Around The Empire

Guest: Giorgio Cafiero. We discuss the civil war and complicated foreign intervention in Libya. We first do a review of what has happened in Libya since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi and then we sort out the situation in Libya right now. There is an extra (bonus question) for patrons only (Ep 173EXTRA) about the outlook for Libya going forward, whether it's likely to split and/or be used as a battlefield by larger powers. Giorgio Cafiero is the CEO and founder of Gulf State Analytics, a geopolitical risk consultancy based in Washington, DC. His research interests include geopolitical and security trends in the Arabian Peninsula and the broader Middle East. He is a regular contributor to the Middle East Institute, Al Monitor, LobeLog, Inside Arabia, and New Arab and he frequently appears as a commentator on various media networks. He is also an adjunct fellow at the American Security Project, an affiliate at the Mena Center and an analyst at London-based advisory Rosa & Roubini Associates. FOLLOW @GiorgioCafiero. Find him at Gulf State Analytics. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on June 28, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Guest: Margaret Kimberley. We talk about Margaret's new book: Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents and about the current Black Lives Matter protest movement. Here is Dr. Cornel West's comment about the book: "Margaret Kimberley gives us an intellectual gem or prophetic fire about all the U.S. presidents and their deep roots in the vicious legacy of white supremacy and predatory capitalism. Such truths seem more than most Americans can bear, though we ignore her words at our own peril!" There is an extra (bonus question) for patrons only (Ep 172EXTRA) where we get Margaret's advice for people who strongly support anti-racism, strongly oppose police brutality, discrimination and the militarization of police but who prefer peaceful protests and are uncomfortable with random violence and political exploitation of these issues by disingenuous politicians and others who are actually part of the problem themselves. Margaret Kimberley is an author and she's the co-founder and Editor and Senior Columnist for Black Agenda Report (BAR). Her Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She is from New York City and her work has appeared in numerous publications and sites. She also writes on her own FreedomRider blog. FOLLOW Margaret on Twitter @freedomrideblog Find her work at the Black Agenda Report and at her FreedomRider blog. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on June 20, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents by Margaret Kimberley

Joanne Leon and Dan Wright do another quarantine episode while on newly reduced lockdown in New Jersey in a conversation about the pandemic, protests, the movement to defund police, the hypocrisy of politicians, and Governor Murphy the Friendly Cartoonish Dictator. We also talk about majoritarianism, Turchin's theory on stability, inequality and the overproduction of elites, and more. This episode is for patrons only and may be unlocked for the public at a later date. FOLLOW Dan on Twitter @DanSWright Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on June 18, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: This model forecast the US's current unrest a decade ago. It now says 'civil war', Australian Broadcasting Corp. The Science behind My Forecast for 2020, Peter Turchin Elite Overproduction, Inequality, and the Unraveling of Cooperation (Structural-Demographic Dynamics), Peter Turchin

Guest: Whitney Webb. We discuss Whitney's three-part series titled Engineering Contagion: Amerithrax, Coronavirus and the Rise of the Biotech Industrial Complex, which she and Raul Diego wrote during the past few months. Quoting from the first article in the series: "This investigative series, entitled 'Engineering Contagion: Amerithrax, Coronavirus and the Rise of the Biotech-Industrial Complex,' will examine these disturbing parallels between the 2001 anthrax attacks and the current scandals and "solutions" of the Covid-19 crisis as well as the simulations that eerily preceded both events. By tracing key actors in Dark Winter from 2001 to the present, it is also possible to trace the corruption that has lurked behind U.S. "biodefense" and pandemic preparedness efforts for decades and which now is rearing its ugly head as pandemic panic distracts the American and global public from the fundamentally untrustworthy, and frankly dangerous, individuals who are in control of the U.S. government's and corporate America's response. Given their involvement in Dark Winter and, more recently, Event 201 and Crimson Contagion, this series seeks to explore the possibility that, just like the 2001 anthrax attacks, government insiders had foreknowledge of the Covid-19 crisis on a scale that, thus far, has gone unreported and that those same insiders are now manipulating the government's response and public panic in order to reap record profits and gain unprecedented power for themselves and control over people's lives." Whitney Webb is a writer and research and soon to be author. She has made numerous radio, television and video appearances on a variety of programs across the political spectrum. Her work aims to highlight under-reported issues and find common ground between people of different political persuasions regarding corruption, government overreach, the lack of accountability for militaries and intelligence agencies and the military-industrial complex. She publishes at The Last American Vagabond and on her website Unlimited Hangout and she is the host of a new podcast, also titled Unlimited Hangout. She was formerly a staff writer at MintPress News. FOLLOW Whitney @_whitneywebb SUBSCRIBE to her podcast Unlimited Hangout and find her work at Unlimited Hangout and at The Last American Vagabond. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on June 9, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Engineering Contagion (Part 1): ALL ROADS LEAD TO DARK WINTER, Whitney Webb Engineering Contagion (Part 2): A KILLER ENTERPRISE: HOW ONE OF BIG PHARMA'S MOST CORRUPT COMPANIES PLANS TO CORNER THE COVID-19 CURE MARKET, Whitney Webb Engineering Contagion (Part 3): HEAD OF THE HYDRA: THE RISE OF ROBERT KADLEC, Whitney Webb Unlimited Hangout podcast episode 1

