dispatches to explain how Zionism is in fact “collapsing” even in its most ruthless moment. He discusses Israeli society is fracturing from within, the impact of Trump’s return, Israel’s widening regional war, and what a post-Israel Palestine could look like.
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Israel and its U.S. backers are advancing a clear project: Greater Israel. That means weakening every state in the Levant, fueling sectarianism, and pressuring Lebanon to disarm — leaving the south of the country defenseless.
But disarming resistance in the middle of Israel’s expansion isn’t peace. It’s surrender. So how should the Levant respond?
Rania Khalek speaks with Antoun Issa, co-founder of DeepCut News, about the rise of “Greater Israel,” why disarmament would be catastrophic for Lebanon, the targeting of journalists, Syria’s instability, his resignation from The Guardian, and what a real sovereign vision for the region could look like.
👉 Full episode available for Breakthrough News members at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews
U.S. military veteran Greg Stoker joins Dispatches from the ship deck of the Global Sumud Flotilla, comprised of dozens of boats that just launched from Barcelona with the goal of breaking Israel’s starvation siege on Gaza.
Stoker, who served in the U.S. Army, explains why he chose to risk his life by joining the flotilla, how his military experience radicalized him on Palestine, and what it means for veterans to stand against U.S. empire.
He responds to Israeli threats against the flotilla, reflects on the genocide in Gaza, and connects imperialism abroad to the suppression of dissent and exploitation at home in the U.S.
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Israel murdered Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022, then lied about it. The Biden administration helped them cover it up. Now, Israel is targeting even more journalists — with impunity.
Rania Khalek is joined by Dion Nissenbaum, executive producer of the new documentary “Who Killed Shireen?” and Lina Abu Akleh, human rights advocate and Shireen’s niece, to discuss the murder, the media disinformation campaign, the U.S. obstruction of justice, and why Israel is deliberately targeting journalists.
They also discuss the ongoing detention of veteran reporter Ali Samoudi, the broader crackdown on press freedom, and the terrifying complicity of Western media in genocide.
🎥 Watch Who Killed Shireen: https://zeteo.com/p/who-killed-shireen-abu-akleh
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The Western elite once claimed ignorance during the Holocaust. Today, Israel’s genocide in Gaza unfolds in full view, yet nothing is done. The most powerful states arm the perpetrator while the “Responsibility to Protect” doctrine they have long celebrated is now ignored, except where it continues to serve the U.S. empire.
Historian Tarik Cyril Amar joins Rania Khalek to discuss the hypocrisy of R2P, why no coalition has formed to intervene, the weaponization of Holocaust memory, Europe’s empty gestures on Palestinian statehood, and the complicity of Western media in genocide. You can follow his work at https://www.tarikcyrilamar.com/ and his weekly analysis of world events at Syriana Analysis.
Listen to the full episode of this program and support independent media: https://www.patreon.com/BreakthroughNews
Trump met with Putin. Hillary Clinton praised his “better understanding” of Ukraine. Europe bowed its head and posed for a photo. And Ukraine? Still collapsing — politically and militarily.
After terrible human suffering, the war is lost, arms control is dead, and sanctions have failed. Meanwhile, BRICS can’t stop U.S. rampaging in the Middle East, and Europe remains the obedient junior partner, with its leaders now fully committed to a policy of senseless militarization.
Historian and Tricontinental Institute Director Vijay Prashad joins Rania Khalek to expose the delusions of the West, the myth of Ukraine “winning,” and what this moment means for global power, multipolarity, and U.S. empire.
👉 Watch the full episode by becoming a Breakthrough News member: https://patreon.com/BreakthroughNews
Journalist and co-host of Breaking Points Krystal Ball joins Rania Khalek on Dispatches for a raw conversation about Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, the Democratic Party’s moral bankruptcy, Republican hypocrisy, and the media’s role in selling lies. From grilling Rep. Elissa Slotkin to confronting corporate media censorship, Krystal unpacks the political shifts, propaganda, and double standards defining U.S. politics today.
👉 Support independent journalism and access the full episode by becoming a member at https://Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews
Starvation. Mass death. Children wasting away on camera. And still, no consequences.
Rania Khalek is joined by Abby Martin to expose the full horror of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, the complicity of liberals who stay silent or worse, and the surreal reality in which Marjorie Taylor Greene, Candice Owens and Tucker Carlson speak out.
They also dig into the renewed media focus on Jeffrey Epstein, and what the mainstream won’t say about his ties to Israeli intelligence and elite blackmail.
👉 Support independent journalism and access the full episode by becoming a member at https://Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews
Pulitzer Prize-winning Palestinian writer and poet Mosab Abu Toha joins Rania Khalek on Dispatches to discuss Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.
From the mass famine unfolding across the Strip to his own brutal detainment by Israeli forces, Mosab shares what it means to survive genocide and to bear witness to it in real time. They also explore the Western world’s complicity, the dehumanization of Palestinians in media and politics, and the role of art, poetry, and truth-telling in the face of extermination.
🎙 Support independent media: Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews
🔗 Follow Mosab: X @MosabAbuToha | IG @mosab_abutoha
Israel has turned Gaza into a giant kill zone, with hundreds of Palestinians — including many children — gunned down while trying to collect food at so-called “humanitarian” distribution centers. With the help of Corporate America, the genocide has been operationalized, normalized, and broadcast in real time.
Craig Mokhiber joins Rania Khalek live on Dispatches to discuss the method behind Israel’s madness, the collapse of international law, the U.S. sanctioning UN officials while de-listing former al-Qaeda leaders, Israel’s plan to herd Palestinians into Rafah, the war on Iran, and the global war on free speech.
They also highlight a rare bright spot: the public’s shifting opinion on Palestine, marked by Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory in NYC despite a smear campaign.
The conversation also previews the upcoming Dispatches documentary featuring Craig, dropping later this week.
The U.S. has officially joined Israel’s war on Iran, bombing Iranian nuclear sites and obliterating what was left of the nuclear talks. With Trump hinting at regime change, the world is now watching to see how Iran will respond.
Is this the end of diplomacy? Does Iran now view nuclear weapons as the only way to deter U.S. and Israeli aggression? Can Iran survive?
Rania Khalek is joined by Trita parsi, Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute, for a special live episode of Dispatches to break down what the strikes mean, the geopolitical fallout, and whether the path ahead now leads to wider war.
📅 LIVE on June 24
🕑 2pm ET / 11am PT / 9pm Palestine
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As Israel’s war on Iran escalates, the media continues to flip the script—framing Israel as the victim and Iran as the aggressor, despite Israel initiating the conflict with bombings, assassinations, and covert attacks.
In this special live episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined by political analyst Assal Rad to expose the media’s double standards, the U.S. role in orchestrating the war under the false pretense of diplomacy, and the bigger geopolitical consequences of this growing conflict.
They also discuss Trump’s broken promises, the collapse of international law, the failure of strategic patience, and what may come next if the U.S. directly joins Israel’s war.
📅 LIVE on June 17
🕑 2pm ET / 11am PT / 9pm Palestine
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As Israel commits a live-streamed genocide in Gaza, Western media and political elites continue to center one narrative: Jewish fear. But what about the actual victims of this genocide—Palestinians?
Journalist Nora Barrows-Friedman joins Rania Khalek on Dispatches for a fearless conversation on Zionist indoctrination in the Jewish diaspora, how antisemitism is being weaponized to silence critics of Israel, and how Jewish identity politics has been manipulated to cover for unspeakable crimes.
From the media blackout on Israeli war crimes to the erasure of anti-Palestinian hate crimes—even in the diaspora—Nora lays bare the contradictions and power structures behind it all.
Watch the full episode and support this work by becoming a member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews.
Israel has launched an all out war on Iran, with hundreds of strikes accross the country on military, nuclear and civilian infrastructure as well as assassinations of military commanders and scientists. This shocking escalation comes as the U.S. publicly distances itself, even as prominent American politicians cheer it on and while Washington pretended to pursue nuclear negotiations with Tehran.
Veteran war correspondent Elijah Magnier joins Rania Khalek for a special live episode of Dispatches to break down what just happened, what’s coming next, and whether the region is now spiraling into all-out war.
📅 LIVE on June 15
🕕 11 pm Eastern / 8 am Pacific / 6 pm Palestine
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Zionism didn’t just dispossess Palestinians, it also helped destroy centuries-old Jewish communities across the Arab world. Historian Avi Shlaim, born in Baghdad and now a leading voice in exposing Zionist mythology, joins Dispatches to reveal how Israel used false flag terror attacks, including Mossad-led bombings in Iraq, to force Arab Jews to flee.
In this wide-ranging conversation with Rania Khalek, Shlaim connects the founding violence of the Israeli state to its ongoing genocide in Gaza, challenges the myths of Israeli “democracy,” and says that Zionism has not only targeted Palestinians, but also betrayed Arab Jews and Jews around the world.
Support our work by becoming a Breakthrough News member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews.
The internet wasn’t made to set us free. It was designed to surveil, suppress, and control.
On this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek speaks with journalist and author Yasha Levine to expose how Big Tech became the digital arm of empire.
From AI-generated kill lists in Gaza to Silicon Valley billionaires coding the future of authoritarianism, this is techno-fascism in real time.
Elon Musk works with the Pentagon. Peter Thiel builds tools for ICE. Mark Zuckerberg scrubs dissent while currying favor with Trump.
Gaza isn’t an exception, it’s a prototype. A beta test for how to rule the world through algorithm, surveillance, and automation.
Watch the full episode and support the show at:
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Trump’s return is not just a political comeback—it’s a warning. As the tendency towards fascism gains strength in the U.S., what does that mean for the world’s most powerful empire? And what kind of resistance can actually stop it?
On this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined by Eugene Puryear to break down what rising fascism looks like in an American context, from the weaponization of ICE to the collapse of international law in Gaza, and why anti-imperialism must be at the heart of any movement that wants to fight back.
They explore the legacy of US empire, the limits of liberalism, and the dangers of accelerationist fantasies as Gaza burns and the global order unravels.
Watch the full episode by becoming a patron: Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews
The European Union isn’t just complicit in the U.S. empire — it’s helping drive it. In this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek speaks with Marc Botenga, a Belgian Member of the European Parliament with the Workers’ Party of Belgium, about how Europe became a willing footsoldier for NATO’s wars, U.S. economic domination, and Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Botenga doesn’t mince words. He calls Europe’s role in Gaza a European genocide. He explains why supporting peace in Ukraine is taboo, how censorship is expanding under the pretext of fighting antisemitism, and why some of the European left is drifting into militarism.
As one of the only anti-imperialist voices in Brussels, Botenga breaks down what it means to resist from within the halls of EU power, how “green colonialism” is dressed up as climate policy, and why hope, and international solidarity, still matter.
Watch the full interview and support independent journalism: https://www.patreon.com/BreakthroughNews
Israel and its apologists claim they’re committing slaughter in Gaza to protect Jews and prevent another Holocaust. But that’s a scam.
Historian of Palestine Zachary Foster joins @RaniaKhalek on Dispatches to discuss. He exposes how the pro-Israel establishment in the Jewish American community is helping the Trump administration weaponize antisemitism to justify genocide in Palestine and fascist policies at home, and how empire is using Judaism as a human shield for imperial conquest.
The full episode is available only to Breakthrough News members. To support our work and get access to more exclusive interviews, become a member at:
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The Gaza genocide isn’t just happening on the ground. It’s being enforced through code, algorithms, blacklists, and billion-dollar tech firms.
Meta is censoring the truth. Microsoft is complicit in the genocide machine. AI is targeting students. Rupert Murdoch’s empire manufactures the lies to justify it all.
This isn’t the future, it’s now. And the fight for Palestine is the front line of a global war on dissent.
Rapper and activist Lowkey joins Rania Khalek on Dispatches to expose the machinery of techno-fascism, the empire’s digital mask, and the collaborators who hide genocide behind cries of free speech.
Watch the full episode, available exclusively to patrons of Breakthrough News:
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Oscar-nominated filmmaker Farah Nabulsi joins Rania Khalek on Dispatches to talk about her powerful new film The Teacher, an emotional and political drama set in the occupied West Bank.
Inspired by true events, The Teacher follows a Palestinian schoolteacher as he confronts personal trauma, settler violence, and the capture of an Israeli soldier by the resistance, forcing impossible moral decisions that reflect the brutal reality of life under military occupation.
The film captures the full spectrum of colonial violence, from land theft and demolitions to military raids and daily humiliation, and it does so without reducing Palestinians to one dimensional victims or symbols. It’s raw, grounded, and quietly revolutionary.
🎬 The Teacher premieres in New York City on April 11 and will be released nationwide on April 18 by Watermelon Pictures
🎞️ Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0rGiVQwnSY
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Rania Khalek hosts a special live episode of Dispatches with Ali Abunimah, executive director of The Electronic Intifada and author of The Battle for Justice in Palestine.
They dive into Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, the global silence enabling it, and why this brutal new phase was always Zionism’s endgame. From U.S.-funded fascism abroad to rising repression at home, nothing is off the table.
Israel’s genocide in Gaza has triggered a global crackdown on dissent, with Western governments not only enabling the atrocities but also waging war on human rights and free speech.
Join a special live episode of Dispatches with Rania Khalek as Craig Mokhiber, former director of the New York Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, unpacks the ongoing genocide, the fascist assault on pro-Palestine voices across US campuses, and the unprecedented erosion of international law.
Najla Said joins Dispatches to talk about Palestine, identity, and the challenges of growing up Arab and American in a country that doesn’t always make space for that kind of hyphenated identity.
Najla is an actor and writer who’s used storytelling to explore themes of belonging, displacement, and resistance. She’s also the daughter of Edward Said, one of the most influential intellectuals of our time, whose work and teachings at Columbia University continue to shape how we understand colonialism, culture, and Palestine. But Najla isn’t just carrying on a legacy; she’s carved her own path, speaking with honesty, humor, and heart.
In this episode, Najla and Rania Khalek discuss:
- What it was like growing up as Edward Said’s daughter while trying to fit into a culture that loves Israel and prioritizes its supporters over the trauma of Palestinians.
- Watching the crackdown on pro-Palestine students at Columbia, a place that felt like home to her family for so many years.
- Navigating the entertainment industry, which is often hostile to Arab and Palestinian voices.
- How the genocide in Gaza has reshaped her view of the world, this country, and what’s possible for the future.
To watch the full episode, become a Breakthrough News member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share to help get the word out!
Macklemore, musician and Executive Producer of the new documentary 'The Encampments,' joins the show to discuss the upcoming film. It follows activists Mahmoud Khalil and Grant Miner as they organized the Columbia student encampment for Gaza—an action that sparked an international student movement against Israel’s genocide nearly a year ago.
In theaters now, visit the-encampments.com for showtimes and to book your tickets.
