Scott Ritter and Patrik Baab on The World This Week: Will lame ducks Trump and Netanyahu unleash their fury on Iran? Does Trump have a big Ukraine deal? Also, the crisis in Poland, the Democrats and Ukraine, and the uprisings in Europe.
Douglas Macgregor tells Glenn Diesen that Germany has not been a sovereign state since 1945, that the loss of cheap gas and the closing of factories are destroying the economy, and that parliamentary tricks will not keep the AfD out forever. He says the United States is about to attack Iran again without a strategic reason, that the defense budget should be cut in half, and that Iran, Turkey, and China will shape the Middle East once Washington's position there is gone.
Timeline:
00:00:00 Germany's political crisis and the AfD's rise
00:03:22 Energy costs, deindustrialization, and German sovereignty
00:05:12 Wagenknecht, the AfD, and possible political alliances
00:07:50 European nationalist movements and US influence
00:10:27 Macgregor's claims about US institutions and European politics
00:13:26 Why he favors a more regional European order
00:16:18 The limits of a unified European identity
00:19:28 Regional security zones and the future of Europe
00:21:30 Ukraine diplomacy and the US midterms
00:25:51 US debt, the unipolar moment, and military priorities
00:30:03 How drones and electronic warfare are changing combat
00:33:27 Defense spending, inflation, and the case for retrenchment
00:35:20 Tactical nuclear weapons and escalation risks
00:38:09 Iran, US influence, and the Middle East's future
00:40:17 Turkey's role as US influence recedes
Patrik Baab interviews Joe Lauria, editor-in-chief of Consortium News for his show Gegen den Strom, asking who really governs the United States.
Who really governs the United States? The elected politicians — or the economic interests that fund their election campaigns?
The U.S. midterm elections are on Tuesday. According to American journalist Joe Lauria, Donald Trump is coming under increasing pressure. Yet, the problems extend far beyond the incumbent president.
Lauria is the editor-in-chief of Consortium News. In a conversation with Patrik Baab, he analyzes the political and social crisis in the United States.
His thesis: American democracy is increasingly shaped by powerful economic lobbies, the arms industry, and the interests of large corporations. On key issues, Democrats and Republicans differ less than their public disputes might suggest.
Lauria is particularly critical of American foreign policy. He discusses the prospect of continued war with Iran, the support for Israel, the war in Ukraine, and Europe's role within Washington's geopolitical strategy.
He also identifies profound problems in the domestic sphere. What has become of Trump's promise to rebuild American industry? Why do many workers feel abandoned by both major parties? And what consequences might artificial intelligence and digitalization have for the labor market?
A key focus is the role of the media. Lauria argues that major media outlets do not merely report on political conflicts but actively contribute to social division. He also warns of authoritarian trends and discusses potential threats to democratic institutions and elections.
Finally, the discussion addresses a fundamental question: How do Americans perceive their own country? And what would need to happen for the political landscape to truly change?
A conversation about power and money, war and democracy, the crisis within American society, and the future of the United States.
Patrik Baab is a German journalist and author of several books, including Auf beiden Seiten der Front: Meine Reisen in die Ukraine [On Both Sides of the Front: My Travels in Ukraine] (2023).
Timeline:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:13 U.S. Midterm Elections: Outlook & Power Dynamics
00:03:07 U.S. Foreign Policy, Iran & the Role of Israel
00:06:15 Who Really Governs the U.S.? Political Parties & Lobbying Power
00:09:22 The Role of Big Tech and AI in the Defense Sector
00:10:48 U.S. Economy: Jobs, Tariffs & the Working Class
00:14:58 Loss of Trust & Political Representation of the Working Class
00:17:35 Mainstream Media, Polarization & Shaping Public Opinion
00:22:02 Geopolitical Strategy: Proxy Wars & Allies
00:24:38 Cult of Personality, Symbols of Power & the Constitution
00:29:36 Potential Succession in the White House: Vance or Rubio?
00:34:30 U.S. Security Strategy & Networks in Europe
00:36:01 Social Division & the Myth of the 'Noble Lie'
Europe, Alpha, casualties and society. Martyanov calls alpha the share of losses a unit can take and keep fighting, says the United States as a society cannot absorb casualties the way he says Iran did, and treats Europe as irrelevant at any negotiating table.
Thomas Fazi is an Italian journalist and author focusing on economics and geopolitics.
He discusses NATO's hybrid warfare, deception, and permanent war with Glenn Diesen.
