Anti-Empire Project Podcast – The Anti-Empire Project: Recent Episodes
Justin Podur
Nora joins and we go over our memories of following Seyed Hassan Nasrallah’s speeches over the decades. He led the resistance for 32 years and freed Lebanon from occupation once. His successors will operate under a new set of rules of engagement.
The scientific principles of war propaganda that we’re all suffering from today were laid down by Anglo-American writers amazed by their own performance in World War 1. What are these principles? Why did Anglo-American propaganda work better than German?
From July through to Red October 1917. The Kornilov Affair to the Bolshevik takeover. The culmination of our series on the Bolshevik Revolution.
With Joe Emersberger. The co-authors of the Monthly Review Press book Extraordinary Threat: The US Empire, the Media, and Twenty Years of Coup Attempts in Venezuela, discuss the seventh coup attempt on Chavismo which is in the process of being defeated.
Way back in World War Civ 6,7, and 8, we covered the Russian Revolution of 1905 including future main characters Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin. Now as the 1917 Revolution unfolds we revisit these protagonists and study their actions and writings in the years leading to October 1917. Perhaps history is grand movements of masses, but … Continue reading "World War Civ 41b: Russian Revolution pt2 – Lenin and Trotsky"
A scholar who grew up in a Christian Zionist tradition, Jamin Hubner joins to talk about how the ideology is unrolled to kids and how he found his way out of it.
The leadup to the February 1917 Revolution, including the assassination of Rasputin, the abdication of tsar Nicholas II, and the rise of dual power between the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet.
A report with Jon Elmer on the fierce fighting in Gaza on day 224 of the war and a breakdown of Qassam spokesman Abu Obeida’s speech on that day.
General Allenby, Sharif Hussein and his son Feisal, and their handler TE Lawrence array the forces of the British Empire and the Arab Revolt against the Turco-German forces in Palestine. The battle starts in Gaza and ends with Allenby walking into the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem. The story of the fateful campaign that brought British … Continue reading "World War Civ 40: How Britain Took Palestine in 1917"
On the Anti-Empire Project Youtube Channel there are frequent situation reports or Sit Reps that are posted late at night. Not all of them are reposted here to this podcast, but we’re posting this one on the day of the Rafah invasion. A breakdown of the ceasefire negotatiations and an assessment of where the war … Continue reading "AER 141: Gaza War Sit Rep Day 213 – the invasion of Rafah has begun"
From crashing test flights to close air support and strategic bombing – on the breakneck innovation in aerial warfare over the course of WW1. An issue with some implications today, you’ll agree?
It could be argued that World War I was decided at sea. The British blockade; the Germans try unrestricted submarine warfare, and massive consequences follow. We talk about Jutland, Skaggerak, the Luistania, and civilian hardships, in the war at sea.
Among the many changes wrought by WW1 was an irrevocable change in the status of women. “Munitions girls”, women running the Paris Metro and the buses in London, policewomen and auxilaries. We conclude with some notes on a conscription crisis in Canada that also played a role in women getting the vote.
The conditions may not have been optimal but they didn’t look to be getting better – so the Irish Revolutionaries made their move in Easter 1916. A week of urban warfare followed – the revolutionaries lost – but they succeeded in transforming the Irish question forever and setting the nation on the inevitable road to … Continue reading "WW Civ 36: The Easter Rising in Ireland 1916"
We didn’t have quorum for a tankie therapy session but we got together anyway – Matteo and Alex joined for a discussion of several psychological warfare methods being used on us: normalizing crimes, treating the criminals like they are a natural phenomenon, and the abuser’s method of “look what you made me do”, absolving the … Continue reading "Tankie Therapy on Day 163: Do we debate genocide?"
The battles of Verdun, the Somme, and the Brusilov Offensive. Epic, tragic military errors, horrors of trenches, battles that killed hundreds of thousands and changed the course of history.
The siege on Gaza and the role of the Palestinian Authority are critical context for the Israel’s assault on Gaza. On this episode we take a look at the history of the blockade and how Israel has ghettoized the Palestinian population. Co-production with The Brief.
Genocides happen in broad daylight – it is only afterwards that they are covered up. There are still fewer countries that recognize the Armenian Genocide than countries that do not. We read scholars that take the view that it was a genocide as well as a scholar that describes the events without using the label, … Continue reading "World War Civ 34: The Armenian Genocide 1915-16"
Waqas Ahmad is back and we recap Pakistan politics since the 2022 coup against Imran Khan. After assassination attempts, vexatious lawsuits, thousands of arrests, torture, and the banning of Imran Khan’s party and symbol, voters still foiled the best-laid plans of the Pakistan military. Where things stand after the elections of February 8, 2024 in … Continue reading "AER 139: Pakistan Election Rigging Fails"
In desperation, the European empires turn to the people they’ve colonized and press them into sacrificing their lives for their imperial masters, setting off a chain of events that makes decolonization in a few decades inevitable.
Israeli media recently published a minute-by-minute chronology of the morning of October 7th from the Israeli military perspective. Jon and I go over it as part of my youtube series of Gaza Sit Reps (for Day 104). Cross-posted over at The Brief, reposted here in case you missed it.