Neoliberalism is collapsing. Imperialist hegemony is cracking. And the liberal center has no answers.
In this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined by renowned Marxist economist Prabhat Patnaik to break down the multiple overlapping crises facing global capitalism. From Trump’s “America First” contradictions to the rise of neo-fascism, the failure of sanctions, and the assault on working people, Patnaik explains why only the Left can offer a real alternative.
🎧 This is just part of the episode.
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📚 Guest: Prabhat Patnaik is the author of “A Theory of Imperialism” and “Capital and Imperialism,” co-authored with Utsa Patnaik.
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Western media has played a central role in justifying and whitewashing Israel’s assault on Gaza—just as it has done in past U.S.-backed wars from Iraq to Syria. Journalists who claim to champion press freedom are silent as activists and students face unprecedented repression for speaking out on Palestine. Why does the media function as a propaganda arm for empire, and how do we push back?
Rania Khalek is joined by Assal Rad, a scholar of Modern Middle East History, a non-resident fellow at DAWN, and the author of State of Resistance: Politics, Culture & Identity in Modern Iran, to break it all down.
Full episode available exclusively for Breakthrough News members. Support independent media and watch the full conversation at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews
Read Assal Rad’s latest piece: https://dawnmena.org/how-western-media-has-manufactured-consent-for-atrocities-from-iraq-to-gaza/
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The past several days have seen horrifying sectarian massacres in Syria. Over 1,000 people have been killed, mostly Alawites and some Christians, in Latakia and Tartus. The perpetrators? Sectarian death squads from HTS, led by Syria’s new president, Mohammed al-Jolani—formerly the leader of Al-Qaeda in Syria.
Western media is whitewashing these atrocities, falsely framing them as “revenge” against pro-Assad remnants. But the truth is clear: Syria is now controlled by Salafi jihadists who openly target minorities. How did this happen? What is the reality on the ground? And why is the media complicit in covering up genocide?
Veteran war correspondent Elijah Magnier joins Dispatches for a special live episode to break down the facts the media won’t tell you.
Trump’s people are reshaping the US political system, gutting institutions, while selling scores with all enemies foreign and domestic. But is their push for mass deportations, and the abolition of DEI, the Department of Education, USAID and other soft power institutions really in the ruling class’s long term interests. Are we witnessing the collapse of an empire, or simply a reactionary reconfiguration of power? And how should those of us who oppose U.S. imperialism make sense of these contradictions?
To break it all down, Rania Khalek is joined by Breakthrough News editor-in-chief Ben Becker.
Watch the full episode by becoming a patron: Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews
The field of psychoanalysis has long colluded with Zionism, justifying Israeli crimes while pathologizing Palestinian resistance.
Lara Sheehi, an assistant professor of clinical psychology and author of “Psychoanalysis Under Occupation: Practicing Resistance in Palestine,” was targeted for being unapologetically anti-Zionist. She joins Rania Khalek on Dispatches to discuss Zionist repression, psychological warfare, and the fight for decolonization.
📢 Watch the full interview exclusively on Patreon:
Trump’s return isn’t just chaos, it’s a calculated strategy. While liberals dismiss him, Trump understands raw economic power in a way centrists fail to grasp. What is his master plan, and how could it backfire?
Meanwhile, Musk & other billionaires are the new ruling class. As capitalism dies, we enter technofeudalism, where corporate overlords control entire infrastructures of power.
And in Europe, elites literally cried over the U.S. pivoting away. Does Europe have any real sovereignty left?
Yanis Varoufakis joins Rania Khalek to break it all down.
Syria is entering a new phase, and the regional balance of power is shifting. Gulf states, Turkey, and Israel are recalibrating their strategies, while the U.S., Russia, and China assess their next moves. Iran and Hezbollah, once deeply entrenched in Syria, are now facing new challenges. Meanwhile, Israel has expanded its presence in the occupied Golan Heights, and Trump is pressuring Egypt and Jordan to accept Palestinians expelled from Gaza.
Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics, joins Rania Khalek to break down these developments and what they mean for the region.
📢 Full episode available for Breakthrough News members. Support the show and access exclusive content atPatreon.com/BreakthroughNews.
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For decades, U.S. imperialism has operated not just through military force but through a vast system of economic coercion, media manipulation, and covert operations. The World Bank, IMF, and USAID present themselves as tools of development, but in reality, they enforce American dominance under the guise of aid.
Now, with Trump and Musk cutting USAID, many see this as a shift, but in reality, it’s just a restructuring of the empire. What does this tell us about the evolving strategies of imperialism? How does economic warfare, soft power, and media complicity allow the U.S. and its allies to maintain control with minimal backlash?
Investigative journalist Matt Kennard, co-founder of Declassified UK and author of The Racket: A Rogue Reporter vs. The American Empire, joins Rania Khalek to expose how U.S. and British intelligence operations, including spy flights over Gaza, are deeply entangled with global imperial control.
🔹 The truth about USAID & soft power
🔹 How the UK secretly enables Israel’s war on Gaza
🔹 U.S. special operations & the role of Keir Starmer
🔹 The media’s complicity in empire’s lies
🔹 What Gaza has exposed about the West
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Following the Gaza ceasefire, Israel is already preparing for its next round of ethnic cleansing with full Western backing. Pro-Palestine activists are facing escalating repression, Trump is pushing a new ethnic cleansing plan, and Israel’s increasing resemblance to fascist regimes is impossible to ignore.
Rania Khalek speaks with Tony Greenstein, a Jewish anti-Zionist, Marxist, and anti-fascist activist, about the historical roots of Zionism, the weaponization of the Holocaust, and the imperialist crackdown on Palestine solidarity.
🚨 The full interview is available exclusively to Breakthrough News members. Support our work and access the full episode by becoming a member atPatreon.com/BreakthroughNews.
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The Palestinian resistance has defied overwhelming military force in Gaza, adapting and surviving despite Israel’s strategy of genocide and starvation. What does this war teach us about asymmetric warfare, military resilience, and the future of anti-colonial resistance? Why has Israel failed to eliminate Palestinian fighters despite its apocalyptic destruction of Gaza? And how has the regional Axis of Resistance, from Yemen to Lebanon, reshaped the battlefield?
To discuss all this and more, Rania Khalek is joined by author and host of the Anti-Empire Project Justin Podur on Dispatches.
💡 Full episode available exclusively to Breakthrough News patrons. Support independent media at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews.
In this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined by author, historian, and journalist Vijay Prashad to discuss how the West’s increasing reliance on violent repression, from Gaza to Cuba, signals not strength, but desperation. Prashad dissects the moral collapse of Western imperialism and the challenges facing the Global South as they navigate an era of “hyperimperial” aggression.
👉 Listen to the full episode by becoming a Breakthrough News member at https://www.patreon.com/BreakthroughNews
Rania Khalek was joined by historian Ussama Makdisi to discuss 15 months of genocide in Gaza. They explore academic complicity, Gaza’s “scholasticide” (the deliberate destruction of Gaza’s educational institutions), Israel’s expansion into Syria and the Golan Heights, the history of Arab Jews, and the future of resistance in the region.
The full interview is available to Breakthrough News Members only. You can become a member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews.
Ussama’s article discussed in the episode: https://newfascismsyllabus.com/opinions/the-catechism-debate/atonement-at-the-expense-of-another/
Follow the Makdisi Street Podcast, co-hosted by Ussamma, here: https://youtube.com/@makdisistreet?si=lMFydkP1PuQ-PHOo
Rania Khalek hosts a special live episode of Dispatches w/ Ali Abunimah, executive director of the Electronic Intifada and author of “The Battle for Justice in Palestine.”
The year 2024 has seen so much loss from Gaza to Lebanon, it can be easy to fall into despair. Despite its recent gains, Israel still cannot win, says Palestinian writer Susan Abulhawa. Abulhawa is a novelist, poet, activist and author of many books, including "Mornings in Jenin."
This is just part of this episode. The full interview with Rania Khalek 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.
Seismic shifts accross the middle east over the last year, from the genocide in Gaza, to the fall of the Assad regime in Syria to the killing of Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah, will reshape the region and force changes in the way resistance operates.
Rania Khalek was joined by Bashir Saade, an Interdisciplinary Lecturer in Politics and Religion at the University of Stirling and author of the book “Hizbullah and the politics of remembrance.”
To discuss developments in Syria and the region, Rania Khalek is joined by veteran war correspondent and analyst Elijah Magnier for a special live episode of Dispatches.
In an unprecedented move, the ICC has issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Ashish Prashar, political strategist and former advisor to the Middle East peace envoy.
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.
Rania Khalek hosts a special live episode of Dispatches with Lebanese journalist Ghadi Francis.
Congressional Rep Jamaal Bowman joined Rania Khalek to discuss the bipartisan AIPAC-funded campaign to push him out of office, his evolution on Palestine, his views on the Biden administration and what comes next.
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.
BT’s Rania Khalek sat down with Housam Fares, a Lebanese American man who lost 15 members of his family in an Israeli airstrike on south Beirut in late September. His wife Ayat Ayoub explains how her family is displaced across the country. Their town in the south of Lebanon has been totally destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.
Since Israel’s creation the Zionist project has carried out acts of terrorism against its neighbors in increasingly depraved ways.
To discuss Israeli terrorism and how its impacting Palestine and Lebanon today, Rania Khalek is joined by Professor As’ad Abukhalil for a special live episode of Dispatches.
Rania Khalek hosts a special live episode of Dispatches with Lebanese journalist Ghadi Francis.
Israel is trying to invade Lebanon while carpet bombing large swaths of the country. But so far, Hezbollah has demonstrated it is still a strong resistance force despite some recent setbacks. What comes next?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek is joined by veteran war correspondent and analyst Elijah Magnier for a special live episode of Dispatches.
As Israel unleashes a catastrophic war on Lebanon, many are perplexed by the country’s politics, divisions and potential for civil war.
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Lebanese medical doctor and public health researcher Anis Germani.
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.
Israel, with the full backing of the U.S., claims to be massacring civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon in self-defense. Does this have any legal merit? What about the rights of Palestine and Lebanon? To discuss this and more Rania Khalek was joined by longtime human rights lawyer Craig Mokhiber.
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.
Rania Khalek of Breakthrough News sat down with Cuba’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs during the UN General Assembly. They talked about the US blockade on Cuba, the rise of the right across the Americas, the genocide in Gaza and the dangers it poses to the world, and more.
Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and carpet bombing attacks on Lebanon have shocked the region and the world. What comes next?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek is joined by veteran war correspondent and analyst Elijah Magnier for a special live episode of Dispatches.
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.**
Alana Hadid — activist, designed and creative director of the newly-launched Watermelon Pictures — joins Rania Khalek to discuss the Democratic Party’s campaign strategy to suppress and ignore Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Rania Khalek was joined by Egyptian activist Rahma Zein to discuss the genocide in Gaza.
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.
Rania Khalek hosts a special live episode of Dispatches w/ Ali Abunimah, executive director of the Electronic Intifada and author of “The Battle for Justice in Palestine.”
To discuss Israel’s intensifying atrocities in Gaza, including its weaponization of rape, Rania Khalek was joined by Miko Peled, the son of an Israeli general and the head of the newly established Palestine House of Freedom in Washington, D.C. Peled is the author of “The General's Son: Journey of an Israeli in 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.
Israel’s assassination spree across Iran and Lebanon amidst its ongoing genocide in Gaza has brought the Middle East closer to the brink of regional war.
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek is joined by veteran war correspondent and analyst Elijah Magnier for a special live episode of Dispatches.
To discuss the recent North Korean treaty with Russia, new threats from the U.S. and the untold history between North Korea and Palestine, Rania Khalek was joined by Ju-Hyun Park, a member of Nodutdol for Korean Community Development, an anti-imperialist organization of Koreans in the U.S. for Korean reunification and national liberation. They are also engagement editor at The Real News.
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.
Nodutdol just launched their new national U.S. out of Korea campaign, which you can learn more about here: https://usoutofkorea.org
You can watch the last episode with Ju-Hyun on Dispatches here: https://youtu.be/acZVbISIZg4?si=1rnwtZWjK4ruSj2C
To help us understand the view from Lebanon about the genocide in Gaza, Rania Khalek was joined by influential journalist Ghadi Francis.
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.
To help us understand the view from Lebanon about the genocide in Gaza, Rania Khalek was joined by influential journalist Ghadi Francis.
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.
Nine months into an active genocide in Gaza, Rania Khalek is joined by Mouin Rabbani, a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Rania Khalek is joined by Lowkey, rapper, activist and host of 'The Watchdog' podcast on MintPress News, to discuss Israel’s use of artificial intelligence in Gaza, the complicity of tech giants, and how the genocide is impacting British politics.
To discuss Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the myths its supporters use to justify it, Rania Khalek was joined by Joseph Massad, Professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History at Columbia University and the author of many books including “The Persistence of the Palestinian Question,” “Islam In Liberalism” and “Desiring Arabs.” He also writes a bimonthly column in Middle East Eye in English and in Arabi21 in Arabic.
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.
To discuss Israel’s genocide in Gaza Rania Khalek was joined by Palestinian novelist, poet and activist Susan Abulhawa, who recently returned from Gaza, witnessing the destruction first hand.
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.
Susan’s lecture on Israel’s arms trade, which was referenced in the episode: https://www.youtube.com/live/TJK7wSzW5CU?si=qDTY1BT8QQMUwSK3
The struggle for justice in Palestine isn’t just a fight against the settler colonial Zionist project. It’s a struggle against US imperialism itself. To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Bikrum Gill, a political scientist and author of the forthcoming book “The Political Ecology of Colonial Capitalism: Race, Nature, and Accumulation.”
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.
Past episodes with Bikrum:
https://youtu.be/F8GMyxAWjYk?si=4a2X1CWUNhn4Cq3O
https://youtu.be/3OV31mk8rns?si=-Ho7-sJQdPtmr9E3
To discuss the New Cold War in the South China Sea, Rania Khalek was joined by Ken Hammond, a Professor of History at New Mexico State University and author of China’s Revolution and the “Quest for a Socialist Future,” published by 1804 books.
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.
To discuss the Israel lobby and the nature of the US-Israel relationship, Rania Khalek was joined by Richard Becker, author of the book “Palestine, Israel and the US Empire.” (1804 Books)
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.
Rania Khalek was joined by Jon Elmer, a contributing editor at The Electronic Intifada, to discuss the battles, tactics and weapons of the Palestinian resistance groups.
This is just part of this episode. The full interview is available for Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content.
Rania Khalek is joined by Codepink’s Medea Benjamin for a special live episode of Dispatches to discuss the corporate media’s complicity in the US-funded genocide in Gaza and her recent disruption of the White House Correspondents Dinner, where she and other activists were roughed up by police.