Timeline:
00:00:00 Thomas Fazi on European politics and hybrid warfare
00:02:18 Why Fazi calls hybrid warfare a dangerously vague concept
00:05:05 A counter-database of disputed Russian-war claims
00:08:26 Baltic cables, a Lithuania plane crash, and Heathrow
00:12:15 The drone-sighting wave and what investigations found
00:16:05 Stray drones, the von der Leyen claim, and evidence
00:18:02 Nord Stream and the consequences of misattribution
00:23:24 Threat narratives, domestic politics, and rearmament
00:28:06 Information warfare, censorship, and Romania’s election
00:30:01 Gladio and the danger of manufactured threats
00:35:58 RussiaGate and the persistence of disputed claims
00:42:09 Public opinion, propaganda, and rising repression risks
Ukraine's flagship missile programs are finished, and Alexander explains why the Flamingo cruise missile and the FP7 and FP9 ballistic missiles were really cancelled as Zelensky leaves Kiev ahead of a massive Russian strike. He also covers the Russian advance near Orekhov and Dobropolye, the growing campaign against the Dnieper bridges, the stalled Freya air defense project, and the striking phrase in the Kremlin readout of Putin's call with Stubb and Store. Is Putin now signaling a demand that goes far beyond Istanbul plus?
Timeline:
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:31 Putin hosts African leaders in Moscow
00:01:51 Zelensky leaves Kiev for the Netherlands and UK
00:04:56 Big Russian missile and drone strike expected
00:07:25 Firepoint ends the Flamingo cruise missile
00:16:26 Why the Flamingo program really collapsed
00:18:24 FP7 and FP9 ballistic missiles cancelled
00:22:11 The S300 missile and the Taurus theory
00:27:10 Ukraine now depends on drones alone
00:30:40 Russian advance speeding up despite autumn rains
00:31:53 Ukrainian defenses north of Orekhov collapse
00:32:42 Dobropolye, Leman and Sumy fronts
00:35:43 Russian buildup near Aleshki and Kherson
00:39:08 The Freya air defense project delayed
00:44:36 Russia targets substations and Dnieper bridges
00:49:08 Iskander accuracy and the Rassvet satellite theory
00:53:22 Norway debunks the FT on the Putin call
00:57:52 Ushakov shuts Europe out of Abu Dhabi
00:59:48 Putin's "without any conditions" readout
01:07:28 Gordon Hahn on tougher Russian demands
George Beebe is the former CIA Director for Russia Analysis and currently Director of Grand Strategy at the Quincy Institute. He tells Glenn Diesen that Europe must face U.S. consequences if it blocks a Ukraine peace agreement.
Timeline:
00:00:00 Introduction and Context of the Ukraine Conflict
00:05:35 Diverging Expectations in Diplomatic Talks
00:15:45 The Complexity of European Security Architecture
00:25:17 The Role of NATO and Future Security Guarantees
00:30:45 Negotiation Dynamics and the Need for Unity
00:35:46 Final Thoughts on the Future of the Conflict
Andrei Martyanov says Trump's $1.5 trillion Pentagon plan is not what it seems inside the United States, and he cites reporting that a failed NDAA would leave the Pentagon with few options to replace weapons spent in the war with Iran.
Douglas Macgregor tells Glenn Diesen that calls to Vladimir Putin by the leaders of Finland and Norway mark the start of the end of the Ukraine war, because Europe knows the Ukrainian state is on life support and will have to make its own arrangements with Russia. He says NATO has no leadership left, that no European state will attack into Ukraine, and that Donald Trump is not interested in organizing Europe.
Timeline:
00:00:00 Introduction to Current Global Conflicts
00:06:06 The State of NATO and European Leadership
00:12:01 The Implications for Europe and NATO
Andrei Martyanov says the CIA is in a war with Russia contrary to Donald Trump’s intentions, that the agency never encountered this kind of war, and that it is lying about losses. Citing Larry Johnson, he says John Ratcliffe’s August trip to Moscow tried to convince Putin the campaign was a lost cause, and that US intelligence support to Ukraine was never turned off.
He also says European leaders who called Vladimir Putin were told that if Zelensky wants to talk he should come to Moscow, and that Europe has no seat in talks between Russia and the United States.
Alexander Mercouris tells Glenn Diesen that Europe is under economic stress, with falling living standards in France and the same pressure in Britain and Germany, and that people are in the streets because they feel the political system no longer responds.
He says both sides have agreed to sit down, but Ukraine, the Europeans, and Marco Rubio treat the talks as being about Donbass and territory, while Russia says the subject is Europe's security architecture.
Timeline:
00:00:00 The State of Europe: Economic and Social Unrest
00:05:48 The Impact of War on European Stability
00:12:05 Diplomatic Dynamics: Russia, Ukraine, and the West
00:17:59 Revisiting Security Architecture in Europe
00:26:33 The Political Landscape of Ukraine
00:27:32 Demonization of Russia and European Unity
00:28:38 The Existential Threat of Peace
00:30:33 The American Influence on Ukraine
00:32:33 The Dynamics of U.S.-Ukraine Relations
00:36:23 Negotiation Challenges and Military Strategies
00:38:09 Shifts in the Battlefield
00:46:11 The Impact of Middle Eastern Conflicts on U.S. Strategy
Alastair Crooke tells Daniel Davis that sanctions and bombs no longer keep China, Russia, and Iran inside Washington's order. He says the wars in Ukraine and Iran have broken European budgets, and that Israeli officials are warning Netanyahu against a new strike on Iran before the election.