Guest: Elijah Magnier. Eventually, sanctioned countries collaborate with each other. In the age of decline of the Anglo-American empire, every tool in the toolbox has been pulled out and weaponized and deployed to maintain dominance and for much longer than is normally effective. Elijah explains how Russia, Venezuela and the axis of resistance in the Middle East (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen) with assistance from China are collaborating to overcome and get around both long standing and ever increasing sanctions by the US and allied countries and also finding ways to be more self sufficient to the point where the sanctions have much less impact and in some ways destructive for those doing the sanctioning. We also talk about the latest developments in Syria and the reconstruction dilemma. There's an extra/bonus segment for patrons. Given that this seems like a turning point for the US and the world, I ask Elijah for insights on whether there are parallels in history and for his views on how things are likely to play out. You can find that on Patreon, Episode 169 EXTRA. Elijah Magnier is a veteran war correspondent and political analyst with over 35 years of experience covering the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). FOLLOW Elijah Magnier @ejmalrai. Read and support his work at ejmagnier.com Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on June 5, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: The Persian Rug Weaver Strikes in the US's Backyard Through Venezuela, Elijah Magnier Syria Caesar's Law: Who Does it Target and How Will it Affect President Assad? Elijah Magnier Syria: Russia Challenges the US Through the Levant Gate, Elijah Magnier Syria: Will the Great Middle Eastern War Begin in the Levant? Elijah Magnier

Guest: Danny Sjursen. Swapcast: Around the Empire's Joanne Leon and Foreign Policy Focus host Kyle Anzalone. We discuss Danny's experience on the ground at the protests in Kansas City and the broader protest movement, whether this is an insurrection, the idea of calling in the military to act as a police force or worse, and the parallels between current policing practices and counterinsurgency missions. Major Danny Sjursen is a retired US Army strategist, West Point grad and former history instructor at West Point. He served tours with reconnaissance units in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the author of a memoir and critical analysis of the Iraq War titled: Ghostriders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge and a new book available for pre-order now: Patriotic Dissent: America in the Age of Endless War. His articles are published by numerous media outlets: antiwar.com, The American Conservative, Truthdig, TomDispatch and others. He is the co-host of the Fortress on a Hill podcast. FOLLOW Danny @SkepticalVet, SUBSCRIBE to the podcast Fortress on a Hill and find his website at skepticalvet.com FOLLOW Kyle on Twitter: @Kyaaale. SUBSCRIBE to the podcast Foreign Policy Focus at the Libertarian Institute. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on June 5, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Dispatches From Kansas City: The 'Insurrection' That Wasn't (May 30-31, 2020), Danny Sjursen Do Police Face Less Discipline Than U.S. Soldiers?, Danny Sjursen Military Officers And Vets Uncomfortable With Trump's Domestic 'Battlespace', Mark Perry Book: Ghostriders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge, Danny Sjursen Book: Patriotic Dissent: America in the Age of Endless War, Danny Sjursen