Rania Khalek was joined by Tony Greenstein, a longstanding Jewish anti-Zionist, Marxist and anti-fascist activist from the UK and author of the book “Zionism During the Holocaust.”
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.
Rania Khalek was joined by Assal Rad, who holds a PhD in Modern Middle East History and is the author of “State of Resistance: Politics, Culture & Identity in Modern Iran.”
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.
Rania Khalek was joined by Yanis Varoufakis, economist, political leader, former Finance Minister of Greece and the author of many books including his latest “Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism,” to discuss Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Pro-capitalist ideologues in politics, media and academia have been hard at work slandering the left in an effort to subvert any true understanding of socialist history. They do this by constructing narratives around socialism, communism and leaders of socialist states to lead people to dismiss the idea that there can ever be an alternative to capitalism.
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Henry Hakamaki and Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro, co-translators and editors of Domenico Losurdo’s “Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend.”
Henry Hakamaki is an educator, activist and co-host of the Guerrilla History Podcast. Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro, is a professor in the Geography Department and Environmental Studies at SUNY-New Paltz.
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.
What is this new era of “Hyperimperialism” for the US/NATO Empire? Where do Gaza, Ukraine, and the Cold War on China fit in? How is the decline of Global North hegemony shifting the geopolitical landscape? Are there new possibilities for emergent organizations of the Global South? How do we maintain hope as we watch an exterminationist campaign unfold in Gaza?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by author, historian and journalist Vijay Prashad, Executive Director of The Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, which recently published a dossier on “Hyperimperialism.”
Read the Tricontinental report:
Hyper-Imperialism: A Dangerous Decadent New Stage
https://thetricontinental.org/studies-on-contemporary-dilemmas-4-hyper-imperialism/
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.
To discuss colonial feminism in the context of Gaza, Rania Khalek was joined by Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, the founding Director and Senior scholar of the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies Program at San Francisco State University and head of the oral history project Teaching 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.
Rania Khalek hosts a special live episode of Dispatches w/ Ali Abunimah, executive director of the Electronic Intifada and author of The Battle for Justice in Palestine.
Despite facing defeat in Ukraine, Western powers are determined to continue fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian. They insist on antagonizing China in ridiculous ways, with US members of Congress now demanding TikTok be banned. They have zero shame about the genocide in Gaza, even as it’s making the world hate the US and Israel, hardening the battle between the Global North and Global South while laying bare the atrocious reality of the so-called “rules-based international order.”
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Arnaud Bertrand, a commentator on economics and geopolitics based in Shanghai.
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.
Rania Khalek was joined by Tarik Cyril Amar, a historian from Germany and associate professor at Koc University in Istanbul, to discuss Israel’s descent into genocidal fascism. Prof. Amar addresses whether it’s useful to make Holocaust and Nazi comparisons and the real reason behind the West’s unshakeable loyalty attitude when it comes to Israel’s barbarism.
Over 100,000 Michigan Democrats sent an unmistakeable message that the genocide against the Palestinians would not be forgotten in November. Rania Khalek is joined by Prem Thakker, politics reporter for The Intercept, to discuss the potential political fallout of Biden’s unconditional backing of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
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.
Throughout Israel’s genocide in Gaza, those who care have used their skills in beautiful and inspiring ways to help bring attention to the struggle for justice in Palestine. One of those people is musician Leila Hegazy, an Egyptian-Italian-American solo artist and activist as well as a member of the twin sister duo HEGAZY. Leila joined Rania Khalek to discuss her viral adaptations of popular songs to help battle the absurdity of Western propaganda and challenge the pop stars who have stayed silent.
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.
Fashion icon Alana Hadid joined Rania Khalek to discuss Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the importance of speaking out against it despite the costs.
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.
**Rania Khalek was joined by rapper and activist Lowkey to discuss Israel’s genocide in Gaza. He’s also host of 'The Watchdog' podcast on MintPress News.
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 fight against western-financed mass slaughter in Gaza isn’t just a struggle to liberate Palestine but rather a battle for the future of humanity and a battle to liberate us all.
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Matteo Omar Capasso, the Marie Curie Research Fellow at Columbia University and the University of Venice, Italy; author of “Everyday politics in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya”; and editor of Middle East Critique. His work focuses on the nature and impact of U.S.-led imperialism
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.
What is Iran’s role in the resistance axis? Why does Iran support Palestine? Is it anti-imperialism or self-interest? And how do average Iranians feel about it? To discuss this Rania Khalek was joined by Navid Zarrinal, a Postdoctoral Fellow in History at the University of Tehran.
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.
Listen to the entire episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-is-in-97649308
Why does Europe support Israel so much? What does Europe gain from the occupation of Palestine and further escalation across the Middle East? How much of this is Europe following its own interests versus being subservient to US imperial designs in the region, as we’ve seen with Ukraine? Is Europe actually united on this or are there segments of the body politic that disagree with the US and Israel’s imperialist aims in Gaza? Does the EU have any awareness of its own hypocrisy? And are there consequences for those who speak out against the status quo?
Listen to the full interview here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-and-w-97253263
Democratic leadership said in 2020 that people needed to vote for Joe Biden because another Trump term would bring about the worst case scenario. But Joe Biden is facilitating a genocide in Gaza. What happens when the so-called “lesser evil” is responsible for the worst case scenario?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Briahna Joy Gray, host of Bad Faith Podcast and co-host of Rising at The Hill.
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.
Rania Khalek will be joined by Eugene Puryear for a special live episode of Dispatches to discuss developments across the Horn of Africa.
Listen to the full episode on the BreakThrough News Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-biden-97012634
Rania Khalek was joined by Palestinian journalist Said Arikat who has been regularly holding the Biden administration's feet to the fire by challenging his spokespeople.
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.
Where does Israel’s genocide in Gaza fit in to our late stage global imperialist order? What does it mean about the role of Zionism in the Middle East? How do the U.S. wars on other Middle Eastern countries factor in? How has China managed to escape this and the neoliberal rot that has consumed so much of the world? And how come some Western Marxists get it so wrong?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Ali Kadri, author of many books including “Arab Development Denied: Dynamics of Accumulation by Wars of Encroachment,” “The Unmaking of Arab Socialism,” “China's Path to Development: Against Neoliberalism,” and his most recently published book “The Accumulation of Waste: A Political Economy of Systemic Destruction.”
Does Israel really have the “right to defend itself” against people it occupies? What about Palestinians, don’t they have a right to defend themselves from their occupiers? How serious is South Africa’s case charging Israel with genocide at the International Court of Justice? Is there even any meaning to international law anymore?
Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, joined Rania Khalek Dispatches to discuss this and more.
As Israel continues its genocide on Gaza, it is ramping up its attacks in Lebanon and Syria while the US strikes Iraq and Yemen, bringing the Middle East closer to the brink of regional war.
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek is joined by veteran war correspondent and analyst Elijah Magnier for a special live episode of Dispatches.
By targeting hospitals and doctors while cutting off water, food and electricity and concentrating Palestinians into smaller and smaller zones of death in Gaza, the Israelis are creating a public health crisis that will kill even more Palestinians with infectious diseases.
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Lebanese medical doctor and public health researcher Anis Germany.
What does the genocide in Gaza mean for the surrounding Arab states? Do their oppositional responses even matter or is it all just symbolic? How will this impact the Abraham Accords and other normalization efforts? Why won’t the Gulf states use their oil as leverage to pressure the United States? How does the genocide in Gaza impact countries like Jordan and Syria? How is it affecting America’s standing in the world? What does it mean for Russia and China in an emerging multipolar world?
To discuss this and other regional developments, Rania Khalek was joined by Giorgio Cafiero, the CEO of Gulf State Analytics, a Washington, D.C.-based geopolitical risk consultancy.
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.
Israel has been stealing Palestine for more than 100 years. What are the roots of the genocide in Gaza? How did Zionism form? What has Palestinian resistance to the Zionist project looked like throughout history and how has it impacted Palestinian resistance today?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek is joined by Professor As’ad Abukhalil for a special live episode of Dispatches.
Listen to the entire episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-never-94662711
There appear to be no “red lines” for what Israel can do as U.S. officials twist themselves in knots to justify genocide in Gaza with racist and dehumanizing tropes.
To help us understand the view from West Asia about the genocide in Gaza and the racist behavior of the so-called “civilized” West, Rania Khalek was joined by influential Lebanese journalist Ghadi Francis.
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.
Two months into the genocide in Gaza, Israel’s propaganda has never been more transparent and sloppy. To discuss this and critical historical context, Rania Khalek is joined by Mouin Rabbani, a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies.
What is the “resistance axis” and why does it matter in Israel’s genocide on Gaza? What is it like on the ground in Lebanon’s south where Hezbollah has been fiercely confronting the Israeli army in support of Gaza? What are the red lines for Iran and for Hezbollah? Does Yemen pose a threat and are they all coordinating or acting independently? And what would a regional war look like for the Americans and Israelis?
To answer these questions and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Al Jazeera English correspondent and columnist Ali Hashem.
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.
Israel’s war on Palestine isn’t limited to Gaza. It’s global. In the US it takes the form of censorship, bullying, intimidation, doxxing, accusations of antisemitism, attacking people’s livelihoods, and increasingly lobbying for the state to prosecute anyone who dares to stand up for the rights of Palestinians. But even in the face of all this, solidarity is growing across the US and around the globe.
To discuss this and more Nora Barrows-Friedman, staff writer and associate editor at The Electronic Intifada.
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.
Follow The Electronic Intifada: https://www.youtube.com/@TheElectronicIntifada
The Israelis and their US sponsors have created a world where it’s normal to fire on hospitals, journalists and UN workers while killing 5,500 children in 45 days.
Rania Khalek will be joined by Prof. As’ad Abukhalil for a special live episode of Dispatches to discuss the genocide in Gaza, western double standards and racism towards Palestinians, Israel’s bad propaganda, and growing resistance from the Middle East to the streets of the US.
Listen to the full interview on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-in-93064780 This is a mask off moment for the imperialist West. All of the sociopathic narcissism that underpins the dystopian global order they created is on display for everyone to see. They have made a mockery of international humanitarian law and killed any pretense of the freedom and democracy they claim to represent. Meanwhile they turn inward to repress their own populations from protesting against Israel’s shocking aggression on Gaza.
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Matteo Capasso, the Marie Curie Research Fellow at Columbia university and university of Venice Italy, Author of “Everyday politics in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya” and editor of Middle East Critique. His work focuses on the nature and impact of US-led imperialism.
Listen to the full interview on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-un-in-92827009
Craig Mokhiber worked at the UN for three decades and recently resigned from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights over its failure to address what he called a “textbook case of genocide in Gaza.” He joined Rania Khalek to discuss what prompted him to leave when he did, the current Israeli assault on Gaza, the genocide label, challenges inside the UN on the issue of Palestine, and more.
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.
Read Craig’s resignation letter here: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24103463-craig-mokhiber-resignation-letter
Listen to the full episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-gaza-92659388
To discuss the implications of Israel’s onslaught on global politics in an increasingly multipolar world, how the rift between the imperialist countries and the rest of the world has never been more stark, the US’s frightening reaction to the decline of American hegemony and what it means for Gaza and the rest of us, Rania Khalek was joined by Tarik Cyril Amar, a historian from Germany who is currently associate professor of history at Koc University in Istanbul.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Listen to the full episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/ukraine-to-gaza-92464031 So what’s new with the war in Ukraine? Is anyone winning? How will it impact the future of Europe and NATO? What are the similarities to the war on Gaza? How will escalation in the Middle East impact Ukraine? And how is the war on Gaza exposing all the hypocrisy of the EU in particular?
**To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by prolific writer and author Wolfgang Streeck, Emeritus Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
This is the first part of this episode. You can access the rest of the interview at https://www.Patreon.com/BreakThroughNews**
Listen to the extended version of this interview on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/audio-genocidal-91798227 Israel’s genocide in Gaza has shocked the conscience of the entire world, with an endless flow of videos and images of Palestinian children cut into pieces by American bombs dropped by Israeli warplanes deliberately intended to destroy a civilian population. Despite the explicitly genocidal rhetoric of Israeli officials, Western leaders continue to proclaim their support for Israel’s right to “defend itself.” But this war on Gaza is different from past wars, not only in the level of Israeli aggression, but in the reaction on the street, from the Middle East to the United States. Israel is losing the narrative war. Most people want to see a ceasefire and tens of thousands have protested across the US to demonstrate their opposition to Biden’s unconditional support for this genocide.
To discuss Israel’s genocidal onslaught in Gaza ahead of a looming ground invasion and how it has the potential to snowball into a catastrophic regional war, 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.
Watch Abby’s documentary “Gaza Fights For Freedom”:
https://youtu.be/HnZSaKYmP2s?si=deHf3iQYlMetgPy7
**With the death toll climbing by the hour in Gaza, including over 1000 children, the whole world is wondering if there will be a ceasefire or if a larger war is likely. Rania Khalek asked Osama Hamdan, a senior representative of Hamas located in Lebanon, about what happens next.
Watch the full interview for free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/hamas-rep-will-91415177**
As Israel’s war on Gaza heats up with the potential to escalate into a regional fight, Rania Khalek hosts a special live episode of Dispatches w/ Ali Abunimah, executive director of the @TheElectronicIntifada and author of The Battle for Justice in Palestine.
Link to Ali Abunimah's article discussed in the interview:
https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-forces-shot-their-own-civilians-kibbutz-survivor-says/38861
Listen to the full episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-not-w-90192326
The West African countries of Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali are in rebellion against their former colonial masters, while the imperialists of the Global North try desperately to contain the situation. But the portrayal of these developments as mere “coups” hides the depth of popular anger, particularly against the French? What almost no one else is telling is the story of popular movements and organizations in West Africa who are supporting the military transition governments. Where do they come from? Could this spill over into other African countries? Where does pan-Africanism fit in? Where do Russia and China fit in, if at all?
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.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Listen to the full interview on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-china-89625885
Four of the six new BRICS countries - Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE - are in the Middle East. What does this mean for the region, for multipolarity, for the Cold War between the US and China and for the future of the Saudi-Iran rivalry? How does a country like Saudi Arabia, which has such a long record in service of the West, fit in? How might it impact Israel? How will Washington react now and what does it mean for the “geostrategic control” that they’ve spent decades, and multiple wars, trying to secure?