On this month's episode of The Dot Connector, David starts the show with an emotive and powerful message in response to the civil unrest happening in different parts of Europe, especially the mass rioting and vandalism occurring in France. Who/what does it actually benefit long-term?
As more migrants from one culture integrate into the West, whose culture do they plan on accepting?
Description:
France is in flames and Macron has left the country, but in this episode we argue this is not just a French crisis, it is a European one rooted in a Brussels center that now controls borders, migration, the euro, foreign policy and Project Ukraine. From Orban and Georgescu to Meloni, Le Pen, Merz and the AfD, we explain why national governments can no longer answer to their own voters, and why Macron may already have his eyes on the European Central Bank as Lagarde moves on. Will the EU outlive the very nations it was built on?
The Duran: Episode 2654
00:00:00 France protests spread across Europe
00:01:00 Why France is the flash point again
00:02:16 Migration, economics and fear of conflict
00:03:53 Weak governments under a Brussels center
00:07:14 France under pressure from EU policy
00:09:38 There is no France without sovereignty
00:10:26 Orban, Georgescu and the price of dissent
00:11:43 Meloni falls in line, Le Pen softens
00:14:28 The EU will destroy member states first
00:17:27 Five years of meetings about Ukraine money
00:19:34 Macron's speech and his exit to the Middle East
00:22:47 Macron's next move: the European Central Bank?
00:26:00 Project Ukraine as the test of loyalty
00:29:08 Burning of the town hall and cultural violence
00:32:32 Europe's future: tourism and the military
00:34:12 Germany's AfD split, east versus west
00:38:04 Britain, Brexit and the London establishment
00:41:14 What is the EU? Treaties and Aztec gods
00:44:16 Mercouris on the France he loves
Big Three, real one. Stand-off arsenals. Andrei Martyanov says political and military elites have brought Europe to the end, with France convulsing, and that only the United States, China, and Russia will decide a relatively peaceful world, because Russia's standoff arsenal, used every day, is not comparable to what he says remains of U.S. munitions after the Iran war.
Military analyst Andrei Martyanov joins former CIA officer Larry Johnson to discuss Russia’s place in European civilization and the historical forces behind its confrontation with the West.
Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson, with Zulfiqar Ali on Transition Protocol, on why Trump's MOAB can't crack Iran's Pickaxe Mountain. Ali's sources in Islamabad say MBS asked Pakistan for help, repeatedly, and Pakistan said no. Johnson, who briefed a UN Security Council Arria-formula meeting on Wednesday, says Europe will start a war with Russia it will regret.
The show also covers what the MOAB can and cannot do, why Pakistan will not fight Ansar Allah for MBS, what Pakistani and Turkish officers told MBS about Israelis in his war room, how Johnson expects the war to end and China's role, and why diesel is short in a country that makes more than it uses.
The Islamabad decision, MBS's requests and the war-room account are the host's own sourcing and cannot be independently verified. Johnson's Europe and MBS forecasts are his analysis.
Timeline:
00:03:56 The MOAB: why an 11-ton air-burst bomb can't reach a facility under a mountain
00:10:21 No rescue: what Islamabad decided, per the host's sources
00:31:38 At the UN: the US tone shift, Nebenzia's answer, and Europe's hard line
While they discuss diesel deal, SMO goes on, as does West's collapse. Martyanov says the US lifting of sanctions on Russian diesel, with no Kremlin concessions, is a drop in the bucket that the media turned into a major story, and that the constraint remains two nuclear superpowers.
Stanislav Krapivnik discusses Houthi advances in Yemen, strikes on Saudi airports and oil facilities, and whether the United States could open a new operation there. He questions what Pakistan and Turkey would do, compares the Geran-5 with American cruise missiles, and says a Trump energy deal with Russia will not hold while Europe stays tied to Russian fuel and BRICS has no military bloc.
Timeline:
00:00:00 Houthis Expand Their Control Across Yemen
00:03:08 Krapivnik Assesses Strikes Against Saudi Arabia
00:06:24 Krapivnik Questions Pakistan's Military Capabilities
00:09:15 Saudi Air Force Faces New Threats
00:12:43 U.S. Could Launch an Operation in Yemen
00:16:20 Krapivnik Considers the Use of Foreign Mercenaries
00:19:24 Trump Faces Military Industrial Challenges
00:22:25 Krapivnik Compares Geran-5 With American Missiles
00:25:52 Saudi Arabia Faces Growing Domestic Risks
00:29:27 Trump Discusses an Energy Deal With Russia
00:32:56 Europe Remains Dependent on Russian Energy
00:36:08 Krapivnik Examines Trump's Domestic Political Challenges
00:39:24 American Politics Sparks Growing Domestic Debate
00:42:38 Maritime Shipping Costs Continue to Rise
00:46:57 Krapivnik Explains the Limitations of BRICS
00:50:35 Russia and China Emerge as NATO Counterweights
00:53:44 European Politics Faces New Internal Divisions
