Full Program

As President Obama and Russian president Putin meet in Mexico and call for an immediate cessation of violence in Syria, we go to Moscow for an update on press reports that Russia is sending naval reinforcements to Syria, possibly to evacuate its citizens. Dr Pavel Felgenhauer, a Moscow-based independent defense analyst who writes for the only non-government-controlled newspaper Novaya Gazeta, joins us to talk about what the two increasingly estranged leaders might be able to agree on.

Then we look into the leadership shuffle in Saudi Arabia following the death of the crown prince and the ascension of the Defense Minister Prince Salman as the heir apparent. Toby Jones, the author of “Desert Kingdom: How Oil and Water Forged Modern Saudi Arabia” joins us to discuss the inner-workings of the feudal Al Saud royal family who are pursuing an aggressive foreign policy against Syria and Iran while stifling democratic stirrings of the “Arab Spring” at home.

Then finally we examine the surprise showing of Syriza in the Greek elections with Richard Wolffe who is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Amherst, Massachusetts and author of “Occupy the Economy: Challenging Capitalism”. With over half of young Greeks and Spaniards unemployed, we discuss the emergence of a new radical left in Europe rebelling against the ruinous economic policies of a succession of conservative and socialist governments.

Full Program

We begin with what is being described as a coup in Egypt by the Egyptian Supreme Court, who on the eve of the final round of the presidential elections, have dissolved the recently-elected parliament. Khaled Elgindy, a Visiting Fellow for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution joins us. He was recently in Egypt observing the first round of the presidential elections and we will discuss the explosive situation now developing as the remnants of the old regime brazenly try to turn back the clock.

Then we speak with a Syrian/American activist who is the spokesperson for the Syrian Local Coordination Committees. Rafif Jouejati joins us to discuss the extent of popular opposition to the Assad family as the regime desperately and ruthlessly tries to maintain its grip on power and how, in spite of deadly reprisals, more and more army soldiers are defecting to the Free Syrian Army.

Then, following reports in the Washington Post that the U.S. is expanding a secret “shadow war” in Africa, we examine the role of U.S. Special Forces in their hunt for the murderous warlord Joseph Kony and how the Rwandan Government, an ally of the U.S., is destabilizing the east of the Congo. Maurice Carney, the Executive Director of Friends of the Congo joins us along with Jacques Bahati, a policy analyst at the Africa Faith and Justice Network.

music: “Syria Will Be The Next Victory” by SAC; “#Jan 25” by Sami Matar (Producer), , Omar Offendum (MC #1), The Narcicyst (MC #2), Freeway (MC #3), Amir Sulaiman (MC #4), and Ayah (R&B Vocalist); “Lisence to Kill” by Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan; “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes” by Paul Simon; Los Lobos