To discuss this and other regional developments, Rania Khalek was joined by Giorgio Cafiero, the CEO of Gulf State Analytics, a Washington, DC-based geopolitical risk consultancy.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Listen to the full interview on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-can-w-88623146 How much of a challenge to Western hegemony does the expansion of BRICS actually pose? How much of this has been brought on by the West’s own hubris? What should we make of the ideological differences among the BRICS countries? Could India and Saudi Arabia act as spoilers? Or are we witnessing the symptomatic decline of American hegemony, with US allies turning toward Washington’s rivals? What does this mean for the rise of China?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Prahbat Patnaik, marxist economist, professor emeritus at JNU, and author of many books including A Theory of Imperialism and the more recent Capital and Imperialism: Theory, History, and the Present, both co-authored with Utsa Patnaik.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Listen to the full episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-how-88285425 We’re told that countries across the Global South are poor and plagued by violence not because of colonialism, imperialism, never ending Western wars, resource theft and destabilization campaigns. Rather, it’s because they’re ruled by corrupt and greedy people who seem to be innately authoritarian and backwards due to some sort of cultural deficiency that prevents respect for human rights and causes state failure.
To discuss the colonial and racist framework used by Western policymakers to justify ongoing imperialist aggression in Africa and how it’s being folded into the new Cold War on Russia and China, Rania Khalek was joined by Zubairu Wai, Associate Professor of Political Science and Global Development Studies at the University of Toronto.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Listen to the full interview on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-party-87977784
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) is the second largest party in Russia, yet their views are often ignored in Western media.
How do they view the war in Ukraine, the nature of the Russian state under Putin, and the character of the Ukrainian state under Zelensky? What’s their position on Russia’s foreign policy more generally? How about domestic policy? Where do they stand on the rise of China and the shifting world order?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Roman Kononenko, a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the KPRF and First Secretary of the Saint Petersburg City Committee of the KPRF.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Listen to the full episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-of-of-87855875
To discuss the brutal history of NATO intervention in the Third World and CIA infiltration of education in targeted countries, Rania Khalek was joined by Essam Elkorghli, a Libyan PhD student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he researches the impact of contemporary imperialism on education with a particular focus on Libya.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Border policy in the Global North has been crafted to intentionally cause people to die of thirst in the Arizona desert and drown in the Mediterranean sea as a form of deterrence. But why are people picking up and leaving their countries in the first place? Why are they being subjected to so much cruelty on their journey no matter who’s in charge in Europe or the U.S.? Where does the Israeli occupation of Palestine fit in? How about climate change? And how is this feeding in to the rise of the far right?
To discuss the bipartisan border industrial complex, Rania Khalek was joined by Todd Miller, journalist and author of several books including “Border Patrol Nation” and his latest “Build Bridges, Not Walls: A Journey to a World Without Borders.”
For an in depth look at U.S. border policy over the decades, watch the very first episode of Dispatches featuring Todd Miller here: https://youtu.be/lRR51JHdLyM
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Breakthrough News journalist Eugene Puryear joins Rania Khalek for a special live episode of Dispatches on Tuesday August 8 at 12pm ET to discuss the latest developments in Niger following threats of military intervention by Western governments and their regional allies meant to reverse an explosion of anti-colonial sentiment across Africa’s Sahel.
Listen to the full interview on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-east-87132481 East Germany, or the German Democratic Republic (GDR), is remembered in the West as the antithesis to freedom and democracy. But the history and reality of the GDR was far more complex. Not only was the GDR a socialist state built on antifascist principles following the Second World War. It also practiced solidarity with other socialist states, countries and liberation movements fighting for independence from colonialism across the Global South.
To discuss this and more Rania Khalek was joined by Max Rodermund and Matthew Read, researchers at the International Research Centre DDR, which together with the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research published a special issue on the legacy and historical experiences of socialist construction under the conditions of constant imperialist aggression in the GDR.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Read the Tricontinental report here: https://thetricontinental.org/studies-1-ddr/
Follow the International Research Centre DDR here: https://ifddr.org/en/home/
Listen to the entire interview on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-is-us-86956303
Western sanctions on Russia, previously Europe’s biggest natural gas supplier, has lowered European living standards in the sweltering heat while exacerbating fuel and food shortages around the world. And that’s not all — military spending has increased while social budgets have been cut.
To discuss this downplayed aspect of the war in Ukraine and its horrific consequences, Rania Khalek is again 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.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Past episodes with Tarik:
https://youtu.be/5C7DE2KFJHs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6t6QiN45Vg
Listen to the entire interview on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-and-w-86459089 The Red Scare is back. This new era of McCarthyism depends on loose and selective interpretation and enforcement of existing legal measures with some racial profiling and guilt-by-association mixed in.
People are being accused of being foreign agents based on their political views. Chinese nationals have been chased out of academia. And wild and easily disproved stories about China, often sourced to the State Department or think tanks connected to the U.S. government, proliferate in the capitalist press, priming the US public for a never-ending expansion of the U.S. war machine.
To discuss the new Red Scare and why it's so dangerous, Rania Khalek was joined by Amanda Yee, a writer and organizer based in Brooklyn, host of the podcast Radio Free Amanda, and author of the piece “Red Scare reloaded: Chinese “foreign agents” and a new era of McCarthyism”, published at Liberation News.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Amanda’s articles discussed in this episode:
https://www.liberationnews.org/red-scare-reloaded-chinese-foreign-agents-and-a-new-era-of-mccarthyism/
https://www.liberationnews.org/the-resurgence-of-america-first-isolationism-the-far-rights-opposition-to-nato-and-the-ukraine-war/
Listen to the full interview on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-anti-86303559 For decades anti-Palestinian fanatics have harassed and attacked professors and students who dare to speak out against Israeli apartheid, going after their reputations and livelihoods with media smears and legal assaults. Why is it so important to document and understand such attacks on academic freedom? How does it fit into the context of Zionism and imperialism? What is the role of imperial feminism, islamophobia, and native informants in hegemonic narratives? And how does it relate to what’s happening on the ground in Palestine, from Gaza to Jenin?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by distinguished professor Rabab Abdulhadi, the founding Director and Senior scholar of the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED) Studies Program at San Francisco State University and head of the oral history project Teaching Palestine.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Petition discussed in the episode:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1EqSAgVue4H7F8OvtTMrkBhOUEc29MA_mGa3Qk4vI7Rg/edit?pli=1
Follow Teaching Palestine
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AMED Studies:
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Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi:
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Listen to the full interview on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-us-on-86104940
The US is escalating a bipartisan Cold War, pumping up the military industrial complex, fueling proxy wars and gutting what’s left of the welfare state. But there is a split in the ruling class on how best to guarantee US hegemony. On one side is the far-right America First crowd led by Trump, who claim to want out of Ukraine. That’s only because they want to divert the country’s Cold War resources solely toward what they see as the ultimate enemy, China. On the other side there are the neo-cons and liberals who want to take on Russia and China at the same. Both sides are committed imperialists with the same agenda, but they have a different pathway for how to get there.
Here to discuss how to navigate it all as the U.S. Empire gets desperate to maintain itself in an increasingly multipolar world is Ben Norton, a Latin-America based journalist and founder of the Geopolitical Economy Report.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Listen to the full interview on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-on-of-85896805 France is on fire after police were filmed shooting and killing unarmed 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, a French citizen of Moroccan and Algerian descent, in the suburbs of Paris during a traffic stop. This shocking display of French state violence triggered large-scale protests, particularly amongst the country’s Muslim, African, and Arab populations, long boiling over racist and classist structures staunchly rooted in French history and identity as displayed in its brutal colonial legacy.
What is the role of France’s colonial hangover in all of this? Where do racism, secularism and Islamophobia fit in? How about class inequality? And what comes next? To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Yasser Louati, a political analyst and head of the Committee for Justice & Liberties in France.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Listen to the full interview on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-or-us-85690029
In 2003, Mohamad Youssef Hammoud, a Lebanese-American, was sentenced to 155 years in prison on allegations of "providing material support" to the Lebanese organization Hezbollah with funds garnered from cigarette smuggling. Characterized by prosecutors as an “enemy combatant” and “terrorist financier,” he was the first person in the United States to be charged for material support to an alleged terrorist organization. From conviction to release he has maintained his innocence and accused the United States of targeting him for political reasons. Recently, after 23 years behind bars, he was released and has returned to Lebanon, where he joined Rania Khalek to discuss the case against him, his time in prison and how it feels to be back in his native country.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Access the entire interview on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-rise-84975377 The power of the dollar sustains U.S. imperialism. But rising multipolarity, an overuse of U.S. sanctions, the rise of alternative trading arrangements that sidestep the dollar, and a very obvious crisis of western capitalism have led to panic about a decline in dollar hegemony. What gives the dollar so much power in the first place? What would a world without dollar hegemony look like? What would it mean for those in the imperial core who benefit from this system? How about those in the third world on whose backs dollar hegemony is built? And where does the war in Ukraine fit into it all?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Prabhat Patnaik, marxist economist, professor emeritus at JNU, and author of many books including “A Theory of Imperialism” and the more recent “Capital and Imperialism: Theory, History, and the Present,” both co-authored with Utsa Patnaik.
Prabhat’s piece discussed in this episode:
https://www.newsclick.in/us-sanctions-and-dollars-waning-hegemony
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Listen to the entire interview on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-wins-84859698
In popular culture, Canada is seen as the nicer version of the US, the harmless northern neighbor. Behind that shiny exterior is a country that plays a crucial supporting role in US aggression abroad and providing it with a layer of liberal respectability. Canada remains the “good cop” to the US “bad cop” in wars and coups from the Middle East to Latin America. This is no great departure for a country founded as a European settler colony that continues to commit atrocities against the indigenous communities.
To discuss Canada’s role in the US-led imperial order, Rania Khalek was joined by Justin Podur, a Professor at York University in Toronto, author of many books including “Extraordinary Threat,” “Haiti's New Dictatorship,” “America's Wars on Democracy in Rwanda and the DR Congo,” and “Siegebreakers” and host of the Anti-Empire Project podcast.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half is available for Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content.
Full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-us-84510217
The Gulf states have been reliable partners of U.S. imperialism since their inception. But that hasn’t stopped them from deepening their ties with Russia and China, leading to tectonic shifts across the Middle East that have many DC insiders losing sleep. What’s behind these shifting alliances across the Gulf? Will they continue to oppose the new Cold War? Or are they too wedded to the U.S. to truly forge paths independent of it? How much wiggle room does multipolarity really afford them?
**To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Giorgio Cafiero, the CEO of Gulf State Analytics, a Washington, DC-based geopolitical risk consultancy.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.**
Following Giorgio’s work here: https://gulfstateanalytics.com/
Why is Iran under constant US attack? Is it really about women’s rights and democracy? Or is it because Iran, since its revolution, has been a staunch supporter both ideologically and materially, of resistance to US imperialism across the Middle East? 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.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half is available for Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at https://Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content.
Full episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-how-w-83919972
After Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the British Labour Party, the right wing of the party joined with the Israel lobby and the Israeli state to bring down Corbyn and purge the party of leftists using false accusations of anti-semitism. The witch-hunt continued even after Corbyn’s downfall.
No reporter has covered the weaponization of anti-semitism in British politics as rigorously as Asa Winstanley, associate editor at The Electronic Intifada and author of the new book “Weaponising Anti-Semitism: How the Israel Lobby Brought Down Jeremy Corbyn,” published by OR books. He joined Rania Khalek to discuss his new book and what the left in other parts of the world should learn from it all.
Asa’s book: https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/weaponising-anti-semitism/
Asa’s substack: https://substack.com/@asawinstanley
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half is available for Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content.
It’s a new era of global power dynamics where countries sometimes have the option to say no to the U.S. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Middle East. Almost 12 years after being kicked out of the Arab League, Syria has been welcomed back into the fold by many of the U.S.-allied countries that tried to destroy it. All this time Israel was banking on normalization with Saudi Arabia and the opposite happened, with China overseeing a Saudi peace deal with Iran. Why? What does this multipolarity mean for the region? And how might it impact Palestine and the broader resistance axis? To discuss this and more Rania Khalek was joined by Ali Abunimah, executive director of the Electronic Intifada and author of The Battle for Justice in Palestine
Ali’s article discussed in this episode: https://electronicintifada.net/content/why-saudis-have-called-their-israeli-wedding/37561
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half is available for Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content
According to U.S. politicians, military leaders and the media, everything China does on the international stage – brokering peace deals, expanding economic initiatives, building ports — is part of an aggressive campaign to weaken the United States. While China is becoming more assertive diplomatically, is the U.S. interpretation of why accurate or is it projection and delusion? And how does it relate to China’s internationalist past? What does it mean for the future of the Global South and the world order? To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Tings Chak, a researcher at the Tricontinental Institute and a member of the Dongsheng News collective.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
See full episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/83205814
Collaboration between the US and fascists is a pattern that stretches back to the end of World War II and NATO’s founding, when the US and British intelligence services established secret far-right terror network armies across NATO countries made up of fascists, Nazi collaborators and actual Nazis.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half 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.
Check out our previous episode w/ Matteo Capasso on Libya: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKhOTEfNjdg&t=1779s
In the U.S. we’re taught that North Korea is a horrible backwards dictatorship where every person is captive to an evil regime run by a mad man who has an inexplicable hatred of the U.S., freedom and democracy – and is always on the edge of launching a nuclear missile to destroy the world. This, we’re told, is the reason we have to isolate the country and occupy South Korea with thousands of U.S. soldiers. The purpose of such a simplistic narrative is to prevent Americans from getting curious about what’s really happening there. Why is North Korea so closed off? What's the relevant history of that region? Why did the U.S. go to war there in the 1950s? What were the consequences? Why is Korea split into two? And is the country really as evil as the mainstream portrays?
To help break it all down, Rania Khalek was joined by Ju-Hyun Park, a member of Nodutdol for Korean Community Development, an anti-imperialist organization of Koreans in the U.S. struggling for Korean reunification and national liberation. They are also engagement editor at The Real News.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half is available for Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content.
Last April, Pakistan’s Imran Khan was ousted as Prime Minister, which he blamed on an American-backed coup due to his non-aligned foreign policy. His removal has been followed by political instability that continues to roil the country with some of the largest protests in Pakistan’s history, both in support of him but also in opposition to the traditional ruling elites. The current government has responded by cracking down on Khan and his supporters, and preventing new elections.
To help us understand what happened and what we can expect, Rania Khalek was joined by Junaid Ahmad – Professor of Religion, Law, and Global Politics and Director of the Center for the Study of Islam and Decoloniality in Islamabad, Pakistan.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half is available for Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content.
Junaid’s article discussed in the episode: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/03/15/pakistan-coup-regime-arrest-imran-khan/
Since taking office in 2018, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO, has reasserted more state control over Mexico’s natural resources, nationalizing its lithium reserves, while vocally opposing US interference in Mexico. So it’s no surprise that the corporate media in Washington is following along with the program of labeling him a strongman, an authoritarian, and anti-democratic. while U.S. politicians like Lindsay Graham invoke drugs and violence to threaten military intervention.
To discuss what’s really going on, Rania Khalek was joined by Kurt Hackbarth, a journalist who writes on Mexico and Latin America for Jacobin Magazine.