Guest: Sam Husseini. The origins of COVID-19 and the novel coronavirus are not yet clear but the possibility of it being the result of bioweapon engineering research or gain-of-function experimentation that makes viruses more deadly or some other scenario have largely been dismissed, from early on, by officials and some scientists and to a large extent suppressed by the corporate media. Regardless of the origin of this pandemic, there needs to be more discussion and airing of different views on this subject and on the topic of the global biological arms race that is very real and happening largely outside of the public view. There's an extra/bonus segment for patrons on the question of privatized and/or covert biowarfare research, a short discussion with Sam and some additional information that I later added, reading from some articles and adding some commentary to expand a little and for important context. You can find that at Patreon, Episode 167 EXTRA. Sam Husseini, a writer and artist living in Maryland. He has been published in The Nation, Consortium News, CounterPunch and elsewhere. He is senior analyst for the Institute for Public Accuracy. He's also founder of VotePact.org -- which helps break out of the two party bind. FOLLOW @SamHusseini. Find his work at husseini.org. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on May 22, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Averting our Gaze from Biowarfare: Pandemics and Self-fulfilling Prophecies, Sam Husseini Did this virus come from a lab? Maybe not — but it exposes the threat of a biowarfare arms race, Sam Husseini, Salon Questioning the CDC: Is it a Complete Coincidence That China's Only BSL4 Is in Wuhan? -- Audio and Video, Sam Husseini Perspectives on the Pandemic | Investigative Journalist Sam Husseini | Episode 7, Journeyman Films

Guest: Aaron Maté. Key allegations from the Russiagate conspiracy have now officially collapsed with the release of transcripts from witness interviews that were conducted over the past three years. Now the walls are truly closing in and not in the way the Trump-Russia obsessed media presented it in the past. Key Obama administration officials, under oath, said they had no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Perhaps the biggest blow was delivered by Crowdstrike, the private cybersecurity firm that served as a critical source on the Russian hacking claim. We now know that Crowdstrike's president told Congress more than two years ago that it had no real evidence that Russian hackers exfiltrated emails and passed them to Wikileaks. Aaron notes, in an understated manner, that this "raises new questions about whether Special Counsel Robert Mueller, intelligence officials and Democrats misled the public." At the end of the interview, there's an extra/bonus segment for patrons on the question of which forces were driving the Russiagate conspiracy. You can find that at Patreon, Episode 166 EXTRA. Aaron is the host of the Pushback With Aaron Maté show at the Grayzone and a contributing writer at The Nation. FOLLOW Aaron on Twitter @aaronjmate, subscribe to his show Pushback with Aaron Maté at the Grayzone channel on YouTube and support him at Patreon. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on May 21, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Hidden Over 2 Years: Dem Cyber-Firm's Sworn Testimony It Had No Proof of Russian Hack of DNC, Aaron Maté House Intel transcripts 5/7/20 Remarks by President Trump in Meeting with Governor Abbott of Texas 5/8/20 President Trump Meets with Republican Members of Congress

Guest: Yasha Levine. We talk about his new series on Substack, titled Immigrants as a Weapon. Yasha refers to this as an "investigative newsletter" about "weaponized immigrants, oligarchs, and the twisted politics of American power". He refers to himself as "a Soviet immigrant living in an era of American decline" and it speaks for itself as to why his perspective is so perfect for this fascinating topic. At the end of the discussion, there's an extra segment on surveillance and contact tracing. It's a separate bonus extra for patrons titled Episode 165 EXTRA Surveillance and Contact Tracing in the Pandemic Era. Yasha Levine is an investigative journalist and author. Born in Leningrad, he grew up in San Francisco, and just moved back to California. He has reported from all over the world — with a focus on America and the former Soviet Union. He is the author of Surveillance Valley:The Secret Military History of the Internet, a book about the forgotten counterinsurgency origins of the Internet. He's also working on some documentary projects, including one about California's Oligarch Valley. FOLLOW @yashalevine SUBSCRIBE to his Substack investigative newsletter, Immigrants as a Weapon. Read his book Surveillance Valley and visit his website yashalevine.com Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Reference Links: Weaponized Immigrants and the History of America's Imperial Propaganda Machine, Yasha Levine Weaponizing Fascism for Democracy: The Beginning, Yasha Levine

Swapcast: Around the Empire's Joanne Leon and Dan Wright and Foreign Policy Focus host Kyle Anzalone discuss the origins of Russiagate. For three years, we have been fighting to debunk the fake news created about the imagined Russian conspiracy to help Trump beat Hillary. Now, the fake news and false allegations have run dry and some of the faces behind it are being exposed. We discuss the unmaskings and why it is so important. FOLLOW Kyle on Twitter: @Kyaaale. SUBSCRIBE to the Foreign Policy Focus podcast at the Libertarian Institute. Follow Dan Wright @DanSWright Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on May 14, 2020. Reference Links: Foreign Policy Focus Debunking Russiagate series: episode 211, episode 212 and episode 213