Early in the Great War Britain decided to dismantle the Turkish Empire and made promises to Arab leaders of independence if they would rebel against Britain’s Turkish enemy. While one British leader was making these promises, another, Mark Sykes, was making a deal with other imperialists for the division of Arab lands between them. Follow … Continue reading "World War Civ 32: Britain’s plans for Arab lands – Sykes-Picot, 1916"
By the end the World War had mobilized 65 million troops, killed 20 million people and wounded 21 million more. The money was supposed to run out in a year, the armies were big but never that big. How did the war go on? Because the belligerents made immense and irreversible changes to their economies … Continue reading "World War Civ 31: Towards Total War"
Solo episode discussing Nasrallah’s speech about the war on the Israel-Lebanon border and an analysis of the 2006 war based on a US military analyst’s paper titled, “We Were Caught Unprepared”.
Germans use poison gas on the battlefield at Ypres, British lose 60,000 and Germans 40,000. French attack at Artois with casualties of 100,000 and German 75,000. Russians lose 2 million casualties fighting Germany on the Eastern front. British defeated at Loos, lose 50,000 and Germany 20,000. French offensive in Champagne results in 190,000 casualties and … Continue reading "World War Civ 30: Allied Disasters 1915"
Our usual group gets together to talk about the Gaza War but this time we’re joined by Lara, an actual therapist, who guides us through as we try to understand where things stand on Day 78 of the war.
World War 1 goes global in 1915, as Japan takes advantage to seize more territory in Asia; Turkey fatefully aligns with Germany; Italy joins the Entente.
Joined by Nora and Jon from The Brief / Electronic Intifada to talk about the War in Gaza. More information emerges about what happened on October 7; New atrocities committed since Refaat Alareer’s murder, including bulldozing patients at a hospital and snipers killing women at a church. Some strategic speculations using the history of the … Continue reading "AER 135: Gaza War Day 73"
Our usual group gets together to talk about the Gaza War, this time we all share some words about literature prof, teacher, poet and hero Refaat Alareer, assassinated by Israel a couple of days ago. Some discussion of military tactics and strategies as always.
Russia invades Germany and loses badly at Tannenberg. Austria-Hungary fights Serbia. The Russian losses in 1914 force a reevaluation of the whole strategy pursued by the Russia-France-England alliance, and before long will cause even bigger changes than that.
Nora, Matteo, Rania, and Alex are gathered to talk about what we’re seeing and trying to make sense of on Israel’s War on Gaza after 8 weeks, a couple of days after the end of the “humanitarian pause”. We open with a discussion of the five premature babies left to die in Al-Nasr hospital when … Continue reading "AER 133: Tankie Group Therapy #5 Gaza War resumes after pause"
Germany brings the big guns to Belgium, sacks Louvain and follows the doctrine of terrorizing civilians. The British Expeditionary Force whose commander’s name is French, joins France for some battles. A war of maneuver ends with a non-breakthrough on the Marne and the race to the coast. 1914 ends with no winner, and no one’s … Continue reading "World War Civ 27: Western front 1914 from Belgium to the Marne"
Stan Cox is back to talk about climate refugees, rebellious scientists, and of course Gaza. Our monthly chat finds us both a bit discombobulated by the war, but we try to survey the climate situation anyway.
The CAUKUSZIANS unite once again, this time to look at the Gaza war through a couple of different lenses: Arama through the lens of settler-Indigenous warfare in the wars fought by the Maori to defend their land from Anglo settlers, and Carl through the lens of protracted people’s war and the Chinese experience of fighting … Continue reading "AER 132: The Gaza War as settler-Indigenous warfare & as people’s warfare – CAUKUSZIANS reunite"
The alliance between the East is a Podcast, the Brief, and the Anti-Empire Project continues as we discuss the Gaza War six weeks in (since October 7 2023). Structured as group therapy (the fourth in the series) we cover some of the news, the dynamic of aggression and resistance, military analysis of guerrilla war, the … Continue reading "AER 131: Tankie Group Therapy #4: Gaza War Week 6"
A discussion with Calla and Fergie from Palestine Action US about the theory of direct action and how activists have tried stop the flow of Western weapons that are being deployed against Palestinians in Gaza, instead of, e.g., moral suasion on Western politicians. The Palestine Action UK precedent and the reason for Palestine Action’s focus … Continue reading "Anti Empire Radio 130: Palestine Action and the focus on Elbit Systems"
A horrible event shocks the world. The affected power, enraged, threatens war and gives an ultimatum. Looking around for allies, it’s given a “blank cheque” by its powerful patron – one of the great powers of the world. With that patron’s guarantee, the march to war starts. But the smaller power, about to be invaded, … Continue reading "WWCiv 26: How World War One Started"
Joined by Jon Elmer and Nora Barrows-Friedman from The Brief / Electronic Intifada to talk about the War on Gaza, including the preparation for ground invasion, the siege, and the attack of October 7.
The near-revolution in Spain in 1909 turns out to be more of a cause of World War 2 than a cause of World War 1 but it includes anarchism, conspiracy, revolution, and ends in a show trial. Our final pause before we roll into the immediate causes of WW1.