This is just the first half of this episode. The second half is available for Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content.
With Saudi Arabia and Iran making peace as part of a deal brokered by China, much has been made about the absence of the U.S. and what it means for U.S. hegemony. But what about the implications for the region? What might it look like in practice? Who are the potential spoilers? And why did this happen now? Also, what does it mean for the U.S. empire's greatest global partner, Europe?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Adnan Tabatabai, the co-founder and CEO of the Germany-based think tank CARPO and an Iran analyst who has advised European policymakers and facilitated Saudi-Iran dialogue.
**This is just the first half of this episode. The second half is available for Breakthrough News Members only. https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-saudi-81865541
Become a member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content.**
The historic deal brokered by China for a Saudi-Iran rapprochement reflects not only a changing region, but a shifting world order. While the US focuses on its proxy war in Ukraine, with US officials essentially blocking meaningful peace discussion both there and in Yemen, its “strategic competitor” China now looks like the adult in the room. Its diplomatic initiatives have become a force for stability in the biggest conflict regions, from Yemen to Syria.
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, Iran.
This is just the first half of this episode with Professor Marandi. The second half is available for Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content.
Rania Khalek of Breakthrough News and Zoe Alexandra of Peoples Dispatch sat down with Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum, the head of government in Mexico City and one of the founders of Morena, the party of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. She is a rising figure in Mexican national politics and a leading contender for the 2024 presidential elections.
Before 2011, Syria was a relatively stable country that had decent electricity, one of the best medical sectors in the region and produced much of its own food and medicine. Today Syria has collapsing infrastructure, dire food insecurity, crippling fuel shortages, severe brain drain and only has control over part of the country’s territory. Mainstream US media places all the blame on President Assad while covering up the role of US sanctions.
To discuss the decades-long US war on Syria, Rania Khalek was joined by Greg Shupak, author of the book “The Wrong Story: Palestine, Israel, and the Media” published by OR books. Greg also has a chapter in the book “Sanctions As War: Anti-Imperialist Perspectives on American Geo-Economic Strategy,” which was published by Brill and Haymarket.
You can find the book here: https://brill.com/display/title/61285?language=en
When most people in the West think of the war in Ukraine, they think of February 24, 2022 when Russia launched its invasion. But for 8 years prior, there had been a war raging in the eastern part of the country that received little attention because its reality was inconvenient for mainstream Western narratives.
In the Donbas region, an estimated 15,000 people had died following what many there described as a US-backed coup in 2014 that gave rise to an anti-Russia government and helped empower far-right sentiments across Ukraine.
To discuss the war in the Donbas, Rania Khalek was joined by Fergie Chambers of Berkshire Communists and a journalist who recently published a piece in Globetrotter about his time in the Donbas, titled “A Donbas Diary: Looking Back at Early Stages of Conflict in Ukraine.”
Fergie’s article discussed in this episode: https://www.newsclick.in/donbas-diary-looking-back-early-stages-conflict-ukraine?amp
You can listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.
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To discuss the war on whistleblowers, the U.S. government’s prosecution of Julian Assange and how the case against him poses a threat to journalism everywhere, Rania Khalek spoke to Kevin Gosztola, managing editor of Shadowproof, co-host of the Unauthorized Disclosure podcast and author of the newly published book “Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange.”
You can purchase Kevin’s book here: https://www.project-censored.org/shop/p/guilty-of-journalism-the-political-case-against-julian-assange
Follow Kevin’s work at Shadowproof: https://shadowproof.com/
You can listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.
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Whatever happened to Ukraine’s foreign fighters? What are the parallels between Syria and Ukraine? And where does the Cold War against China fit into it?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by investigative journalist Seth Harp, a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and author of the forthcoming book The Delta Force Murders, which will be published by Viking Press.
Seth’s articles discussed in the episode:
https://theintercept.com/2022/06/30/ukraine-azov-neo-nazi-foreign-fighter/
https://harpers.org/archive/2022/07/searching-from-the-ukrainian-foreign-legion/
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/09/19/putting-ukrainian-battle-successes-into-cold-hard-perspective/
You can listen to all episodes of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK
Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW
Africa’s Sahel region is experiencing historic shifts as anti-colonial sentiment sweeps across the region, with the French military being kicked out of one country after another after failing to rout insurgencies fueled by their own policies. France and its allies have responded by blaming disinformation, authoritarianism, and the west’s favorite boogeyman: Russia. Meanwhile the security situation in the Sahel continues to deteriorate.
To help break it all down, Breakthrough News journalist Eugene Puryear joined Rania Khalek on Dispatches.
The Middle East is drowning in anti-Iran propaganda emanating from Western, Gulf and oligarch-funded outlets that seek to turn the populations in the region against Iran and other institutions deemed to be “backed by Iran.” In Lebanon this plays out in a sectarian narrative that portrays Hezbollah as an Iranian proxy and depicts Shias as agents of an Iranian occupation of the country. This pattern has also been replicated in neighboring countries in an attempt to turn people against the regional forces that challenge U.S. imperialism.
To understand the phenomenon, Rania Khalek was joined by Denijal Jegic, a professor of communication at Lebanese American University and author of a forthcoming research paper titled, “An Iranian Occupation of Lebanon: The imperialist media discourse on Western Asia.”
You can listen to all episodes of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.
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Award-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh joined Rania Khalek on Dispatches to discuss his latest bombshell on how the Biden administration destroyed the Nord Stream pipeline using remotely triggered explosives with the help of the CIA, US Navy divers, and NATO member Norway. This means the US targeted the critical energy infrastructure of its most important European ally, a major violation of sovereignty in what essentially constitutes objectively an act of war against Germany. But Germany is looking the other way.
Hersh’s article: https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream
You can listen to all episodes of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.
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Two years into his presidency, Biden’s foreign policy has been defined by the war in Ukraine and a weakening American hegemony, one that also characterized Trump’s time in office. Some argue the American empire is in decline no matter which party is in control. So where will U.S. foreign policy go from here as the new Cold War era drags on? Does it even matter which party is in charge anymore? How are anxieties of a U.S. decline playing out in the media and in popular culture? And where does that leave the left?
To discuss this and more Rania Khalek joined by historian Daniel Bessner, an associate professor of international studies at the University of Washington, a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and co-host of the podcast American Prestige.
You can listen to all episodes of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.
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With the United States hyper focused on Russia and China, it’s easy to forget that the empire is still up to its old tricks in the rest of the Global South. What does the insatiable U.S. imperialist appetite mean for the resource-rich countries of Latin America? After all, that copper, gold, zinc, silver, lead, iron, and natural gas in Peru, the lithium in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, and the oil in Venezuela isn’t gonna steal itself. How is the Cold War with Russia and China playing out throughout the region as the United States dusts off the so-called Monroe Doctrine? And how can this new multipolar era benefit the forces of independence and sovereignty?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Ben Norton, a Latin America-based journalist and founder of Geopolitical Economy Report.
Articles discussed in this episode:
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/01/19/peru-resources-mining-gas-investment/
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/01/29/latin-america-ukraine-weapons-brazil-colombia-argentina/
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/01/23/china-military-spending-st-louis-fed-graph/
Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.
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To understand how this new Cold War might play out, we have to understand the foundations of the original Cold War of the 20th century. What was NATO’s role? What did it mean for the Third World back then? What does it mean for the Third World today, particularly those countries that seek an independent, sovereign path? What is the danger of rising fascist movements? And what are the lessons for anti-imperialists who live and organize in the imperial core?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Paweł Wargan, an organizer and researcher based in Berlin, the coordinator of the secretariat of the Progressive International and author of the recent Monthly Review article “NATO and the Long War on the Third World,” in which he looks to the past for lessons about the future, concluding that capitalism cannot be overcome until the arteries of imperial plunder are severed.
It’s widely accepted that humans are driving climate change and environmentalism has become mainstream. But what if “humanity” in the abstract isn’t to blame? Is it true that humans are inherently bad for nature? What if the real culprit is the systems we’re forced to operate under — capitalism, imperialism, colonialism— perpetrated by particular sections of humanity over others?
So who, or what is to blame is really to blame for climate change? What are the limitations of the mainstream environmental movements? What’s the actual solution? And where do indigenous communities and decolonization fit in? To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Justin Podur, a Professor at York University in Toronto, author of many books including Extraordinary Threat, Haiti's New Dictatorship, America's Wars on Democracy in Rwanda and the DR Congo, and Siegebreakers and host of the Anti-Empire Project podcast.
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
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 Paletinian 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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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?
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.
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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
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
Libya seems to be trapped in endless conflict between rival militias and outside powers, with migrants trapped in neo-slavery and others drowning in the Mediteranean trying to flee to the European. Prior to the 2011 Arab uprisings and subsequent NATO regime change operation that destroyed the country, most outsiders knew little of Libya except for its caricature as a bizarre authoritarian country led by the idiosyncratic Gaddafi. But history did not start in 2011. To understand the Libya of today requires going back many decades.
To discuss how and why the US-led imperial order destroyed Libya, Rania Khalek was joined by Matteo Capasso, a Marie Curie Research Fellow between the University of Venice and Columbia University.
Matteo’s latest article here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09692290.2022.2028180?journalCode=rrip20 TIME CODES:
0:00 Intro
2:06 Libya’s Jamahiriya
6:00 Impact of sanctions and international isolation on Libya’s economy
12:28 Accomplishments of Gaddafi and Libya’s revolution
18:04 Understanding Libya through the context of imperialism
21:01 Dependency on oil
26:08 Hybrid war
30:19 Impact of 1973 civil war in Chad
37:02 Capitalism & Libya’s ideological contradiction
40:08 Religious extremism & tribal groups
47:52 Support for national liberation & then collaboration in war on terror
53:12 Centrality of war & militarism to US capitalism
58:37 Emergence of militias in Libya
1:00:58 How imperialism underlies the ongoing destruction of Libya
1:06:47 2011 uprising: What really happened?
1:11:50 Libya’s destruction destabilized Africa
The Palestinian rap group DAM put Palestinian rap on the map and inspired Arab rap in general with songs like Meen Irhabi (Who’s the terrorist?). DAM did not only address Arabs, however. As Palestinian citizens of Israel, they also had Hebrew lyrics, directly challenging their oppressor.
Tamer Nafar, one of the group’s founding members, has since launched a solo career which includes writing and starring in a semi autobiographical film, Junction 48 as well as newly released music. He joined Rania Khalek to discuss his art, his home in the mixed Israeli city of Lydd, and the story of his life.
Songs and movies that were discussed:
The Beat Never Goes Off https://youtu.be/6kJl_pEhvxM
Go There https://youtu.be/gp0tx64Rwos
Meen Irhabi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duwsH-gAmuM
Tamer’s movie Junction 48: https://youtu.be/tDIQcJGdDXs
TIME CODES
0:00 Intro
1:21 Tamer’s new song “Go There”
4:44 Recording “The Beat Never Goes Off” w/ a kid from Gaza
11:37 How Tamer became a rapper
19:49 DAM’s hit song “Who’s the Terrorist?”
25:12 How is the Palestinian rap scene different from the rest of the Arab world?
31:15 Being a conscious rapper in a hyper-commercialized music scene
34:20 Israel using culture and music for normalization
42:52 Tamer’s movie “Junction 48”
48:35 One year after Israeli attacks on Palestinians in Lydd
56:20 Worried about the future
Following the 2019 uprising that deposed longtime leader Omar Bashir, Sudan is suffering from an economic disaster, another military coup, neoliberal rot and foreign interference from countries in the region and the West.
To understand what’s happening and why, Rania Khalek was joined by Magdi El Gizouli, a Sudanese academic and fellow of the Rift Valley Institute, as well as frequent commentator and writer on Sudanese affairs on his blog Still Sudan.
Time Codes:
0:00 Intro
2:02 2019 uprising: What happened & why?
12:05 What are the military’s interests?
14:38 Foreign influence: Egypt, Israel & the Gulf
18:45 Importance of oil to Sudan’s economy
22:34 Consequences of neoliberalism
27:14 Debt, Inflation, hunger & Western duplicity
35:32 IMF pushing removal of subsidies
42:03 1964 failed revolution
46:48 Failed uprisings around the world and capitalist rot
54:50 What did Sudan do in Darfur?
1:01:27 South Sudan
1:04:23 How Ethiopia’s war & dam impact Sudan
1:10:37 Why Omar Bashir’s shifting positions couldn’t save him
1:14:24 Sudan’s integration into the pro-Israel regional security architecture
1:19:57 Why has hunger in the countryside increased?
When most people think of Sweden, or more broadly, the Scandinavian countries, they imagine a more egalitarian and advanced model to which we should aspire. Some assume without investigating that Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries, Denmark and Norway, have figured out how to be prosperous “socialist” countries.
But this Swedish model is uglier than it might appear to be, with a brutal history and a dangerous present.
To discuss the imperialism on which Scandinavian living standards are built, Rania Khalek was joined by Torkil Lauesen, a long-time anti-imperialist activist and writer, who spent years in prison for his militant activities as a member of a clandestine Danish communist cell. Torkil is also the author of many books, including “Riding the Wave: Sweden's Integration into the Imperialist World System.”
A good book on Torkil’s political activism: "Turning Money into Rebellion: The Unlikely Story of Denmark's Revolutionary Bank Robbers” https://snylterstaten.dk/turning-money-into-rebellion/
TIME CODES
0:00 Intro
1:38 The global perspective
3:38 Scandinavian integration in the imperialist core
9:00 Swedish settlerism
14:43 Sweden, Denmark & the slave trade
19:43 Sweden, Belgium, Congo & Dag Hammarskjöld
25:20 1986 Assassination of Swedish PM Olof Palme
29:03 Formation of the social welfare state
34:06 Racism & national chauvinism
40:40 How social reforms strengthened European imperialism
46:32 What radicalized Torkil into leftist anti-imperialism?
57:26 Global neoliberalism in the last 50 years
1:08:15 The future after covid-19 & Ukraine
1:12:53 End of capitalism?
1:15:57 Opportunity for the revolutionary left?
1:19:58 The Scandinavian military-industrial complex
1:28:34 How to view Russia’s war in Ukraine
Whether or not there was a U.S.-backed coup against Pakistan’s deposed leader Imran Khan is a point of great debate. On a recent episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek spoke with Pakistani professor Taimur Rahman, who argued that it was not a coup: https://youtu.be/nA5UCTz4oys
But judging by the crowds in the street, many Pakistanis believe that there was in fact a coup and that the US played a major role. To understand why so many Pakistanis are demonstrating in support of Imran Khan, Rania Khalek was joined by Azhar Imran, a lecturer of political science at Punjab University.
**Two months into the war on Ukraine, why have Europeans allowed the US, which is of course not part of Europe, to dictate reckless policies against Russia over what are purely European issues? Is this a desperate last ditch effort to halt American and Western decline?