Joanne and Dan Wright spend another afternoon while on quarantine / lockdown in New Jersey in a long conversation about the pandemic, civil rights, protests, religious rights, so called philanthropists and oligarchs, and the breaking news on the Flynn case and Russiagate. This episode is for patrons only and may be unlocked for the public at a later date. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on May 8, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: U.S. Constitution shredded by dangerous elected officials, Andrew Napolitano House Intelligence Committee: Russia Investigation Transcripts and Documents Jersey City break up fight on Bostwick Avenue, video NJ.com When COVID-19 Deaths Go Up, Other Deaths Go Down Mccarthy clip NJ State officials hold April 29 coronavirus briefing President Trump Meets with the Governor of Texas 'Open New Jersey now!' Protesters in Trenton demand Gov. Murphy lift coronavirus lockdowns despite rising death toll

Joanne and Dan Wright spend another evening while on quarantine / lockdown in New Jersey in a long conversation about Coronavirus, the reopening of states, "contact tracing", Trump, the Clintons, Anthony Fauci, information from skeptics like RFK, Jr., and we also talk about the Kim Jong Un mystery. This episode is for patrons only but will be unlocked later for the public. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on April 27, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: NJ State officials hold April 27 coronavirus briefing Corbett Report: Stop calling it contact tracing RFK, Jr. interview (starts at 43:00)

Guest: Dave DeCamp. We talk about the way that China hawks are exploiting the pandemic and global crisis to influence the opinion of a fearful public. There are legitimate issues with China but some of the same bad actors who were involved in the post 9/11 push for war in the Middle East and others seem to be using this crisis to advance their own great power competition agenda, for political and financial reasons and for the evergreen goal of preserving the empire. If there was ever a time to avoid conflict, it's now, while the country is in pretty dire straits. Big crises can result in big changes and profiteers who don't have our best interests at heart know that better than anyone. Dave has written two articles on the topic, filled with great examples and context and we talk about those today. FOLLOW Dave @DecampDave. Find his work at antiwar.com. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on May 1, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: China Hawks Exploiting America's Fear of Coronavirus, Dave DeCamp New Anti-China Propaganda Uses Russiagate Playbook, Dave DeCamp

Joanne and Dan Wright spend an evening over the weekend while on quarantine / lockdown in New Jersey in a long conversation about Coronavirus, the theories about it and the response to this pandemic. We discuss the use of technology for surveillance measures, the hybrid war with China. We then spent some time talking about the "pandemic primary", Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. This episode is for patrons only but might be unlocked later for the public. . Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on April 10, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Guest: Gareth Porter. Both in 1918 and 2020 pandemics forced the US military to make changes in their operations but the Pentagon has also revealed a resistance to stand down even when it's necessary to protect troops. We talk about the similarities and differences between the situations in 1918 during the Spanish Flu pandemic and World War I and today's Coronavirus pandemic during never ending imperial wars. We also talk about the kinds of movements, changes and consequences that might be catalyzed by this latest crisis. Gareth Porter is an independent Investigative historian and journalist on the national security state. He is the author of numerous books including Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam (2005) and Manufactured Crisis: the Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare (2014).and the co-author with John Kiriakou of his latest book The CIA Insider's Guide to the Iran Crisis: From CIA Coup to the Brink of War. Gareth is the winner of the 2012 Gellhorn Prize for Journalism FOLLOW Gareth on Twitter at @GarethPorter. Find his work at The American Conservative, Truthdig, Antiwar.com, Middle East Eye and other media outlets. He's also now at The Grayzone. Read his new book: The CIA Insider's Guide to the Iran Crisis: From CIA Coup to the Brink of War. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on April 10, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: How Generals Fueled 1918 Flu Pandemic To Win Their World War, Gareth Porter, The American Conservative 1918 Influenza Epidemic Records, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) Philadelphia, Nurses, and the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918, US Navy Book (2020): The CIA Insider's Guide to the Iran Crisis: From CIA Coup to the Brink of War. Book (2005): Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam Book (2014): Manufactured Crisis: the Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare

