Rania Khalek Dispatches

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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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.”

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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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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.

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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. 

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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.

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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. 

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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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto access the full episode and other exclusive content.

Listen to the full interview on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-party-88241590

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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto access the full episode and other exclusive content.

Petition discussed in the episode:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1EqSAgVue4H7F8OvtTMrkBhOUEc29MA_mGa3Qk4vI7Rg/edit?pli=1 

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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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 atPatreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 atPatreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 atPatreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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/BreakthroughNewsto 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 athttps://www.Patreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 atPatreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 atPatreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 atPatreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 atPatreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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 atPatreon.com/BreakthroughNewsto 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.

Spotify:https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK 

Apple:https://apple.co/3zeYpeW 

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 

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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.

Spotify:https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK 

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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.

Spotify:https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK 

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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.

Apple:https://apple.co/3zeYpeW 

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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/ 

Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

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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 

Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

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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 Newsletterhttps://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/ 

Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

Apple:https://apple.co/3zeYpeW 

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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.

Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

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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. 

Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

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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 Pariahshttps://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/293 

Looking Easthttps://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/287 

Useful Spectreshttps://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/280 

Joining the Westhttps://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 

Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

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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 Palestinian 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

Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

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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 atnz67@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.

Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

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