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2016 Programs
2016 Program Archive
May 27 - The Assad Killing Machine; Spillover From Syria Into Lebanon; Polarized Results in Egyptian Election
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We begin with an update on Syria where a massacre of civilians and children has outraged the international community and intensified calls for the Assad regime to step down. A Syrian-born specialist who is a Professor of Middle East Studies at the National Defense University, Murhaf Jouejati, joins us to discuss whether this latest outrage by the Assad regime will move Russia to ease the Assads out of power. |
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Then we go to Lebanon next door to get an assessment of how instability in Syria is spilling over into Lebanon which already has fragile political arrangements between sectarian groups who fought a long bloody civil war. Habib Battah, a reporter based in Lebanon who is the author of the blog “The Beirut Report” joins us to discuss the competing media coverage of Syria, where most reporters are banned, between the anti-Assad Gulf-based Al Jazeera and other major Arab TV channels, and pro-Syrian Iranian and Lebanese broadcasters. |
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Then finally we go to Cairo, Egypt to speak with Khaled Elgindy who is a visiting fellow at the Brooking Institution and previously served as an advisor to the Palestinian leadership. We discuss how the liberal and socialist majority who brought about the revolution was split, leading to the polarized results for the run-off, and we also look into the ramifications of regime change in Egypt on the moribund Israeli/Palestinian peace negotiations. |
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May 24 - Saudi Arabia Tries to Buy Egyptian Vote; Un-declaring War With Iran; "Significant Differences" After "Intense" Discussions
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We begin and go to Cairo, Egypt to speak with Hussein Shabka, professor of Sociology at American University in Cairo. He has been observing the historic presidential elections underway and we discuss his findings which indicate that an aggressive effort by Saudi Arabia to buy the vote may have backfired with Egyptian voters, after enormous amounts of money in support of Islamic fundamentalists has poured in from the Gulf.
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The we look into successful efforts by a bi-partisan group of Congressmen, led by John Conyers and Ron Paul, to insert language into the National Defense Authorization Act to “un-declare” war with Iran. Kate Gould, the Legislative Associate for Middle East Policy with the Quaker lobby, the Friends Committee on National Legislation, joins us to discuss this significant step to slow the momentum in Congress towards war with Iran. |
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Then finally we are joined by Flynt Leverett who was the Senior Director for Middle East Affairs at the National Security Council from 1992 to 2003. We look into the just-concluded P5+1 "intense" talks with Iran that yielded no breakthrough and ended with “significant differences” remaining, which presumably will be dealt with in Moscow in the next round of talks starting on June 18. |
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May 23 - Germany Should Either Save the Euro or Leave it; A Possible Deal With Iran; What Was Behind the Exit of the Head of the NRC.
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As European leaders meet today in Brussels to deal with the unraveling Eurocrisis, we begin with an analysis of this eleventh hour effort from Clyde Prestowitz. A former counselor to the Secretary of Commerce, he feels that since the Euro has been a godsend to Germany, it’s past time for the Germans to either step up and save the Euro or leave the Euro. |
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Then we discuss the P5+1 meeting with Iran in Baghdad with Nader Hashimi, a professor of Middle East and Islamic politics at the University of Denver and the author of “The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Future of Iran”. With optimistic sounds coming out of the International Atomic Energy Agency about a possible breakthrough, we look into why Iran has been prepared to endure crippling sanctions in order to hide a nuclear program they insist is only for peaceful purposes. |
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Then finally we examine what was behind the resignation of the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission who was often the lone dissenting voice in favor of increasing oversight, particularly in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. Arjun Makhajani, the president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research joins us to discuss how much Gregory Jaczko’s push for safety reforms made him a target for removal. |
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May 22 - The Corrupt Power and Privilege of the PRI Returns to Mexico; The Talk by Nick Hanauer TED Withheld; Nick Hanauer on Cultivating "The Gardens of Democracy".
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We begin with the portent that a criminal regime will soon take over in Mexico, and speak with John Ackerman, a professor at the Institute for Legal Research at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and a columnist for Proceso Magazine and La Jornada newspaper. We discuss the frontrunner in the July first presidential elections, the PRI candidate Enrique Pena Nieto, who apparently is corrupt, has authoritarian tendencies and is, according to the late Carlos Fuentes, too ignorant to be president of Mexico. |
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Then we hear the speech that the conference forum TED (Technology – Entertainment – Design) did not want to release to the public because they considered it too controversial in a political year, but were forced to do so by popular demand, making it available at TED.com where it has since gone viral. The banned then unbanned speaker, Nick Hanauer, a serial entrepreneur who was the first non-family investor in Amazon.com, joins us to share his ideas about what is wrong with American capitalism and how to fix it. A member of the 1%, his arguments eviscerate Mitt Romney’s and Paul Ryan’s trickle-down economic ideology and budget plans that insist the wealthy should not be taxed because they are the job creators. Nick Hanauer is the author of the new book “The Gardens of Democracy”. |
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May 21- A Vet Who Handed Back His Medals to NATO; Obama Won't Apologize and Pakistan Gouges NATO; The Man Who Spilled the CIA's Family Jewels
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We begin with a U.S. Army veteran who served three tours in Afghanistan and just handed back his medals in protest at the NATO summit in Chicago. Jacob George joins us to explain why he handed back his medals and how he feels about the blood and treasure the U.S. has invested in a country that NATO is anxious to leave.
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Then we look into the impasse between NATO and Pakistan over opening the supply routes into Afghanistan where the Pakistanis are gouging NATO, demanding a raise from $250 per vehicle to $5,000, and the President is refusing to apologize to the Pakistanis because that would be an election-year gift to Mitt Romney who has accused Obama of having a foreign policy of apologizing. Dr. Marvin Weinbaum, the former Afghanistan and Pakistan Analyst at the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research joins us.
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Then finally we speak with the son of a former head of the CIA William Colby, who opened up to Congress and spilled the "family jewels" that led to the Church Committee reforms that created the House and Senate Intelligence Oversight Committees. Documentary film maker Carl Colby, who recently made “The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby” joins us to discuss how the post 9/11 so-called reforms are working and the on-going military domination of the CIA and American intelligence.
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