Guest: Mark Sleboda. We talk about the recent conflicts between Russia and Turkey in Syria. Negotiations resulted in a Sochi 2.0 Agreement, also called the Moscow Memorandum which settled the issue for the time being but none of the underlying problems were solved so it's likely a temporary solution. We also discussed the overall situation in Syria and Turkish President Erdogan's predicament and predictions for his future. Mark is an International Affairs & Security Analyst, a US Navy veteran, a university lecturer and a foreign policy realist. FOLLOW Mark on Twitter @MarkSleboda1 and on Facebook, look for his appearances on RT, Sputnik and other international channels. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on March 10, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Guest: Mark Sleboda. We talk about recent events in Ukraine and what has developed into a crisis of confidence for Ukrainian President Zelensky. It resulted in a reshuffling in Zelensky's cabinet, a no confidence vote in the Rada and no progress on bringing the civil conflict to an end, threats from the ultranationalist factions and strong opposition to Zelensky's neoliberal economic policy proposals. Recent polls have also shown a larger lack of confidence in the legitimacy of the post-Maidan government overall. We also talk about the Ukrainian oligarch Kolomoisky and the Biden / Burisma Affair. Mark is an International Affairs & Security Analyst, a US Navy veteran, a university lecturer and a foreign policy realist. FOLLOW Mark on Twitter @MarkSleboda1 and on Facebook, look for his appearances on RT, Sputnik and other international channels. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on March 10, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Ukraine shake-up throws future of reforms into doubt, Financial Times Ukraine's Zelensky Fires His Cabinet, New York Times

Guest: Régis Le Sommier. We discuss the fact that the United States and its western allies are in denial about having lost the war in Syria. Calls to reboot that war are unrealistic and against the wishes of the majority of Syrian people who are living in government controlled areas, still suffering under sanctions and whose voices are rarely heard in western media. The sanctions are being used in an effort to keep options open for regime change and to deny the Assad government the opportunity to rebuild and stabilize the country. Western leaders and media are also in denial about the nature and objectives of the people who control the opposition held areas. Régis brings us insights from Syria having spent time on the ground there in both government and opposition controlled areas. Correction: in the interview I said that Jennifer Caparaella worked for the Institute for the Study of Peace but the name of the organization is the Institute for the Study of War. Apologies for that! Régis Le Sommier is director at the Paris Match magazine. He has covered American presidential elections and interviewed several American presidents, other leaders and celebrities and reported from many places around the world including Iraq and Afghanistan. He has also spent time on the ground in Syria in both government and opposition held areas. FOLLOW @LeSommierRgis Find his work at Paris Match magazine, parismatch.com Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Reference Links: Time to Recommit to Syria, Foreign Affairs, Jennifer Cafarella Jennfier Cafarella Twitter THREAD on Syria

On this Foreign Policy Focus and Around the Empire swapcast, Kyle and Joanne discuss the five year anniversary of the US/Saudi/UAE war on Yemen. The anniversary has received almost no media coverage in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak. Ironically, the five years of war in Yemen has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis – making Yemen one of the most likely to be devastated by a coronavirus. The US/Saudi/UAE/UK bombing campaign has intentionally targeted the civilian infracture of Yemen. Now – before coronavirus even reaches Yemen – 24 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and millions of children are at risk of starvation. Yemen must be remembered and the war must end. FOLLOW Kyle on Twitter: @Kyaaale. SUBSCRIBE to the Foreign Policy Focus podcast at the Libertarian Institute. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on March 26, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Around the Empire: Ep 132 Ending the War in Yemen feat Shireen Al-Adeimi Around the Empire: Ep 128 Will the Saudi Kingdom Survive Their War on Yemen? feat Isa Blumi Around the Empire: Ep 64 Yemen War Big Picture & Media Narrative feat Isa Blumi Around the Empire: Ep 55 Imperial War, Gulf State Rivalry, Resources and Resistance in Yemen feat Isa Blumi Foreign Policy Focus FPF #209 – Killing Yemen Clashing UAE and Saudi interests are keeping the Yemen conflict alive, The Guardian 3/26/20 Shireen al Adeimi Twitter THREAD

Guest: Matthew Hoh. We talk about the Afghanistan Papers that were published in the Washington Post at the end of 2019 and the media treatment of these issues. We discuss Matthew's experience in the military and in foreign service, the war in Afghanistan during the Bush and Obama administrations, and the culture of lying that has developed in the military. Matthew resigned in protest in 2009 over the war in Afghanistan. Matthew Hoh is a Senior Fellow with the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC. He's a disabled veteran, a former US Marine Corps officer and Department of Defense and State Department official. Matthew was in the Iraq War with the Marines and in both Afghanistan and Iraq with State Department teams. He is on the Boards and Advisory Boards of a number of organizations including Expose Facts, Institute for Public Accuracy and Veterans For Peace. He writes and speaks regularly on issues of war and peace, has appeared on numerous media networks and his work has been published by a wide array of online and print media FOLLOW Matthew on Facebook. Find his recent writings at CounterPunch, antiwar.com and on his website https://matthewhoh.com Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Reference Links: Matthew Hoh website: https://matthewhoh.com At War With the Truth, Washington Post, Craig Whitlock (first WaPo article on Afghanistan Papers) The Secret History of the War, Washington Post, Craig Whitlock (Afghanistan Papers) Wiki: Afghanistan Papers Those who ran the Afghanistan war lied. They must be held to account, Washington Post, Katrina vanden Heuvel Afghan Papers Inadvertently Document WaPo's Role in Spreading Official Lies, FAIR WaPo's Afghan Papers Propagate Colonial Narrative of Noble Intentions Gone Awry, FAIR Book: The Cost of Loyalty: Dishonesty, Hubris, and Failure in the U.S. Military, Tim Bakken Lying to Ourselves: Dishonesty in the Army Profession, Army War College, Dr Stephen J Gerras, Dr Leonard Wong

