October 11 - Erdogan's Culpability for Terrorism in Turkey; Putin Refuses to be Ignored; The Roots and Reasons for Congressional Political Gridlock

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the deadliest terrorist attack on Turkish soil, and although blame has yet to be attributed, it does appear to be the work of the Islamic State, but the lack of security provided to the Kurds and the liberals who are the victims of the bombings can be blamed on President Erdogan. Henri Barkey, who was formerly a member of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff on the Middle East and Intelligence and is author of Turkey’s Kurdish Question and Reluctant Neighbor: Turkey’s Role in the Middle East, joins us to look into whether the bombing at a peace rally in the capitol Ankara will fuel further tensions between the government and the Kurds as the election approaches.

Part 2

Then as Russia intensifies airstrikes in Syria, we discuss President Putin’s intervention both in terms of possible blowback from the Sunni Muslim world and whether negotiations between the U.S. and Russia to deal with the danger associated with U.S. and Russian planes operating in the same airspace, could lead to a diplomatic settlement. Nina Khrushcheva, a Professor in the Graduate Program of International Affairs at the New School and author of “The Lost Khrushchev: A Journey into the Gulag of the Russian Mind” joins us to discuss a dangerous revival of Cold War rhetoric emerging from recent developments in Syria.  

Part 3

Then finally we speak with an historian of Congress, Keith Poole, to find out whether the dysfunction in the House is at a record low with the Tea Party holding the Republicans hostage as they scramble to find a replacement for the outgoing speaker and this substitute who withdrew his nomination. We examine the roots and reasons for political gridlock and paralysis and determine who benefits from it as the rest of the country suffers.