Leading up to 1914 socialist movements all over Europe, notably in France and Germany, had become so strong that they were in the very halls of power. But when faced with the onset of the Great War, the established socialists blinked, unwilling to risk their heard-earned position and possibly be arrested and have their parties … Continue reading "World War Civ 24: Why socialists failed to stop the war"
Was the collapse of the international gold standard – established in 1873 – in 1914, a sure sign that war was coming? Was gold a “peaceful metal”, as Michael Hudson has argued? Does the history of finance and money, tied up with states and war, provide a theory of everything? We go way back to … Continue reading "World War Civ 23: The Rise and Fall of the Gold Standard, 1873-1914"
In the August 2023 edition of In Real Time with Stan Cox (yes I know it’s September) we talk about his dispatch, “The Hubris of Plutocrats”, and the escape fantasies (and condos) of the super-rich. Stan argues they can’t escape the heat that’s coming, but at least some of our troubles stem from the fact … Continue reading "In Real Time 14: The Hubris of Plutocrats"
How close did Britain come to a civil war over the issue of Irish Home Rule? We talk about the long parliamentary road led by Parnell, the settler trick culminating in the seditious maneuvers in Ulster, and the final passage of the Home Rule Bill, rendered inoperative by World War I. This issue will be … Continue reading "World War Civ 22: Irish Home Rule and Britain’s near-civil war before 1914"
In the First Balkan War, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Montenegro attacked the moribund Turkey to take its remaining territories and get Turkey out of Europe. In the Second Balkan War, they fought one another over those same territories. The Balkan Republics model themselves after Italy and Germany and hope to unify their nations at the … Continue reading "World War Civ 21: Balkan Wars 1912-1913"
Stan Cox and I talk about Kim Stanley Robinson (KSR)’s 2020 book, The Ministry for the Future, which is a hugely important book because it pictures how we could get from our current situation to a world where CO2 emissions were actually trending downwards, saving human civilization from catastrophe. We talk about the climate events … Continue reading "In Real Time 13: Do we need states to solve climate change?"
After losing to Ethiopia, Italy tries to restore its reputation as a colonizer by invading Libya, following directly from France’s invasion of Morocco and leading directly to the Balkan War. The dominoes keep falling as the European colonizers keep grabbing. Libya becomes a battlefront for decades – one we will return to in future episodes.
Support for Apartheid South Africa, for dismantling democracy in Haiti and Honduras, destabilizing the Middle East, occupying Afghanistan, financing the arms industry… what drives Canada to constantly commit such acts in the world? I talk to filmmaker Pitasanna Shanmugathas, writer, director, and producer of the 6-part documentary Truth to the Powerless: An Investigation of Canadian … Continue reading "AER 129: Truth to the Powerless, on Canadian Foreign Policy"
The short Hafiziyya period in Morocco leads to the Treaty of Fez and annexation; Morocco’s lost its sovereignty but it’s Germany that feels aggrieved. More scrambling for Africa and another inter-imperial spat to inch us closer to WW1.
Arama Rata, independent Maori researcher, and Carl Zha of Silk & Steel podcast are both back! Carl reports on his lived experience as a survivor of the Prigozhin coup in Moscow; Arama outlines the anti-AUKUS speaking tour she is on with other journalists and activists; I continue my rant about the sheer plagiarism of Canada’s … Continue reading "AER 128: CAUKUZians speak out!"
Japan’s annexation of Korea in 1910 is scramble-like colonial behavior; it is the beginning of a long and bold resistance by Korean patriots whose names will return; it is the occasion for studying Japanese colonialism in East Asia as well as its disputes with Russia. A short episode on Korea’s struggles from the Russo-Japanese War … Continue reading "World War Civ 18: Japan annexes Korea 1910"
The 1911 Chinese Revolution ends with Yuan Shikai in charge. He is ready to take the throne and become emperor except that he can’t sweep the foreigners away and ends up deepening the crisis. China enters the WW1 period in a state of fragmentation as the time of the warlords begins.
Stan Cox is back to talk about two essays. One, co-written with Priti Gulati Cox, “Between a Yoga Mat and a Hard Place”, about where India is headed. And another, “The Old Future is Gone and Technology Won’t Bring it Back”, by Stan himself. Justin goes on a mini-rant against doomerism at the end, and … Continue reading "In Real Time with Stan Cox 12: India dilemmas and how tech won’t save us"
The Qing dynasty desperately tries a reform to stay in power while secret societies plot against them; intellectuals debate how to modernize China while Western imperialists keep pressuring China after crushing the Boxer Rebellion. Sun Yat Sen leads a movement for a republic and a revolutionary moment sparks in 1911. Part 1 of 2.
On May 9 2023 ousted president Imran Khan was detained by the Pakistan army, who were forced immediately to release him. But in the month since, the crackdown on protesters (and their families) has been so widespread, reaching 10,000 arrests, that Imran Khan’s movement appears exhausted. The repression may have worked, but how long can … Continue reading "AER 127: Has Imran Khan lost the battle with Pakistan’s Army?"
Timeline of the constitutional revolutions that took place in Persia from 1905-1909 and Portugal in 1910. They weren’t social revolutions but shared important patterns for later events including a long nonviolent sit-in in Persia and a missed communication in Portugal (leading to a suicide!)
“Deeds Not Words!” was the slogan of the militant sufragettes who fought for the vote. We get into some of their dramatic acts and some of the reasonings of their leaders – which are not always discussed in their full detail today. Also the (non-socialist) part of the pacifist movement – a crowd the socialists … Continue reading "World War Civ 15: Sufragettes and Pacifists"
Sam Gindin and Justin Podur, moderated with fairness and balance by Nora Barrows-Friedman, debate the proposition that the world is becoming multipolar as US hegemony declines. We clash over capitalism, colonialism, and the history of the past few centuries; as well as over the meaning of the Russia/Ukraine war and the relative power of Chinese … Continue reading "AER 126: Multipolarity? Schmultipolarity! A debate with Sam Gindin"
While the Mexican Revolutionaries fought for the land, the Great Powers tried to pick the winner. Germany and Britain, Japan and of course the US, all schemed and intrigued. We talk about the Kaiser’s offer of Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico to Carranza and why Carranza didn’t want them; why Japan thought German proposals “simply … Continue reading "The Mexican Revolution pt4: Schemes of the Great Powers"
The New Zealand Parliament Protest inspired by Canada’s Trucker Convoy and with similarly hard-to-read politics; the continuing urgency of Maori sovereignty; An in-depth discussion of Donna Awatere’s extraordinary 1984 text, Maori Sovereignty; the connection between Chile and New Zealand; and a history of the Maori struggle since colonialism. With Simon Barber, Gabriella Brayne, and Arama … Continue reading "AER 125: Maori Sovereignty or Death!"