Guests: Jennifer Pan, Alexandra Siegel. We talk about their research paper titled "How Saudi Crackdowns Fail to Silence Online Dissent" which was published in American Political Science Review. They studied the effects of well-known Saudi activists, religious leaders and journalists being imprisoned for online dissent. They analyzed tweets and Google search data from 2010 to 2017 using automated analysis of text and crowd-sourced evaluation of content to draw conclusions about the behavior of their peers and followers. Their research showed that it did not suppress online dissent overall. Jennifer Pan is an Assistant Professor Dept. of Communication Stanford University. Her research focuses on political communication and authoritarian politics, political censorship, propaganda, and information manipulation in the digital age. She uses experimental and computational methods with large-scale datasets on political activity in China and other countries. Website: http://jenpan.com Alexandra Siegel is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University Immigration Policy Lab and a Research Associate at NYU Social Media and Political Participation Lab. In her research she studies mass and elite political behavior in the Arab World including intergroup conflict, extremism and disinformation. Her analysis involves large datasets from social media, text and networks, machine learning methods and experiments. Website: https://alexandra-siegel.com FOLLOW Jen on Twitter @jenpan and find her work on her website jenpan.com. Follow Alexandra on Twitter @aasiegel and find her work on her website alexandra-siegel.com Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Kevin Gosztola provides an account of his experience reporting on the Julian Assange extradition hearing for four days at the court in London, plus more details and insights about the case and the people involved. Kevin Gosztola is a journalist and managing editor of Shadowproof. He also produces and co-hosts the excellent weekly podcast with Rania Khalek, "Unauthorized Disclosure." Kevin also reported on Chelsea Manning's military FOLLOW Kevin @kgosztola, find his work at shadowproof.com, and subscribe to his podcast Unauthorized Disclosure. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on February 28, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: (Day 1) ASSANGE'S DEFENSE DETAILS CIA-BACKED ESPIONAGE OPERATION, TRUMP'S POLITICIZATION OF JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, Kevin Gosztola, Shadowproof (Day 2) ASSANGE EXTRADITION HEARING: CHELSEA MANNING'S GRAND JURY RESISTANCE A MAJOR HURDLE FOR PROSECUTORS, Kevin Gosztola, Shadowproof (Day 3) PROSECUTION: US-UK TREATY DOES NOT APPLY TO ASSANGE EXTRADITION, Kevin Gosztola, Shadowproof (Day 4) JUDGE: JULIAN ASSANGE MUST REMAIN IN GLASS BOX DURING EXTRADITION PROCEEDINGS, Kevin Gosztola Around the Empire: Ep 110 Assange Indictments Rely on Contrived Narrative feat Kevin Gosztola Around the Empire: Ep 97 Chelsea Manning's Resistance feat Kevin Gosztola

Guest: Gordon Dimmack. We discuss the extradition hearing for Julian Assange, the failure of the mainstream media journalists and more. John Pilger has made good use of the phrase "journalism on trial" and it As John Pilger noted today: "Should Julian #Assange be extradited, it will not only be a crime of the British state but of those quisling journalists who smeared and lied about him". Their actions and negligence are also undermining their own press freedoms and placing their own profession in jeopardy. Gordon has repeatedly made these same arguments with strong substantiation. He has dedicated himself to both calling them out and making up for their failings. Gordon hosts a popular YouTube channel where he covers news, politics, war and the horrific state of our corporate media. He broadcasts mostly from the Midlands but also on the ground at various events around the country and his slogan is "Make Orwell fiction again." FOLLOW @gordondimmack SUBSCRIBE to his YouTube channel, find and support his work on his website http://gordondimmack.com Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on Feb 25, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Gordon Dimmack YouTube channel Your Man in the Public Gallery – Assange Hearing Day 1, Craig Murray UK minister who approved Trump's request to extradite Assange spoke at secretive US conferences with people calling for him to be "neutralized", Matt Kennard, Mark Curtis Kevin Gosztola Reports From Day 1 of Julian Assange's Extradition Hearing Julian Assange was 'handcuffed 11 times and stripped naked', Ben Quinn

