Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs
US Africa Policy: “Willful Disregard of Reality”
So much history of over-reliance on military solutions when governments don’t have the support of the people, yet we’re doing it again in Africa. Our guest who has major experience in the White House and Defense Department is Dr. Gordon
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Snap UK Elections: A Fight for Mediocrity
Used to be Labour was left, Tories were conservative. Now it seems each party is trying to be just like the other. This right before PM Rishi Sunak shocked everyone by scheduling a new election for July fourth. And stirring
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With Courage In The UN, Peace is Possible in Ukraine
The big fish love the UN Security Council. It keeps them able to make wars. But the UN was not always toothless nor must it always remain so. Two badly behaved little boys really can’t be the only option for
2024: The Positive Breakdown of “Rules Based Order.”
History moves in many different directions at the same time. On this show author and independent journalist Patrick Lawrence explains how as we begin a new year there is optimism beneath the pessimism. The failure of our many imperial policies
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The Mystery that is Cuban History
For over 60 years, North Americans have been kept in the dark about our neighbor Cuba. On this show Professor author Lisandro Perez talks about what his new book reveals. In The House on G Street traces generations of a
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Happy Birthday Henry?
One hundred years old and what’s Henry Kissinger got to show for it? Well, he’s a free man because the US never joined the International Criminal Court. Though he wouldn’t want to travel to the many nations that can prosecute
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In Breaking Iraq, America Broke Itself
Bush’s lies gave Trump moral scaffolding; today Americans believe big lies. On this show Thanassis Cambanis, a reporter who was in Iraq at the invasion, details the harm Bush and Cheney did to America. Even Russia gained power from our
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Twenty Years Ago Today 3/20/03: The Price Veterans Still Pay
Shock and Awe was launched on this date by then President George W Bush. Over a hundred thousand Iraqis died along with 4,000 Americans. But what about the veterans today? On this rebroadcast, author Kelly Denton-Borhaug talks about her book
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Why Pakistan Matters. A Lot.
How big do you think Pakistan is? Would you guess over 200 million people? It’s a nuclear armed power, deeply in debt, with a few rich powers and the military in control. On this show Murtaza Hussain fills in what
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Outsourcing War: Making Atrocities Invisible By The Wagner Group
Private Security Firms; just part of doing business, right? Blackwater was America’s version in Iraq; The Wagner Group is Russia’s today in Ukraine and Africa. Atrocities in the Donbass region of Ukraine? Russia cynically said, that’s not us, it’s “little
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The Collapse of Journalism and the Threat to Democracy
Reporters used to report, now there’s virtually no line between media and the national security state. Veteran international journalist Patrick Lawrence on this show notes the big change occurred 9/11; since then we have been subject to an information monoculture.
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Militaristic Foreign Policy Fails; There are Other Options
The same old same old foreign policy of military first does not enhance our national security. On this show historian Leon Fink, author of Undoing the Liberal World Order, sees that the causes of terrorism are untouched by our reliance
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75 Years of National Security State: America?
You may have thought it began after 9/11. But it really all started in 1947, as National Security Archive Scoville Fellow Rachel Santarsiero explains. The focus of our huge arsenal then quickly shifted from Germany and Japan to the perceived
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The Queen and BoJo: The UK From Here
A glorious celebration of a great state symbol: the Queen, who’s been through so much in her 70 year reign. Nostalgia for an imperial glorious past only goes so far. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was booed by his own party
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Like it or Not:The Emerging Post-American, Non-West Order
Here we are well into the 21st century and we’re stuck on imperialism, a 19th century western idea. Meanwhile a new non-western, non-American, nonaligned world is emerging. And perhaps it’s a very good thing. On this show international journalist Patrick
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We Missed it: An Opportunity For a Stable Russia
Shock Therapy. That was the US policy toward Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. That brought economic anarchy, a real depression, and the clamoring for a strongman government. And today we see the results. According to our guest
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The Emerging Post-American Non-West Order
Here we are well into the 21st century and we’re stuck on imperialism, a 19th century western idea. Meanwhile a new non-western, non-American, nonaligned world is emerging. And perhaps it’s a very good thing. On this show international journalist Patrick
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Political Earthquake: Honduras Elects Leftist Woman
The original “banana republic,” Honduras is the second poorest country in the Caribbean region. A few wealthy and many poor. You know the story. It’s had a right wing government since a US supported coup in 2009, but on November
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The Harmful Naivete of A Foreign Policy of Violence
With violence so deeply embedded into America’s foreign policy, it’s become invisible. But who does it harm more; us of them? On this show global religion teacher and author Kelly Denton-Borhaug says it is time to grow up and face
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Now They Must Govern: Prospects for the Taliban
Anything but monolithic, the newly victorious Taliban have internal divisions and are desperately seeking stability. Many confuse the Taliban with Al Qaeda and even ISIS, but the truth is ISIS was the Taliban’s enemy, and the country of Afghanistan is
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Does it Have to be Militaristic Competition With China?
We hold their debt, they hold ours. Yet both countries are openly preparing for all out high intensity war. Flashpoints in the South China Sea. Nationalism here and in China. But as US Foreign Policy historian Lawrence Wittner explains, though
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To Stop Northward Migration, Address the Causes
“Crisis at the Border.” The truth is: unless we get to the root of how bad it has to be to force people to leave home, the refugees will keep coming. On this show political anthropology professor David Vine reveals
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Troubles in Northern Ireland: Unforeseen Brexit Blues
You may have read recently about a flare up of rioting in Belfast. It’s all a result of Boris Johnson’s Brexit. Scholar Kenneth Surin, a British citizen teaching in the US, explains what’s going on in Northern Ireland. Though it’s
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We’re Not at the Head of the Table Anymore
American presidents have assumed that our place is at the head of the table with our European counterparts. In his first (virtual) meeting as president with German and French leaders, Biden was met by, what KDA’s most popular guest Patrick
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Two-fer: Senate Trial Realities and Biden’s China Conundrum
On part one: By strict legal standards, Donald Trump is obviously guilty. But the impeachment trial is a political not a legal proceeding, the Republican majority senate is the jury. And according to Marjorie Cohn, former president of the National
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Trump and Pompeo Dictate New Map on Africa//Franco Still Dead
The world is as they say it is. Never mind the people who actually live there, Trump and Pompeo decided and imposed new boundaries between Morocco and Algeria. It may start a war between them but at least it gets
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Stop American War Billions Marching Us To Disaster
Why do we keep investing our national treasure in policies which make us much less secure? Part of the reason is what our guest calls the “fire-hose of content” from the 24/7 news cycle. Our foreign policy affects us all
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Biden’s Better Foreign Policy?
The slogan was Build Back Better. In terms of foreign policy, our guest today Foreign Policy In Focus’s John Feffer says: “Thanks in no small part to Donald Trump, the United States just doesn’t matter much anymore,” our leadership is
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After A Right Wing Coup, Social Democracy Makes a Comeback
As Americans were dancing in the streets with the ousting of Trump, so the people of Bolivia celebrated the return of Evo Morales, first indigenous president after a coup forced him to flee. The new president is Luis Arce, former
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Trump Floods the Mid-East with US Weapons
It’s all about bragging. Trump said his “deal” between the UAE and Israel would create a half million new jobs. The true number is less than a tenth of that. On this show Pentagon arms expert William Hartung explains how