To discuss the future of Europe and the Western-dominated order, Rania Khalek was joined by Wolfgang Streeck, a sociologist and emeritus director at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.**
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
1:05 Germany’s about-face
5:13 40,000 US soldiers in Germany
7:57 Europe’s imperial core & periphery
17:25 US dictates vs European interests
26:41 Pouring weapons into Ukraine
31:51 EU vs NATO
38:55 America’s wars blow back on Europe
43:53 The power of the Ukrainian far right
51:37 Is neoliberalism collapsing?
One year after Zionist extremists in Jerusalem provoked a defiant response from Palestinians in occupied Gaza, the same scenario is now repeating. Israelis are attacking Palestinian worshippers at Al Aqsa mosque during Ramadan, executing Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and once again bombing Gaza, but without any of the Western sympathy expressed for Ukrainian victims or condemnation against their aggressors. In fact, the very nations most zealously supporting the Ukrainains are the ones supporting the Israeli oppressors of the Palestinians.
To contextualize the latest Israeli escalation and expose the double standards, Rania Khalek was joined by Ali Abunimah, executive director of the Electronic Intifada and author of “The Battle for Justice in Palestine”.
Ali’s article that was discussed in this episode: https://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-lobby-group-adl-rehabilitates-hitlers-accomplices-ukraine/35021
Follow the Electronic Intifada on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/electronicintifada
TIME CODES
0:00 Intro
3:22 What’s going on in Palestine?
7:47 Why does Israel attack Al Aqsa Mosque?
19:26 Repeat of last year?
23:18 Native collaborators
32:07 Israeli policy in Gaza: “kill and kill and kill”
37:41 Ukraine, Palestine and weaponizing religion
43:11 Whitewashing Nazis
50:37 Right-wing diaspora
1:00:51 EU hypocrisy
1:06:10 Invisible war crimes, invisible victims
1:10:43 Malcolm Nance becomes a foreign fighter
1:15:27 Blowback
While the world has been distracted by the war in Ukraine, Pakistan is in the middle of massive political upheaval. Imran Khan was removed as prime minister through a parliamentary vote of no confidence, which he blamed on a US-backed coup.
Was it US interference? Or was this just local Pakistani politics?
To understand what happened and how Pakistani politics came to be dominated by a right-wing and military elite, Rania Khalek was joined by Taimur Rahman, a Pakistani Marxist who is Secretary General of the Mazdoor Kisan Party (Workers and Peasants Party). He is also an associate professor of political science at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
TIME CODES
0:00 Intro
2:28 What happened in Pakistan?
9:33 Was it a US-backed coup?
23:34 Who is Pakistan’s new PM Shehbaz Sharif?
29:17 Why don’t Pakistani PM’s complete their terms?
31:49 Pakistan’s military & ruling elites
35:52 Dominance of Punjab province
37:47 Role of Saudi Arabia in Pakistan
48:15 Sunni extremism in Pakistan
52:10 Pakistan’s relationship with China
59:12 Multipolarity
1:07:29 Leftist movements in Pakistan
1:12:18 What do Pakistanis think about the war in Ukraine?
The war in Ukraine has led to a closing of the ranks in the West, with media and politicians in lockstep united against Russia, and some self-described leftists have joined in. As with many recent conflicts the left has been riven by divisions over what is the correct position to take, with “Putinism” replacing “Assadism” as the new term used to excommunicate opponents of NATO and American intervention.
To understand the history of the Western left and how wars over the last century have caused divisions, Rania Khalek was joined by Ben Norton, an investigative journalist based in Latin America, and editor of the independent news website Multipolarista.
Follow Multipolarista here: https://multipolarista.com/
For those who just discovered Ukraine two months ago, the fact that Ukrainian nationalism has been dangerously intertwined with fascism might sound like Russian propaganda. But is it?
How powerful is the Ukrainian far right? Are they really linked to Nazis? Why is the corporate-owned media denying this?
To place this war and the Ukrainian far right in its historical context, 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.
TIME CODES
0:00 Intro
2:48 Origins of right-wing Ukrainian nationalism
5:03 Ukraine during Soviet times
8:32 Ukrainian collaboration with Nazis in WW2
14:27 Ukraine after the Soviet collapse
16:43 Post-Soviet right-wing nationalisms & historical revisionism
21:23 Understanding Ukraine’s far right factions
27:50 Is the US arming neo-Nazis in Ukraine?
33:44 Azov Battalion infiltration of military
38:21 Media whitewashing Nazis
49:48 2014’s contribution to rising far right
58:30 Far right threats against Zelensky
1:06:26 Boon to the global far right
1:11:07 Broken NATO promises to Russia
1:19:55 What alternatives did Putin have?
1:25:46 Threat of a more militarized Germany & Europe
1:39:51 Where to follow Tarik
The war in Ukraine is turning geopolitics upside down, in a global order that already seemed brittle. We have an oil shock, a financial shock, a cold war, a hot war, an ongoing global pandemic all at the same time. Now global supply chains, upon which modern human life depends, have been severed. Supplies of food and fertilizer are threatened for those most dependent on it at a time when global warming curtails our agriculture.
This makes urgent once again the so-called “agrarian question,” looking at the world through the perspective of what goes on in the countryside. All this brings into sharper focus the role of global capitalism in causing the conditions of peasants and workers to further deteriorate.
To place the current crisis in its context and bring it back to the essential questions facing the majority of humanity, Rania Khalek was joined by Paris Yeros, professor of international economics at the Federal University of ABC in São Paulo, Brazil, who recently wrote a paper calling for a “New Bandung,” referencing the famous 1955 convening of the Afro-Asian Conference.
Elements of a New Bandung: Towards an International Solidarity Front, by Paris Yeros:
https://parisyeros.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/elements-of-a-new-bandung.pdf
TIME CODES
0:00 Intro
2:01 Ukraine war: Food shortages and famine
5:13 The agrarian question & national sovereignty
11:10 Self-sufficiency & the countryside
16:30 Calling for a new Bandung
23:23 Existential crisis in Third World & system collapse
30:37 Effects of climate crisis on agrarian question
33:29 Why China is so important for the Global South
38:15 How Global South views war in Ukraine
42:15 Structural causes of Ukraine war
51:34 What is multipolarity?
54:43 Land reform in Zimbabwe
1:13:22 Eurocentric social reformism
Mainstream media are whipping up a frenzy against leftists who oppose US imperialism and NATO, smearing them as “Russian agents” for trying to analyze this conflict and its causes with nuance rather than emotion or jingoism.
With Western media exclusively focused on Ukraine, simply reminding people that Afghanistan is being starved due to U.S. policies, that Yemen is still being bombed and besiged, and that Syria, Cuba, Iran and Venezuela are still being sanctioned leads to accusations of “whataboutism.” And daring to point out the NATO and US role in setting the stage for Russia’s intervention in Ukraine gets one labeled a “Russian apologist.”
To discuss these challenges, Rania Khalek was joined by Justin Podur,a Professor in Environmental and Urban Change at York U in Toronto, author of “Siegebreakers,” and host of The Anti-Empire Project podcast.
TIME CODES
0:00 Intro
2:25 “Whataboutism” & ignoring Afghanistan & sanctions
15:16 Correcting the record on Soviet “defeat” in Afghanistan
34:30 Splits on the left in war time
45:02 Network of anti-left smear merchants
50:04 How to deal with pressure of censorship
1:04:20 Russia, anti-imperialism & nuance
1:15:45 Shifting global order
1:23:02 What is the “international community”
1:27:26 How Justin became a leftist
Many experts on Russia and Ukraine are calling for de-escalation and genuine diplomacy but are being drowned out by a unanimous chorus led by the media and a cacophony of hawkish frauds demanding more war.
To break through the war fervor, Rania Khalek spoke to Anatol Lieven, a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and author of “Ukraine and Russia: A Fraternal Rivalry.”
TIME CODES
0:00 Intro
5:38 The West could have prevented this war
13:00 US policy is prolonging the war
18:01 What are Putin’s motives?
23:06 Risk of the far right in Ukraine?
28:38 Global dangers of flooding Ukraine w/ weapons
32:07 Significance of Chechen fighters in Ukraine
34:31 US role in 2014 coup
39:07 Peace settlement
46:12 Sanctions on Russia
51:39 Most of the world is NOT siding w/ the US
56:08 An emboldened NATO
59:16 Negative consequences for the West
1:03:34 Think tank & media war fervor
The fighting in Ukraine might be a European war but its consequences are global, and it may even cause changes in geopolitical balances, relations and multipolarity. How can we understand this war as anti-imperialists? What will its global economic consequences be? And what will be the result of the unprecedented sanctions imposed on Russia?
To help make sense of it all, Rania Khalek was joined by Marxist economist Prahbat Patnaik, professor emeritus at JNU and author of “A Theory of Imperialism” and the more recent “Capital and Imperialism: Theory, History, and the Present,” both co-authored with Utsa Patnaik.
Articles by Prabhat Patnaik that are discussed in the video:
How Countries Are Escaping Sanctions Under Neo-Liberalism: https://www.newsclick.in/How-Countries-Escaping-Sanctions-under-Neo-Liberalism
How IMF Is Closely Linked With the Ukraine Crisis:
https://www.newsclick.in/how-imf-closely-linked-ukraine-crisis
Mainstream media coverage of the war in Ukraine has sought to erase the U.S. and NATO role in setting the stage for the conflict, the Western history of attacking Russia, and Europe’s violent and racist past and present.
Joseph Massad, Professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History at Columbia University, joins Dispatches with Rania Khalek to remind us of the hypocrisy and history the West has attempted to erase as it escalates the war against Russia in Ukraine.
The impacts of Russia’s war in Ukraine isn’t isolated to Europe. As the US and NATO pour weapons into a Ukrainian insurgency, the risk for confrontation between nuclear-armed power is rising. Does this mark the end of unipolarity and the beginning of a multipolar world? If so, what does that mean? How will support for a Ukrainian insurgency feed into the rise of the global far right? What will be the impact of the war and sanctions on Russia, which are already causing wheat, fertilizer and gas prices to skyrocket? And what should be the anti-imperialist left’s position on these major developments?
To help us frame these events in a global context, 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.
Listen to every episode of Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.
Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK
BreakThrough coverage has emphasized the US and NATO role in instigating the violence in Ukraine, which is precisely what the Western media has tried to obscure in recent weeks. We've also hosted many voices from different segments of the left about the war. One of those voices joining Rania Khalek from the Russian left is Alexey Sakhnin, an anti-war activist, journalist and academic of the Soviet era.
It’s not for nothing that the US has been called the “United States of Amnesia.” The same leaders who invaded Iraq and killed a million people, who are starving Yemenis and Afghans, who label Palestinians "terrorists" for throwing rocks, and who took every opportunity to escalate rather than de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine since 2014, have suddenly dusted off their international law books with regard to Russia and are celebrating and promising to arm the Ukranian resistance.
To discuss the government and media hypocrisy and dangerous escalation by the West and Russia, Rania Khalek is joined by Ali Abunimah, director of The Electronic Intifada and author of the Battle for Justice In Palestine.
After weeks of sky-high tension, ambiguity and threats, the Russian military crossed into Ukraine and the country's eight year civil war became a war between two post-soviet armies.
While the extent of Putin's goals in the war are unclear, Western countries have been supplying the Ukrainian military with weapons, launched a brutal economic war on Russia, and will support a NATO-backed insurgency against the Russian military. Once war starts, forces are unleashed which can’t easily be contained, dynamics emerge which were unpredicted and the more outside players intervene the longer and bloodier the battles will be.
Why did Russia invade Ukraine? How is it impacting Russia domestically? And what comes next? To understand how we got here and what to expect, Rania Khalek spoke to Boris Kagarlitsky, a Marxist professor at the Moscow Higher School for Social and Economic Sciences, and the editor of YouTube channel and web journal Rabkor.
BT’s Rania Khalek paid a visit to the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, also known as ELAM. Cuba’s socialist government foots the bill for students, who come from all over the world to study medicine for free. Tuition, accommodation and board are free, and they even throw in a government stipend for students to live on. The one condition? Graduates have to return to serve in low-income communities.
A testament to Cuba's commitment to internationalism, ELAM is one of - if not the largest - medical schools in the world, with tens of thousands of students enrolling in a given year from over 100 countries.
During her visit to the campus, Rania had the chance to catch up with current 2nd year medical students from the U.S., and asked them about their experiences studying in Cuba.
Breakthrough News was on the ground in Havana, Cuba where Rania Khalek spoke with Johana Tablada, General Deputy Director of US affairs at the Cuban Foreign Ministry.
They discussed the US blockade hampering the country’s development, how socialism makes Cuba’s survival possible, why Cuba has such a strong anti-imperialist foreign policy, how Cuba sees the recent left victories across Latin America, Cuba’s vaccine leadership, “Havana Syndrome,” how Cuba’s medical brigades connect to an internationalist foreign policy, its growing relationships with Iran & China, and more.
All things having to do with Russia are seen in the West through a renewed Cold War prism, with simplistic portrayals more befitting a Hollywood villain. Western media has been in a panic about an impending Russian invasion of Ukraine, while they celebrated a countrywide uprising in Kazakhstan that after a few days was put down.
So what's really happening? Is it all right-wing color revolutions provoked by the West? Local anger manipulated by elites? Perhaps a bit of both? What are the local dynamics at play?
To discuss, Rania Khalek was joined by Volodymyr Ishchenko, a research associate at the Institute of East European Studies at Free University Berlin.
As Israel enters its 74th year of occupying Palestine, labeling all its critics as antisemitic, world public opinion is finally changing. But is it shifting fast enough for those being pushed off their land? What is the relationship between, and relative importance of, Western public opinion in connection with regional resistance? How should we deal with the new brand of political leaders who claim solidarity with Palestinians while campaigning but then disappoint when in office? Also, is a multipolar world good for Palestine and what does 2022 have in store for the Middle East?
To discuss this Rania Khalek was joined by Ali Abunimah, director of The Electronic Intifada and author of the Battle for Justice In Palestine.
In 2018, the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran, but if you follow mainstream media you’d think Iran was responsible for the deal’s collapse. In the recent seventh round of negotiations to restore the deal, the U.S. government added new sanctions on Iran while Biden was urged to “restore Iran’s fear” with military build-ups. Meanwhile, Israel continues to threaten war.
But how do Iranians see all this? Here to explain is Prof. Mohammad Marandi, an advisor to the Iranian negotiating team in Vienna and a Professor of English Literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran.
The U.S. government has tried to destabilize the tiny island nation of Cuba for 60 years all as punishment for Cuba daring to have a revolution and forge a path independent of U.S. capitalism. Yet Cuba has survived, and even thrived, most recently developing its own highly effective COVID vaccine while dispatching doctors around the world.