Guest: Karen Kwiatkowski. We discuss the treatment of Julian Assange and his reported torture and interrogation by US authorities in Belmash prison, the ongoing Assange extradition hearing and more. Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, USAF (ret.) is a farmer, a teacher and a retired Air Force officer. She has degrees from Harvard, University of Alaska and a PhD from Catholic University. Before retiring she was a Pentagon desk officer who was in the building during the attack on 9/11 and worked for the Pentagon's Near East and South Asia directorate which dealt with the Office of Special Plans. Since retiring, she has become a noted critic of the U.S. government's involvement in Iraq and other aspects of foreign policy. She is a founding member of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, and the recipient of the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence Award in 2018 for her insider essays which denounced a corrupting political influence on the course of military intelligence leading up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Karen has said that the role she played as a source for Knight-Ridder is accurately portrayed in the Rob Reiner's film "Shock and Awe." She has also appeared in documentary films, including "Why We Fight". FOLLOW @karen4the6th Find her work at LewRockwell.com, Consortium News and American Conservative. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Reference Links: Why is Julian Assange Being Tortured to Death?, Karen Kwiatkowski Pray and Weep, Karen Kwiatkowski Assange in Court, Craig Murray VIPS: Extradition of Julian Assange Threatens Us All, Consortium News VIPS Fault Mueller Probe, Criticize Refusal to Interview Assange, Consortium News Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski Wins 2018 Sam Adams Award, Consortium News The new Pentagon papers, Karen Kwiatkowski, Salon In Rumsfeld's Shop, Karen Kwiatkowski, American Conservative Conscientious Objector, Karen Kwiatkowski, American Conservative Open Door Policy, Karen Kwiatkowski, American Conservative James Comey: Justice is supposed to be blind. Bill Barr can't see that, Washington Post

Guest: Maj. Danny Sjursen, US Army (ret.) We talk about two articles that Danny wrote about the conflicts between the United States and Iran over the last seven decades and what he calls a "timeline of provocations and retaliations" and we also talk about Iran's history of relative restraint. Major Danny Sjursen is a retired US Army strategist and former history instructor at West Point. He served tours with reconnaissance units in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the author of a memoir and critical analysis of the Iraq War titled: "Ghostriders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge". His articles are published by numerous media outlets: antiwar.com, The American Conservative, Truthdig, TomDispatch and others. He is the co-host of the Fortress on a Hill podcast. FOLLOW Danny @SkepticalVet, subscribe to his podcast Fortress on a Hill. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Reference Links: Who Started It?: A (Reverse) Timeline of US/Iran Retaliations, Danny Sjursen The Islamic Republic of Restraint, Danny Sjursen

Guest: Tim Shorrock. In recent weeks there have been cries of alarm about North Korea's missile testing all throughout the media but they've omitted some key developments like the massive military build up in South Korea and Northeast Asia over the past few years. Tim provides us with some of that omitted context including the fact that the South Korean armed forces, allied with the US, is the seventh largest in the world. Tim grew up in Japan and Korea and he has been covering national security and other topics around Asia and the Korean peninsula since the late 1970's . He is a correspondent at The Nation and he's the author of the popular book "Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing". FOLLOW @TimothyS Find his work at The Nation and at his website http://timshorrock.com. Buy his book: Spies For Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on December 31, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: A Low-Intensity War Is Underway in Northeast Asia, Tim Shorrock, The Nation

Guest: Alan MacLeod. We discuss the recent UK elections and how the Labour Party's Brexit strategy backfired. We talk about the relentless propaganda campaign that was launched against Jeremy Corbyn and how there is a similar campaign being run against Bernie Sanders in the United States that is growing in intensity. We wonder if Bernie will learn from Corbyn's experience or whether he'll continue the kind of "high road" approach that did not turn out well for Corbyn. We also discuss the post-election implications for the future of the United Kingdom and its constituent countries England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We also discuss the coup in Bolivia. Dr. Alan MacLeod is an academic, an author and a journalist who does work on media analysis and politics with a focus on social media, Latin American politics and propaganda. He writes for MintPress News and Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting and he has written two recent books, Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. FOLLOW him on Twitter at @AlanRMacLeod. Find his work at MintPress News and look for his books Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on December 19, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Corporate Media Find All the Wrong Lessons for US Left in Corbyn's Defeat, Alan MacLeod Labour's Brexit Strategy Backfires as UK Votes to Leave EU at Any Cost, Alan MacLeod, MintPress News Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn to Step Down After UK Election Catastrophe, Alan MacLeod, MintPress News British Weapons Manufacturers, Banks, See Share Price Rocket after Conservative Election Victory, Alan MacLeod, MintPress News Election Result Signals a Possible End of the United Kingdom, Alan MacLeod Around the Empire: Ep 96 Using Venezuela to Suppress Populism & Anti-Imperialism feat Alan MacLeod