Stan and I talk about two of his articles from April: the first on Atlanta’s “Cop City”, which one activist has already been killed by police over, and why it’s an environmental disaster as well as other kinds; and another article on Republicans trying to locally legislate to prevent any climate action from happening at … Continue reading "In Real Time with Stan Cox 11: Atlanta’s Cop City and Anti-Climate Legislation"
Obregon defeats Zapata and Villa in battle. Carranza betrays the workers’ unions. The Morelos commune lives on, though its leaders fall one by one until Zapata himself. Villa too. And Obregon. And Carranza. We ask, what was it all for? And we give you the answers of some historians of the revolution: it was not … Continue reading "The Mexican Revolution pt3: The Downfall"
Porfirio is out, Madero is in, but he has the same problem: how to stop the invincible peasant revolution now in motion? And the answer is, he can’t! Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata take the capital, but the seeds of their downfall and of their glorious peasant revolution are already laid. Part 2 of our … Continue reading "Mexican Revolution pt2: Villa and Zapata take Mexico City"
The Mexican Revolution was an extraordinary event in 20th century history. In part 1 of our miniseries on the revolution we give the background from the Mexican-American war to the end of the quarter decade of Porfirio Diaz. The class balance of forces leading to the revolution and the dramatic events. We also talk about … Continue reading "The Mexican Revolution pt1: The end of the Porfiriato"
We talk about the fearsome dreadnought, the race to build it, the Le Queax novels that were the Red Dawn of the 19th century, the Heartland theory of history, and conclude our discussion of the naval race. The tensions are getting high…
Carl Zha is back and I try to explain to him the hysteria of the accusations by the CSIS leaker in Canada of Chinese electoral interference. He can’t find a word of it in Chinese media which leads to the horrible possibility that Canada doesn’t matter very much to China. I try to explain to … Continue reading "AER 124: China’s use of telepathy and WeChat to control Canadian elections, with Carl Zha"
Part 1 of 2 on the Anglo-German Naval Race. We start with a modern theorist, Paul Kennedy, and his thesis that industrial power translates to military power. Then some earlier imperialist theorists we’ve mentioned before: Mahan and Mackinder, who Justin finally read. Then, the practitioners of naval power, Admiral Tirpitz on the German side and … Continue reading "World War Civ 14a: Anglo-German Naval Race pt1 – Theorists and Practitioners of World Domination"
Back with Stan Cox on the environmental file. Stan’s written a dispatch on the Farm Bill. How the 5-year Farm Bills used to have consensus but how even that might be breaking, and then we talk about Wes Jackson’s ideas about a 50-year farm bill, thinking on the scale we probably need to be thinking … Continue reading "In Real Time 10: A 5-year and a 50-year farm bill"
I’m joined by Dock Currie with another episode on the gift that keeps on giving, the CSIS-leaking China panic in Canadian politics. We talk about the recent walk-back from the most ridiculous allegations against Han Dong, the pivot to more aggressive demonization of China in Canadian culture starting in 2018, the Meng Wanzhou case and … Continue reading "AER 123: The fruit of 5 years of demonizing China in Canada"
Waqas is back to keep us up to date on the Imran Khan file. The entire Pakistan establishment is united in trying to keep Imran Khan from returning to power in an election through court cases, violent repression, and electoral delay; but the people’s protests don’t seem to stop. Pakistan and Imran Khan at an … Continue reading "AER 122: Attempts to arrest Imran Khan and the Lahore High Court rallies"
Sina’s back to talk to me about my latest Substack article, “Multiculturalism is over in Canada. It’s back to Sinophobia.” It’s about the scandal unfolding in the Canadian media since Fife & Chase broke their anonymous CSIS-leak-sourced story about Chinese interference in Canadian elections in February. I’m worried about racist incitement and scandal-mongering. Sina thinks … Continue reading "AER 121: Multiculturalism is over in Canada"
First we announce Civ Books, where you can buy some of the best Civilizations Podcast transcripts in hard copy. Then, we reveal two of the most long-standing geopolitical disagreements that Dave and Justin have hitherto unresolved: one on the rights and wrongs of the Yugoslav war of 1999, and the other on the status of … Continue reading "World War Civ 13: The Bosnian Crisis 1908"
Scott Ritter is back after a year as we build a chronology of events of the Russia-Ukraine war so far. What were Russia’s goals? Did they succeed or fail? What were NATO’s goals? Why did Russia’s initial offensive not bring a negotiation? Why did sanctions on Russia fail? How can we determine who is winning … Continue reading "AER 120: Russia Ukraine Year 1: Who is winning? Who is lying? With Scott Ritter"
Talking to Amaresh Mishra, author of the giant book India 1857: War of Civilisations about the immense scale of the Indian revolution against British imperialism that year: the scale of Hindu-Muslim unity, the class aspect of the revoution, the scale of the genocidal British massacres that followed (Mishra’s estimate is that the British killed 10 … Continue reading "AER 119: That time when Britain killed 10 million Indian people, with Amaresh Mishra"
I joined Nora and Jon from The Brief to talk about the new Resistance in the West Bank and Israel’s ongoing spiral out of control.