How did Cuba keep the revolution alive even as socialist projects in other Global South countries failed with the collapse of the Soviet Union? What was the role of individuals like Che Guevara in laying the foundation for all of this? What are Cuba’s greatest challenges today?
Rania Khalek is joined by Helen Yaffe, a lecturer in economic and social history at the University of Glasgow and author of “We Are Cuba! How a Revolutionary People Have Survived in a Post-Soviet World.”
China is imposing harsh regulations on private education, big tech, and billionaires. The new Cold Warriors in the U.S. government and media call these moves authoritarian, leftward tyranny, and bad for business. But Chinese president Xi Jinping calls it part of a “common prosperity” agenda to create a more equitable society on the road to building socialism.
To help understand the Chinese point of view, Rania Khalek was joined by Tings Chak, a writer and researcher with Dongsheng News and the Tricontinental Institute.
Why is the coverage of the war in Ethiopia so one-sided? What’s really happening on the ground? And how does it compare to the narrative being presented in U.S. media?
Rania Khalek is joined by Jemal Countess, a photojournalist with Getty Images and Redux Pictures who was formerly based in Ethiopia and has reported from around the country since the war started. He is currently based in the United States.
Lebanon has endured constant attacks and pressure from Israel, America and their allies for decades, sometimes in the form of direct military confrontation and more recently through a hybrid war involving sanctions, propaganda, violent provocations, social media, western NGOs and embassies -- all to weaken Hezbollah.
To discuss all of this Rania Khalek is joined by researcher and journalist Julia Kassem, who has a masters degree from the American University of Beirut and is a contributor to the Al Akhbar, a widely circulated Lebanese leftist newspaper.
Why does capitalism need imperialism? What is the magnitude of colonial and imperial theft of resources from the Global South? How did global capitalism adapt after World War II and in the neoliberal era? And how is it fueling neofascist movements today?
Rania Khalek was joined by renowned Marxist Economist Utsa Patnaik. She is co-author of "A Theory of Imperialism" and the more recent "Capital and Imperialism: Theory, History, and the Present," with Prabhat Patnaik.
When we think of Palestine we think of the struggle for liberation against occupation, settler colonialism, and brutal military oppression. What often gets left out is how this fits into neoliberal capitalism. Adopting private development and neoliberalization under Israeli occupation not only failed to promote Palestinian sovereignty but instead it led to further subjugation to israel.
To delve into this topic, Rania Khalek was joined by Kareem Rabie, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois and author of the book, “Palestine is Throwing a Party and the Whole World is Invited: Capital and State Building in the West Bank.”
Chile is set to have its first elections following the 2019 uprising, which was provoked by growing inequality and fueled by a violent and deadly police response. But as the left has made gains, so too has the far right in Chile.
Here to break it all down and discuss how it fits into the broader Latin American scene, including Peru and Argentina, is Renato Vélez, a left-wing Chilean activist and researcher currently completing a PhD in Latin American studies.
November 4 is the one year anniversary of the TPLF attacks on the Ethiopian government's Northern Command base, kicking off a brutal war. The TPLF is now advancing towards Addis Ababa, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency. The U.S. government has continued to condemn Ethiopia for fighting back against the TPLF insurgency, leading many Ethiopians to believe that Washington is supporting a violent coup in their country.
Hermela Aregawi is an Ethiopian-American journalist of Tigrayan descent who has been relentlessly attacked and smeared for calling out biased media reporting on the conflict. She joined Rania Khalek to discuss this and more.
Lebanon can’t catch a break. Amidst the worst economic collapse in the modern era, the Saudis and their regional allies are punishing the tiny country over comments criticizing the war on Yemen. To make matters worse, October saw clashes in Beirut on a front line that dates back to the civil war of the 1980s, with a Saudi and U.S.-backed Christian militia opening fire on Shia protesters affiliated with Hezbollah.
Why is all this happening now? Does it have anything to do with the Lebanese civil war? What was that war even about? Was it really just a sectarian bloodbath or an international attack on the Arab left? And how does it relate to the economic collapse and ongoing foreign meddling wreaking havoc on Lebanon today?
Here to put it all in its historical context is As’ad AbuKhalil, a professor of political science at California State University Stanislaus.
As tensions heat up over Taiwan, everything the U.S. does is depicted as defensive while everything China does is framed as menacing, aggressive and authoritarian. But the island’s history has been totally left out of the coverage.
How did Taiwan come to be? Is it part of China? How has the U.S. used Taiwan as a weapon against China both historically and today? Is there a similar situation with Tibet? With Xinjiang? With Hong Kong? Is this really about supporting self-determination and independence or part of a strategy by the U.S. to break up and weaken its greatest adversary?
To discuss this, Rania Khalek was joined by Ken Hammond, Professor of East Asian and Global History at New Mexico State University and an activist with the organization Pivot to Peace.
Is there a growing resistance to the unipolar imperial order? Is the US an empire in decline? Will the future be a multipolar one? If so, what does that mean ans how should the left in the imperialist core respond?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Vijay Prashad, Executive Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and author of “Washington Bullets: A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations.”
Venezuela’s special diplomatic envoy, Alex Saab, was extradited to the U.S. on Oct. 16 after 491 days of detention and imprisonment in Cape Verde. His alleged crime? Helping the Venezuelan government evade crippling US sanctions to procure fuel, medicine and food. His detention sets a dangerous precedent in violation of all diplomatic protocol and kicks off a new, disturbing phase of the US hybrid war on Venezuela.
The U.S. and EU have accused Ethiopia of every atrocity imaginable and now they’re preparing sanctions. The Ethiopian government insists that it’s legitimately fighting a separatist group, the formerly ruling TPLF, which is attempting to regain power through violence and terrorism.
Who’s telling the truth? What explains the one-sided media coverage? How do Eritrea and Sudan fit into it all? What’s driving Washington’s destabilizing policies in the Horn of Africa, which have alienated a longtime U.S. ally?
To help cut through the fog of war, Rania Khalek was joined by Eugene Puryear, a journalist for Breakthrough News and host of The Punch Out podcast.
In the American mind, Russia is associated with the Soviet Union — the red menace — and long standing Russophobia clearly echoes in the coverage of Putin today. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) officially received 19 percent of the vote, but the KPRF claims their vote totals were suppressed. What explains the recent election results, does Putin remain popular, and how does American interference influence Russian politics?
Rania Khalek was joined by Russian leftist, journalist and activist Alexey Sakhnin, whose work has appeared at Jacobin and New Left Review.
It’s been 20 years since the US invaded Afghanistan. As the US finally withdrew, Taliban control over Afghanistan has been portrayed as inevitable. But what happened to the other political forces in the country?
The war on Afghanistan didn’t really start in 2001. US meddling goes back to the 1970s and British meddling even further. Most people don’t know that there have been liberal, secular nationalist, and communist Afghan forces who tried to transform their country but were prevented from doing so by Western imperial powers who supported religious and tribal conservatives to maintain control.
To make sense of it all and to uncover some of this buried history, Rania Khalek was joined by Vijay Prashad, Executive Director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research and author of the book "Washington Bullets: A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations.”
Western governments along with their loyal media and think tanks warn that China is colonizing, exploiting, and forcing Africa into a debt trap. Is this true? Or is it Cold War propaganda? What is China’s actual role in Africa and how does it compare with the West’s?
To help us understand what's really happening, Rania Khalek was joined by two leading African leftists: Mikaela Nhondo Erskog, an educator and researcher with Pan Africanism Today, a researcher at the Tricontinental Institute, and a member of the organizing committee of No Cold War. And Kambale Musavuli, an activist, writer, and analyst with the Center for Research on the Congo.
Read the report Erskog worked on, “Defending Our Sovereignty: US Military Bases in Africa and the Future of African Unity”, here: https://thetricontinental.org/dossier-42-militarisation-africa/
Anti-scientific conspiracy theories are spreading, not just among the right, but even among some segments of the left.
To address this issue from a Marxist perspective, Rania Khalek spoke with Rob Wallace, an evolutionary epidemiologist at the Agroecology and Rural Economics Research Corps in St. Paul and author of “Dead Epidemiologists: On the Origins of COVID-19.”
The Saudis, backed by the Americans, have been waging a war against Yemen since 2015, causing massive civilian casualties as well as famine and a cholera epidemic. How did Yemen get here? Yemen’s modern history is fascinating and overlooked, and few are aware of the Marxist republic that existed in South Yemen from 1967 to 1990.
To help place recent events in their historical context, Rania Khalek was joined by Helen Lackner, a research associate at SOAS, visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and the author of several books, including, “Yemen in Crisis: The Road to War.” And she has a forthcoming book “Yemen: Poverty & Conflict” (Routledge).
Rania Khalek spoke with writer and conflict mediator Michael Vatikiotis about his latest book exploring the lost history of Europeans fleeing to safety in the Middle East over a century ago. Vatikiotis discusses recent developments in Myanmar, China and Southeast Asia. He is the Asia director at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a leading conflict resolution organization.
The Game of Thrones politics of Kurdistan is fascinating and neglected, involving family and tribal dictators, international intrigue from the likes of Turkey, Iran and Israel, and the elusive PKK.
Rania Khalek spoke with Kamal Chomani, a political analyst from Iraqi Kurdistan. They discussed the nuances of the political parties that make up the leadership in Iraqi Kurdistan, their relationship to the Iraqi government and its neighbors, the plight of the Yazidis, the Kurdish issue in other parts of the Middle East and more.
In February, the Chinese government celebrated the eradication of extreme poverty within its borders. This would be a massive achievement for any country, but for China it’s even more so as it is home to some 1.4 billion people and is considered a developing country. China is credited with lifting over 800 million people out of poverty, which accounts for 70 percent of the world’s total poverty reduction. This is an incredible feat and it’s worth understanding how China did it.
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Tings Chak, a researcher at the Tricontinental Institute, a member of Dongsheng News collective and lead author of the report “Serve the People: The Eradication of Extreme Poverty in China.”
Read the report: https://thetricontinental.org/studies...
Follow Dongsheng News: https://youtube.com/c/DongshengNews
Rania Khalek was joined by @Daniel Dumbrill , a political commentator on China-related issues who is based in Shenzhen, to speak about his experiences in Hong Kong, his recent trip to Xinjiang and how it relates to America's new Cold War.
As the situation in Ethiopia continues to escalate, the war over narratives is in full force. Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? Is it even that black and white? Is the TPLF fighting a war for liberation of the Tigrayan people against a cruel government or is it executing a war of aggression to regain power after losing it? And what should we make of recent developments such as the Oromo Liberation Front joining the TPLF in its fight against the state? What does it all mean for the greater Horn region?
To help make sense of all of this and place it in its proper historical context, Rania Khalek was joined by Mohamed Hassan, who served as an Ethiopian diplomat in the 1990s before resigning in protest of the TPLF. He was also a member of the Ethiopian student movement in the 1970s. And he just returned from a visit to Ethiopia and Eritrea.
All eyes are on Afghanistan as the Taliban has rapidly taken over the entire country. Most coverage is focused on what this means for the US. But in reality, the West is removed and distant, Iran, on the other hand, is Afghanistan's neighbor and hosts about 2 million official or unofficial Afghan refugees and will likely absorb even more. Iran had a bad relationship with the Taliban in the 90s, which killed its diplomat. Iran now has to deal with this new reality on its border.
To discuss this and other developments in and around Iran, including sanctions, covid, nuclear deal negotiations, and talks with Saudi Arabia, Rania Khalek, was joined by Mohammad Marandi, professor of English literature and orientalism at the University of Tehran.
Rania Khalek was joined by Daniel Bessner, associate professor of international studies at the University of Washington and co-host of the podcast American Prestige, to talk about US foreign policy under Biden. What’s changed? What hasn’t changed? Is the US empire collapsing? And what should a progressive foreign policy look like?
Rania Khalek was joined by Jordan Chariton, journalist and co-founder of Status Coup, to discuss the massive cover-up of the toxic water scandal in Flint, the ongoing eviction crisis in spite of the moratorium, corporate Democrats tanking Nina Turner’s campaign, and the crisis in left media, where censorship and underhanded algorithms suppress content that challenges the corporate media line as the left media ecosystem has descended into a bickering match between personalities.
It's been one year since the Beirut port exploded, killing over 200 people and wounding thousands. And it's been almost two years since Lebanon's Ponzi scheme economy started crashing.
The West often blames the devastation that has befallen Lebanon on government mismanagement, sectarianism, bureaucratic incompetence, internal corruption, and their favorite boogeyman, Hezbollah. But you can't speak honestly about Lebanon's problems without mentioning the constant US, Saudi, and Israeli meddling, western imperialism, the neoliberal dystopia that was imposed on Lebanon, and US sanctions. And you can't isolate Lebanon from destructive US policies in the countries surrounding it, from Syria and Iraq to Iran and Palestine.
To discuss how Lebanon got to where it is, Rania Khalek was joined by Jamal Ghosn, a columnist at the leftist Lebanese newspaper, Al Akhbar.
Follow Jamal Ghosn on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamalghosn
The situation in Ethiopia has continued to escalate, with accusations of genocide, warnings of famine, and threats of sanctions. What began as a war between the TPLF in Tigray and the Ethiopian government is spilling into neighboring areas as the TPLF appears to launch more offensives in the Afar and Amhara regions. The growing violence threatens to destabilize Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country, and the greater Horn region should it continue unabated.
To help us understand what's happening inside the country and to address the one-sided Western media coverage that places all the blame on the Ethiopian government, Rania Khalek was joined by Brook Abdu, an Ethiopian journalist and senior editor of The Reporter, an Ethiopian news outlet.
Tunisia is where the Arab uprisings erupted in December 2010, spreading east and ushering in 10 years of change, chaos, and wars. It’s also the only “Arab Spring” country that could claim some success in transitioning to democracy. That’s why many were shocked to see Tunisia’s President Kais Saied oust the government and freeze parliament, using the army. Some Tunisians are celebrating what has been denounced as a coup by the ruling parties, and there are allegations of Emirati assistance.
Is this a minor constitutional crisis, an economic uprising, or a coup against a Muslim Brotherhood government just like Morsi’s in Egypt in 2013? To answer these questions and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Fadil Aliriza, a Tunisia-based researcher and journalist. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Meshkal, an independent Tunisian media outlet.
July 9th marked the 10th anniversary of the creation of South Sudan. The US State Department lamented that the young country has “seen much suffering” and “the promise of peace and prosperity that independence represented remains unfulfilled.”
To help us understand why the optimism of the West and South Sudanese in 2011 remains unfulfilled, Rania Khalek was joined by Joshua Craze, an anthropologist who spent many years researching in South Sudan and has taught in various universities. He's also a research fellow at the London School of Economics.