The Young Ottomans and then the Young Turks make a constitutional revolution in Turkey in 1908. We talk about them, the ideas (science, constitutionalism) that motivated them as well as the ideas that didn’t (socialism, equality). And of course how what’s happening in the Ottoman empire is an antecedent for WWI.
We are back on the environment file with Stan Cox, to discuss his latest two dispatches. January’s on who is attacking the US electrical grid? February’s on the curious defense of gas stoves from the fearful lobby, Big Indoor Air Quality. Justin starts us off with some discussion on the growing body of evidence of … Continue reading "In Real Time 9: Attacks on the US electrical grid, defenses of US gas stoves"
France’s incremental takeover of Morocco based on their colonization of Algeria; Germany declares that it will protect Morocco’s sovereignty, which it doesn’t actually do. See how Morocco’s colonization became another cause of World War 1. Also listen to Dave’s mic improve in the last half hour!
The Austro-Hungarian Empire lasted hundreds of years but could not survive WWI. We look at its makeup, its economy, its socialist movement, at Franz Josef and the glamorous empress Sissi, and wonder whether the end of Austria-Hungary was inevitable.
It’s just me on this emergency broadcast in the spirit of “do a coup, get a pod”. Angry opponents of the Lula’s newly elected government in Brazil (with some security forces help) stormed government buildings on January 8 claiming fraud. Lula’s government survived and is now taking measures against future coups. These are being called … Continue reading "AER 118: Emergency broadcast on the Attempted Coup in Brazil!"
Of all the mysteries of the World Wars, Germany’s is perhaps the most mysterious. We discuss this country with the fastest growing industrial power, the largest and most powerful socialist movement, and (perhaps) the most arrogant imperialist at the helm. We conclude with some notes on some interesting (but not especially well liked by us) … Continue reading "WWCiv 9: Imperial Resentment, Industrial Power, Inevitable Socialism: Germany before WW1"
The 1905 Russian Revolution was, though no one knew it at the time, the rehearsal for the 1917 Russian Revolution. Dave takes us from Bloody Sunday to the calculations and miscalculations of the Tsar; Justin uses everyone from Lars Lih to Isaac Deutscher to Simon Sebag Montefiore to draw some pictures of what Lenin, Trotsky, … Continue reading "World War Civ 8: The 1905 Russian Revolution"
The earth-shaking event where an Asian power defeated a European power in a war, leading to a revolution in Russia and a major shakeup in world affairs. We talk about the role education played in Japan’s victory; the Russian fleet that had to sail around the world; and the qualities of Tsar Nicholas that made … Continue reading "World War Civ 7: The Russo-Japanese War 1905"
Peru’s president Pedro Castillo has been overthrown in a coup and is in Peruvian jail while the former Vice President Dina Boluarte has taken over, vowing NOT to hold an election any time soon. People have taken to the streets in Lima to protest and demand new elections and a constitutional referendum. Meanwhile in Argentina, … Continue reading "AER 117: Peru’s President Pedro Castillo overthrown in a coup"
Stan Cox is back with his November dispatch about the US midterm elections, in which the feared Red Wave didn’t materialize — but Stan wastes no time in warning us that 2024 is also going to be scary. We geek out on the election results, look at a shocking admission by a conservative that big … Continue reading "In Real Time with Stan Cox 8: No Red Wave, Plenty of Red Flags"
There is no better entree into pre-WWI France than the sordid Dreyfus Affair. The whole story in all its gory detail including its implications for the France-Russia alliance and the echoes of 1871 casting a cloud over 1895 France. Anti-semitism, frame ups, spies, corruption, incompetence, trials, retrials, people of conscience, and echoes a century later.
Waqas is back to talk about the Nov 3 attempt on Imran Khan’s life; the assassination in Kenya of journalist Arshad Sharif; Similarities and differences between the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the attempt on Imran Khan; the possibility that the Pakistani military might find a way out of this (by having Bajwa step down … Continue reading "Anti-Empire Radio episode 116: The Assassination Attempt on Imran Khan"
On October 30, Lula was elected to the presidency after surviving a political persecution that threw him behind bars and kept him from running in 2018, paving the way for Bolsonaro’s disastrous term. Brazilian scholar-activist Diana Aguiar is back to answer questions like: is Lula’s government coup-proof? What will he be able to do in … Continue reading "AER 115: Lula’s back! Will there be another coup?"