Ethiopia has been in the headlines in recent months as the TPLF, a Tigrayan rebel group that ruled the country for three decades, violently seized the northern Ethiopian state of Tigray from the government. As of this recording, the Ethiopian government had declared a ceasefire. However, the TPLF has continued fighting to expand its control over Tigray's border areas and threatening to push the war into neighboring countries.
The Western media has largely cheered on the TPLF and demonized the Ethiopian government and its allies, with allegations of ethnic cleansing, intentional famine and even genocide. The US has gone so far as to place sanctions on the Ethiopian government, a longtime US ally. But, as is usually the case with most wars in geostrategic areas of the world, there's far more to the story than is being told and a whole lot of misleading information from the mainstream press.
To help us make sense of what's happening and how we got here, Rania Khalek was joined by Eugene Puryear, a journalist for Breakthrough News and host of The Punch Out.
After seemingly forgetting Afghanistan for years, Western media has rediscovered it in time to provide panicked and hand-wringing coverage of the US-led coalition's withdrawal, as well as the apparent rapid gains made by the Taliban.
Is the country on the verge of collapse? What will happen and what do Afghanistan’s people want?
To help make sense of this, Rania Khalek is joined by Obaidullah Baheer, a lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan and Kardan on peace and conflict resolution-related subjects. He is also an expert on negotiations with the Taliban and a prolific writer.
US officials and their corporate media mouthpieces were elated at the sight of protests in Cuba in recent days against deteriorating living conditions that are a direct result of the US blockade, which Trump increased and Biden has maintained during the pandemic to deliberately heighten suffering at a time when Cuba was sending doctors around the world to fight the disease.
As is often the case when an adversary country experiences protests of any kind, it was immediately weaponized to push for a regime change narrative against Cuba. There's so much to unpack, from the protest double standards, to the blatant efforts at meddling and sabotage, to the pure hypocrisy from those in power.
To help make sense of it all, Rania Khalek was joined by Manolo De Los Santos, founder & co-director of The People's Forum in New York City and a researcher with Tricontinental who spent six years living in Cuba.
Assal Rad, a Senior Research Fellow at NIAC (the National Iranian American Council) joins Rania Khalek Dispatches to discuss the ongoing suffering of Iranians from US sanctions, the return to the Iran nuclear deal, and how little has actually changed under Biden as his team seems to escalate.
Fred M’membe, leader of the Socialist Party of Zambia, is running for president in the upcoming August election. Can he win? He joins Rania Khalek Dispatches to discuss the failure of capitalist policies on the African continent and how his party's platform can fix it
Rania Khalek is joined by Ali Abunimah, director of The Electronic Intifada and author of The Battle for Justice In Palestine, to discuss developments in Palestine and regionally following the formation of a new Israeli government and Israel’s war on Gaza.
From Israel’s ethnic cleansing through forced demolitions in Silwan to the Palestinian Authority acting as puppet to the occupier, Israel’s war on Palestine hasn’t let up. How are Palestinians resisting? Who is supporting that resistance? Does the new Israeli government make a difference for better or worse? And how is it impacting other countries in the Middle East?
The Green New Deal has become a popular slogan among progressive Democrats in recent years. But we need to be wary of the capitalist class co-opting the energy around climate change to maintain the imperialist global order they benefit from.
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek is joined by Max Ajl, a post doc at Wageningen University and a researcher with the Tunisian Observatory for Food Sovereignty and, relevant to this discussion, he is the author of the new book “A People’s Green New Deal” published by Pluto Press.
German support for Israel appears to be unshakable no matter what the Israelis do to Palestinians. The irony of course is that much of this support for Israel is justified as necessary to make up for the German Holocaust against European Jews. It seems Palestinians are paying for Europe’s crimes.
To discuss this phenomenon Rania Khalek is joined by Denijal Jegic, German author and post doctoral researcher at the Lebanese American University with a PhD in American studies who wrote about this topic for TRT in a piece titled, “Palestinians must suffer so Germany can feel better about its past.”
Rania and Denijal also discuss Israel’s pinkwashing — the use of LGBTQ+ rights to distract from occupation and war crimes — and how western countries have adopted these practices as a form of cultural imperialism against the Middle East.
Breakthrough’s Rania Khalek was joined by Professor of English Literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran Mohammad Marandi on her program Dispatches to discuss the results of the Iranian presidential election and some of the simplistic and misleading media portrayals of Iran that have come with that coverage.
In December outgoing president Donald trump pulled one more shocking foreign policy decision when he recognized Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara in exchange for Morocco normalizing relations with Israel.
Western Sahara has been disputed since the Spanish withdrew in 1975 and the conflict between Morocco and the Polisario front, an armed liberation movement, continued until the 1991 ceasefire.
Last year the Polisario Front, which is backed by neighboring Algeria, declared the ceasefire over. Most recently, the Moroccans expressed fury after the leader of the Polisario Front was given medical treatment in Spain, and the Moroccans retaliated by unleashing refugees into Spanish territory.
Jacob Mundy is an associate professor of Peace and Conflict Studies and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at Colgate University.
He has recently published a report for the European Council on Foreign Relations, where he’s a visiting fellow, proposing creating new solutions to the decades old problem, entitled: “Free to choose: A new plan for peace in Western Sahara.”
He joined Rania Khalek’s program Dispatches to discuss this and other areas of his expertise, including Libya and Algeria.
As Iran prepares for presidential elections, Rania Khalek is joined by Iranian scholar at Columbia University Navid Zarrinnal on her program Dispatches to discuss developments in Iran, from the coming elections to the tumultuous Trump years, relations with the Biden administration, Iran’s role in the region and more.
What is imperialism? Is it a stage of capitalism, as Lenin described it, or was it always essential to capitalism? Can capitalism exist without imperialism?
Prahbat Patnaik, professor emeritus at JNU, joins Rania Khalek on her program Dispatches to discuss the argument he lays out in his book A Theory of Imperialism, which argues that capitalism was always a function of imperialism. But today’s imperialism takes a subtler less visible form than during colonialism , keeping large parts of the world in poverty through mechanisms like income deflation so that the wealthy nations can maintain access to the cheap commodities only tropical regions can produce. Imperialism also requires an army of unemployed people in the third world that are even more essential to capitalism than the army of reserve labor in the global north.
Patnaik also addresses the democratic socialist ideal of turning America into Denmark but that too cannot happen without imperialism. The Scandinavian countries, he says, need imperialism to thrive because they are not self-sufficient and owe their prosperity to the imperialist system created and maintained by western colonialist powers.
Also, is China imperialist? How do sanctions and war fit into this? Is this system planned or is it spontaneous and on autopilot? Are we forever doomed to this system? How do we resist?
PBS Frontline released a long anticipated documentary featuring Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, formerly the head of Jabhat Al Nusra, the al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, which is now called Hayat Tahrir al Sham, or HTS. Jolani is attempting to rebrand himself and his organization in an effort to be removed from the US terrorism list so he can be legitimized as the leader of Idlib in northern Syria.
Has Jolani and his group’s allegiance to al Qaeda really changed? Or is this a sinister charm offensive to maintain and even gain more power with the backing of the West in order to continue his campaign to collapse and takeover Syria and impose an Islamic State no different than ISIS? Did PBS whitewash Jolani? And why do journalists who should know by now the jihadist reality of the opposition to the Syrian government continue to treat them as glorious revolutionaries?
To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek is joined by Theo Padnos, who was held as a hostage of Jabhat Al Nusra for two years, enduring day after day of torture and getting unique insight into the group. He’s also the author of the recently published book Blindfold: A Memoir of Capture, Torture, and Enlightenment.
Human rights lawyer Steven Donziger has been thrust into an epic battle with one of the biggest oil companies in the world. He helped win a multi billion dollar lawsuit against the Oil Giant Chevron for polluting the Amazon in Ecuador and poisoning the indigenous community who lives there.
Ever since then Chevron has waged a relentless and global campaign to avoid accountability and to punish Doziger. In what reads like a Hollywood thriller, a US judge with ties to Chevron has conspired with the oil giant to destroy Donziger’s life. As a result of the case, he has been confined to his home on house arrest since 2019. And there’s a corporate media blackout!
Donziger spoke to Rania Khalek on Dispatches from house arrest in New York City, not too far from the New York Times, which has ignored the story.
You can support Steven’s case here: https://www.donzigerdefense.com/
Joseph Massad, Professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History at Columbia University, joins Dispatches with Rania Khalek to help break down everything from Israel’s value as an outpost of US imperialism and why the Arab uprisings failed to the recent victory of Palestinian resistance forces and why it’s crucial to incorporate anti-imperialism in our understanding of the Zionist project.
While it’s not often in the news, the Horn of Africa is volatile and often the scene of violence and its countries are victims of international interventions and interference that has played a destabilizing role, from Djibouti and Eritrea to Somalia and Ethiopia. As western imperialism continues to prop up dictators while blocking any moves towards independence, the western-backed Gulf States are transforming the region into a battlefield against Iran and each other.
Why is this region subjected to so much meddling? How is the new Cold War between the US and China playing out on the ground? And why should Americans care? To help us understand these developments, Rania Khalek is joined by Djiboutian dissident in hiding Abdirahman Mohamed Ahmed, an expert on the Horn of Africa who is both from the region and has a strong leftist background.
Lowkey joins Rania Khalek to talk Palestine and global resistance to Zionist apartheid.
As the violence continues across Israel-Palestine, to help make sense of how we got here and what happens next, Rania Khalek is joined by Amira Hass, an Israeli journalist at Haaretz who is based in Ramallah and has spent years reporting from Gaza and the West Bank.
Hass provides an in-depth analysis on the radicalization of Israeli Jewish society, which is becoming increasingly right-wing as the religious settler mentality is exported from the West Bank into Israeli cities. “Settler colonialism is part of Israeli DNA” with Israeli settlers being “a privatized arm of Israeli state violence.” This is at the root of the constant aggression against Palestinians. And absent outside pressure, Israel will continue down an increasingly dangerous and eliminationist path.
The rising violence in Israel-Palestine has reached new levels of depravity, with roving gangs of Israeli Jewish mobs hunting for Palestinian citizens of Israel to attack while chanting for genocide, at times with the protection of the police. Suha Salman-Mousa, the executive director of the Mossawa Center, which advocates for Palestinian citizens of Israel, joins Rania Khalek on BT’s program Dispatches to help us understand the explosion of hate consuming Israel from within and the danger it poses to Palestinians.
As escalations continue across Israel-Palestine, from Israel bombing Gaza to Palestinian factions in Gaza launching rockets into Israel and the Israeli security apparatus escalating across the West Bank and even against Palestinian citizens of Israel protesting in their cities, to help make sense of all of it, Rania Khalek is joined by journalist and author Gideon Levy.
What the hell is going on in Jerusalem? Has Israel totally lost it? Is this the beginning of a third intifada?
Rania Khalek is joined by Ramallah-based activist Hadeel Shatara, coordinator of the Palestinian prisoner rights group Samidoun, to discuss Israeli violence in Sheikh Jarrah and Al Aqsa mosque, what’s driving Palestinian resistance, internal Palestinian political divisions, western media bias and how those outside of Palestine can help.
In recent weeks Israeli settlers and police have escalated their violence in occupied east Jerusalem,. violently storming the al Aqsa mosque during Ramadan and attacking the neighborhood Sheikh Jarrah where Palestinian families are fighting efforts by Israeli settler groups backed by the courts to evict and replace them with Jewish settlers. Hundreds of Palestinians have been arrested, injured and hospitalized as they resist increasing Israeli brutality in Sheikh Jarrah and in and around al Aqsa. All of this is ahead of the Jerusalem day March, when far right Israeli Mobs are set to march through the streets of occupied East Jerusalem chanting hateful anti-palestinian slogans to celebrate Israel’s illegal capture of the city in 1967. These Israeli provocations have spurred worldwide condemnation and horror, with Israel’s allies expressing deep concerns about the mounting violence. Hadeel explains that this is what Zionism and ethnic cleansing look like.
As Israeli violence against Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem heats up amid looming evictions of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah and Israeli police storming the al Aqsa mosque, Rania Khalek is joined by investigative journalist David Sheen from Haifa for insight into the Israeli side of the equation.
Israeli Jewish extremism has been on the rise for years, explains David, with the religious Zionist movement gaining power in government and in the streets. Their messianic movement wants to demolish the Al Aqsa mosque and build a third Jewish temple in its place. They want to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from all of historic Palestine. They want a theocracy. And Netanyahu has empowered them to maintain his own diminishing power.
Why is this happening now? What are the Israeli political divisions and machinations driving the violence? What’s behind the Israeli lurch to the religious far right? And is there any chance for reversing these developments? Or are Palestinians trapped at the mercy of an increasingly genocidal Israeli politics with zero obstacles to carrying out their apocalyptic vision?
What are Colombians protesting? Why are police gunning them down? And why is it being ignored?
Rania Khalek is joined by Camila Escalante and Ollie Vargas, Bolivian-based journalists for the independent outlet Kawsachun News. They speak about the police killing protesters in Colombia, state-backed massacres of social activists, Colombia’s role as a US-backed destabilizing force in the region and how where ever the US meddles in Latin America, drug trafficking and right-wing violence follow. They also touch on the latest developments in post-coup Bolivia, what’s really behind the violence at the border between Colombia and Venezuela and the CIA’s recent woke video ad.
Intersectional regime change? Queer drone strikes?
Katie Halper joins Rania Khalek to discuss the CIA’s latest recruitment video series “Humans of CIA,” which weaponizes identity politics and left buzzwords to woke-wash imperialism and advance the agendas of war and empire.
Is the US really ending the “forever war”? What does it mean for Afghans on all sides of the conflict?
Rania Khalek is joined by Aziz Hakimi, an Afghan expert and researcher at the Chr. Michelsen Institute, who has done extensive field work throughout Afghanistan, for a comprehensive discussion on Afghanistan’s past and future in light of the American intervention and coming withdrawal.
In recent days, disturbing videos emerged of far right Israeli Jewish mobs roaming the streets of occupied East Jerusalem openly chanting for genocide and attacking Palestinians. Over 100 Palestinians were injured and at least 20 were hospitalized.
Israeli police fired at Palestinians attempting to defend themselves with stun grenades, tear gas, skunk spray, and water cannons. They were also filmed brutality beating Palestinians. Meanwhile, mainstream media reports and US officials whitewashed the horrors as “clashes” faulting both sides.
Rania Khalek is joined by Ali Abunimah, director of The Electronic Intifada and author of the Battle for Justice In Palestine, to discuss these developments as well as the role of US imperialism and the broader regional context of Israel’s aggression.
In a special long-form mixed media edition of Dispatches, BreakThrough's Rania Khalek exposes a bipartisan crisis of imperialism decades in the making.