Reading Corelli Barnett, David Cannadine, and others, our stop today on the pre-WWI Europe tour is Britain, which has reached the very heights of world domination only to discover that they are being out-innovated and out-educated by rising imperial rivals. While social imperialists begged for consolidation of the white Anglosphere, a strategy given the old … Continue reading "WWC 4 – Causes of WWI – Britain’s slow and gentle decline"
In this long episode we ask the question: what in the intellectualism of the early 20th century may have contributed to the climate that led to WW1? After reading Losurdo’s long book about Nietzsche, Justin does a deep dive into Nietzschean thinking about Great Men and genius and mediocrity; Dave covers militarism and nationalism; Justin … Continue reading "WWC 3 – Causes of WW1 pt 3 – Life & Ideas"
Stan Cox is back for In Real Time episode 7, where we track the climate crisis and do other environmental talk. Stan reports back from some interviews he did with activists who are working locally on the climate crisis as we head towards two touchstones in November – the COP 27 conference in Egypt, from … Continue reading "In Real Time with Stan Cox 7: A Thousand Rebellious Communities"
How do you turn a local conflict into a world war? Create an intricate set of alliances that guarantees it! Dave takes us on a tour of the construction of the alliance system from the Emperors’ Leagues to the Congress of Berlin to the Triple Alliance to the Reinsurance Treaty and more. How British and … Continue reading "WWC 2 – Causes of World War 1 pt2 – The Alliance System"
CO2 pipelines are proof of the principle that “the greatest source of problems is solutions”. Stan Cox is back to shoot down the notion that CO2 pipelines are going to save us. Justin, meanwhile, has finally read Rachel Carson’s 1962 classic Silent Spring, which as an environmental prof he should have read decades ago. Find … Continue reading "In Real Time with Stan Cox 6: Challenging CO2 Pipelines"
The Scramble for Africa is over. Greedy European powers can now only expand at one another’s expense. Du Bois and Lenin both thought this made a big European war inevitable. But others at the time thought it impossible. After two years we are ready to begin the 20th century with something your history classes never … Continue reading "World War Civ 1: The Intro"
Democracy means “the people rule”. But do the people rule in the “democratic” systems that form governments all over the world? Are these democratic governments less repressive or authoritarian than those without the democratic certification? And does the democratic system of frequent multiparty elections deliver the developmental goods? Talking to Vik Sohonie, former journalist who … Continue reading "AER 114: Why Democracy (TM) Fails the Global South"
An update on the unfolding post-coup in Pakistan. Talking to Waqas Ahmad again about the threat to arrest Imran Khan, the remarkable result of the election in Punjab where PTI won 15/20 seats, the arrest and torture of Shehbaz Gill and many others, the articles in the NYT and Time Magazine about how the coup … Continue reading "AER 113: Pakistan government threatens to arrest Imran Khan"
At the peak of global colonialism no island however small was exempted from European greed. We conclude our Scramble for Oceania series with the scrambles for the many islands in the Pacific. Many of these are still colonies today, given names like “special overseas territory” to hide the fact. ALSO: I’m trying to do loudness … Continue reading "Scramble for Oceania 3: Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia"
Our August 2022 dispatch with Stan Cox. Stan presents us this month with a discussion of the “Inflation Reduction Bill” – is climate change solved? Can Stan finally relax? We also get into a discussion of optimism and pessimism and which one is called for at this moment.
We take advantage of some new scholarship of New Zealand history (Keenan, Wars Without End; Belch, New Zealand Wars; Simons, Soldiers, Scouts and Spies) to give you a hopefully fresh look at the 19th century scramble for colonies in New Zealand, which took the form of British wars against the Maori. Also featured – comparisons … Continue reading "Scramble for Oceania 2: The Land Wars of New Zealand"
The fourth discussion with Stan Cox about his latest dispatch, “They’ll Show Up Armed – Countering Policy Murder and the Rising Violence of the Right”. We talk about a nonviolent march Stan participated in and a few of the historic movement debates about violence and nonviolence that we’ve seen over the decades. And we conclude … Continue reading "In Real Time with Stan Cox 4: A discussion of violence and policy murder"
At the same time that the European empires were scrambling for Africa, they held a scramble in the Pacific. For the British Empire the base was Australia, and we begin with the scramble for Australia, the story of the theft of (another) continent beginning in 1788. Always was, always will be, aboriginal land.
The biggest player in the Scramble for Africa was England. Second place to France, third to Germany. But there were many other European powers at the Berlin Conference in 1884 and the plunder of Africa was shared among even the smallest of European countries. Who and how, in this episode of the Scramble for Africa.
In June 2022 a small activist group in Boston created mapliberation.org, a project mapping primarily policing institutions in Massechussetts and their connections to corporations, organizations, and politicians who are implicated in the prison-industry complex, in throwing people out of their homes to create investment opportunities, in grabbing Indigenous land, in colonizing Palestinian land, and other … Continue reading "AER 112: BDS Boston makes a map and chaos ensues"
In September 1904 several Nama scouts slipped away from the Germans after the battle of Waterberg and the genocide of the Herero, to warn their leader, Hendrik Witbooi, of what the Germans were capable of. Hendrik Witbooi then called all the Nama leaders to war, a war where they used guerrilla tactics to confound the … Continue reading "Scramble for Africa 20: Germany (pt3) genocides the Nama, 1908"
Stan Cox joins us for June’s dispatch of In Real Time. As he prepares to travel to Washington DC for a protest (the report on that will follow next dispatch) Stan actually talks to us about local struggles: Indigenous struggles against pipelines, and the remarkable story of the LA Bus Riders Union. All that and … Continue reading "In Real Time with Stan Cox 3: The People vs Petrocracy"
The devastating story of the Herero genocide, complete with von Trotha’s extermination order, Samuel Maharero’s resistance, the battle at the Waterberg, and the concentration camps at Swakopmund and elsewhere. We’re using Erichsen and Olusoga 2011, The Kaiser’s Holocaust: Germany’s Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism.
An update on the dynamic situation in Pakistan. Fan favorite Waqas Ahmad (@worqas on twitter) is back to talk about the massive march and nationwide protest of May 25 in Pakistan, which ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan called. Imran Khan called the protest off on May 26 in the face of escalation and repression, giving … Continue reading "AER 111: Imran Khan’s Long March in Pakistan"
Instalment 2 of our monthly discussion on environmental topics with Stan Cox – this week Justin talks about some problems with what he calls “western environmentalism”; then we go over Stan’s latest dispatch (which will be up May 16 at citylights.com/blog) about voter suppression and protest suppression and how it’s changing US politics.
We begin the story of Germany in the Scramble for Africa with the question: was Germany really as bad as their enemies say they were? (spoiler: worse) We talk about Bismarck’s reluctance to own colonies, about why he started to change his mind as Germany caught a growing colonial fever; we talk about the harrowing … Continue reading "Scramble for Africa 18: Germany in the Scramble pt1 – from Karl Peters to the war on Mkwawa and the Wahehe"
In the latest episode of Kung Fu Yoga with Carl Zha, we talk about the bombing at Karachi University where a suicide bomber killed herself, three Chinese teachers, and a driver. The Baloch Liberation Army claims responsibility. We ask: what does bombing Chinese teachers in Karachi have to do with Baloch liberation? What is going … Continue reading "Anti Empire Radio 110: Karachi University Bombing – Balochistan and China"
We start with a quick history of France’s theft of Congo-Brazzaville, centering on Brazza himself and ending with the Toque-Gaud Trial. Then on to the nearly early start of WWI – the Fashoda Crisis between Britain and France. Finally, we give the floor to Aime Cesaire to give us some commentary on what French colonialism … Continue reading "Scramble 17: Brazza, Fashoda, and Cesaire’s Discours – France in the Scramble concluded"
The ouster of Imran Khan continues to play out. We’re asking: 1. Was it a coup? 2. How can we understand Imran Khan’s foreshortened time in government and his ruling coalition? 3. How important are these events for the people of Pakistan – are they just elite maneuvering or do they have deeper implications? 4. … Continue reading "AER 109: Imran Khan’s ouster in Pakistan – coup or reconfiguration of power?"
Clickbait title aside, this episode continues to follow the French as they Scramble for Africa. In this case, how France managed to steal the enormous island of Madagascar from its powerful African rulers. We of necessity do tell the story of Queen Ranavalona, but also the outrageous deeds of the French military, the dastardly things … Continue reading "Scramble for Africa 16: Female Caligula DESTROYS Madagascar!"
We have hatched a new plan for a series on the Anti-Empire Project, a monthly discussion of (mainly) environmental issues with Stan Cox. Stan is the author of quite a few environmental books and is going to be writing a monthly dispatch about US politics and environmental movements moving into the next US presidential election. … Continue reading "In Real Time with Stan Cox 1: The US environmental and political crisis"
Was Imran Khan ousted in a US-backed regime change, or is Imran Khan crying conspiracy over a routine non-confidence vote? Was the memo real or exaggerated? Are the mass protests a sign of a cult-like following or a repudiation of a sleazy change of power? Was Imran Khan not a part of the very establishment … Continue reading "Anti-Empire Radio 108: Pakistan – I think it was a coup!"
A new youtube channel, the Cadre Journal, has been publishing hour-long in-depth interviews with Communist party activists and others on and largely from the Global South. I was happy to be invited on to talk to them about the history of the US in the DR Congo and Rwanda. Check out their channel – they’re … Continue reading "AER 107: Interviewed by the Cadre Journal about the DR Congo and Rwanda"
In this episode France seizes the territories of the Tukolors (overthrowing Sultan Ahmadu), battles Samori Toure, and fights a long war with King Benanzin of Dahomey. Some observations about the differences between France’s notions of colonialism and those of the British, in whose footsteps the French colonizers hoped to follow.
More than a decade later it is well past time to look at how the Syrian Civil War really started – with a US-orchestrated regime change campaign with continuities going back to European colonialism and with continuous US regime change efforts against Syria from 1949 on. I’m talking with William Van Wagenen, who has written … Continue reading "Anti-Empire Radio 106: How the US started the war on Syria in 2011, with William van Wagenen"
After a bit of comparing and contrasting French colonialism with the British type, Dave tells us about the French Foreign Legion; Then we’re on to a key piece in France’s Scramble for Africa, the theft of Tunis from the Bey, Muhammad Sadok. In the process, the French colonizers insisted they were saving Sadok Bey from … Continue reading "Scramble for Africa 14: France saves Sadok Bey of Tunis from a nonexistent threat and steals the country 1881"
Talking to Gabriel Rockhill, professor and director of the Critical Theory Workshop. Ever wonder why the CIA thought it was worthwhile to sponsor European left-wing academic theories? We talk about Derrida, Foucault, Arendt, and why even if you think obscure academic theory isn’t important, you might be mistaken. Author or editor of nine books, Rockhill … Continue reading "AER 105: Are your favorite academic theorists really CIA spooks? With Gabriel Rockhill"
We talked about France’s colonization of Algeria back in Civilizations Episode 15 (in August 2020). We revisit it now, as France’s entry point into the Scramble for Africa. Algeria was France’s template for colonizing Africa and many of the dynamics of France’s African colonial crimes can be seen developing in Algeria. We end up focusing … Continue reading "Scramble for Africa 13: France in the Scramble – the Algeria Precedent and Abdelkader’s Resistance"
Using Dan Hicks’s 2020 book The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution, Justin tells the story of how the British destroyed Benin, stole their stuff, and put it in museums. It’s part of the story of the British Scramble for West Africa, but we give it its own episode to show … Continue reading "Scramble for Africa 12b: The British Sack Benin in 1897"
I interviewed Scott Ritter, former Marine, weapons inspector, and current author and writer about the war in Ukraine. We start with his experiences as a young member of the US military studying the Soviet Union and preparing for war with Russia; then talk about the surprises when he actually met Russians under conditions of detente. … Continue reading "AER 104: Will Ukraine be Putin’s Afghanistan? With Scott Ritter"
I’m joined by AER’s favorite doctor Tarek Loubani and by another doctor (this time a doctor of history), Dorotea Gucciardo, a lecturer in the history of medicine. I ask Tarek why he believes vaccine mandates work; I ask Dorotea how, as a non-scientist, she evaluates medical information. Then we talk about the Ottawa convoy, which … Continue reading "AER 103: Vaccine Mandates and Dispersed Convoys"
We start this episode with a few minutes of reading reviews – from fans and not-fans! Perhaps this will inspire you to review us too. Then we’re on to the British Scrambling for West Africa. Some of the Africans who fought back, of course, notably Bai Bureh and Yaa Asentewaa. Lord Lugard’s ideas of the … Continue reading "Scramble for Africa 12: The British Scramble for West Africa"
Ben Norton of the new site multipolarista.com joins me to talk about a wide range of anti-imperialist topics, from Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin to Ortega and Maduro. We end up trying to figure out “patriotic socialism”, support for the “trucker convoy” (which is opposed by most truckers and which has very few truckers). Towards … Continue reading "AER 102: Are we in a multipolar world? And the trucker convoy, with Ben Norton"
At the first Zionist Congress in 1897, delegates agreed to pursue the colonization of Palestine. But at the Sixth Zionist Congress in 1903, Theodor Herzl presented a proposal for a colony in East Africa – he presented it as a mere stepping stone to Zion, but it caused bitter divisions among the delegates. We tell … Continue reading "Scramble for Africa 11: Theodore Herzl, the Uganda Plan, and the Zionist Scramble for East Africa"
From the Imperial British East Africa Company to the British East Africa Protectorate, we trace the missionary mischief that led to the British taking Uganda and the many wars (called “expeditions”) that led to the British taking Kenya. In the process you’ll meet Mwanga of Buganda, Kabarega of Bunyoro, and the treacherously assassinated Arap Samoei … Continue reading "Scramble for Africa 10: Saving souls and stealing cattle – the British take Uganda and Kenya"
Our fifth and concluding episode on the Scramble in South Africa is on the (Second) Boer War from 1899-1902. We talk about how it started and why, the military details, the concentration camps, the struggle to keep it a “White Man’s War” for fear of a Lincoln showing up, and the implications (it’s clear who … Continue reading "Scramble for Africa 9e: South Africa pt5 – The Boer War 1899-1902"
Sooner or later every anti-imperialist is smeared as a “tankie” and this week was Vijay’s turn. First his views were falsified, then he used the word “modernization” in a tweet! So, in this interview, we take a deep dive into debates about “modernization”. Repudiating liberal and colonizer’s attacks on Indigenous societies (which they falsely claim … Continue reading "AER 101: China and Imperialist Media Strategies with Vijay Prashad"
The Scramble for Africa cannot be encapsulated in the career of any single imperialist, but if it could, that imperialist would be Cecil Rhodes. From the Rhodes Scholarship to the falling statues, Rhodes’s impact is still ubiquitous today. We look at the words and deeds of the exemplar of the Scramble, from his beginnings to … Continue reading "Scramble for Africa 9d: South Africa pt4 – The Hubris of Cecil Rhodes"
Continuing the history of the Scramble for South Africa, we talk about the Boers, the Dutch settlers and their attacks on the Africans and then on the British conflicts with them, up to the discovery of diamonds at Kimberley that might just be the event that set off the entire scramble. South Africa’s unbelievable mineral … Continue reading "Scramble for Africa 9c: South Africa pt3 – The Boers before the War"
Part 2 of our series on the Scramble in South Africa takes us back to the Zulu modernizer, Shaka, in the early 19th century, all the way to the end of the Anglo-Zulu War between the British imperialists and the Zulus ruled by Cetshwayo. The land theft and swindling you’ve come to expect from the … Continue reading "Scramble for Africa 9b: South Africa pt2 – The Zulus from Shaka to Cetshwayo"
I’m joined by Navyug Gill from William Paterson University to talk about the historic victory of the Indian Farmers who, after demonstrating for a whole year at the cost of 750 lives, succeeded in forcing the repeal of three laws that would have immiserated agriculture in India, done away with the government procurement system, and … Continue reading "AEP 100: Debriefing the Indian Farmers’ Victory with Navyug Gill"
The wealthiest and most powerful state in Africa is South Africa, and its fate has been pivotal to the whole continent. This was no less true during the Scramble for Africa, which is why this series will have multiple episodes on South Africa. In this one, the so called “frontier wars” between the Europeans and … Continue reading "Scramble for Africa 9a: South Africa pt1 – Frontier Wars and Settler-Colonialism"
Episode 1 of Dan Freeman Maloy’s series Lin3r Notes. Frequent guest and collaborator Dan Freeman-Maloy (@lin3rnotes on twitter) has a new substack, “Check the Liner Notes” (https://freemanmaloy.substack.com/), and will be podcasting on related topics here on AEP. This episode is about the Canadian / British imperial WWI commemoration, Remembrance Day, and some of the literary … Continue reading "Lin3r Notes 1: On the racist who wrote “Lest We Forget”"