Guest: Gareth Porter. As the news was breaking of Iranian retaliatory strikes on military bases in Iraq where American troops were deployed, Gareth Porter and I were talking about his analysis comparing the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident in Vietnam to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's apparent strategy to "grease the skids" for war with Iran. Gareth Porter is an independent Investigative historian and journalist on the national security state. He is the author of numerous books including Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam (2005) and Manufactured Crisis: the Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare (2014). He is the winner of the 2012 Gellhorn Prize for Journalism FOLLOW Gareth on Twitter at @GarethPorter. Find his work at The American Conservative, Truthdig, Antiwar.com, Middle East Eye and other media outlets. Read his new book: The CIA Insider's Guide to the Iran Crisis: From CIA Coup to the Brink of War. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on Jan 7, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Pompeo's Gulf Of Tonkin Incident, Gareth Porter Book: Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam, Gareth Porter Book: Manufactured Crisis: the Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare, Gareth Porter Book: The CIA Insider's Guide to the Iran Crisis: From CIA Coup to the Brink of War, Gareth Porter, John Kiriakou

Guest: Jeffrey Carr. Dan Wright and Joanne Leon did a reunion conversation with cybersecurity expert, Jeffrey Carr, to revisit the infamously erroneous Crowdstrike analysis of the DNC hack which they attributed to Russia based on their analysis of an alleged Russian hack of a Ukrainian military artillery app. We also discussed Crowdstrike's history, its recent mention in President Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky (the same phone call that led to his impeachment for a different reason) and the broader issue of how cybersecurity firms are incentivized to make specious claims concerning attribution of a hack, particularly if it gains them notoriety that leads to more business. Jeffrey Carr is a cybersecurity author, researcher, entrepreneur and consultant, who focuses on cyber warfare. He is the author of the book "Inside Cyber Warfare: Mapping the Cyber Underworld" and the creator of the Suits and Spooks conference series which "bridges the gap between the Intelligence Community and Industry on hard challenges in Information Security". Follow Jeff on Twitter @JeffreyCarr and find the Suits and Spooks conference series at suitsandspooks.com and find his writing at his blog https://jeffreycarr.blogspot.com Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on December 17, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Around the Empire Episode 13: Crowdstrike's Russian Hacking Claims feat. Jeffrey Carr (4/12/17) Think Tank: Cyber Firm at Center of Russian Hacking Charges Misread Data, VOA Cyber Firm Rewrites Part of Disputed Russian Hacking Report, VOA Trump-Zelensky July 25, 2019 phone call transcript "How a Fringe Theory About Ukraine Took Root in the White House", New York Times, Scott Shane (Questionable recent story mentioned in podcast) Ukraine SBU detains several involved in hacking the DNC servers, Scott Humor

Guest: Elijah Magnier. We discuss what really happened in Iraq over the past week, leading up to the killing of the Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and the Iraqi PMU vice commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandes. We talk about the reactions, justifications and likely consequences. Also, Elijah provides some more clarification on the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF/PMU or Hashd al-Shaabi) and the way the different Iraqi security forces have been described inaccurately in western media. Elijah Magnier is a veteran war correspondent and political analyst with over 35 years of experience covering the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). FOLLOW Elijah Magnier @ejmalrai. Read and support his work at ejmagnier.com Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on January 4, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: What Comes Next After the US Assassination of Qassem Soliemani? The Options, Elijah Magnier ATE Episode 140: Uprising in Iraq feat Elijah Magnier (12/18/19) ATE Episode 127: Iraq Protests, US-Iran War, Regime Change feat Elijah Magnier (10/6/19) ATE Episode 68: Iraq Politics & Stalled Idlib Op in Syria feat Elijah Magnier (9/17/18)

Guest: Neda Bolourchi. We talk about the assassination of Iranian major general of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Qasem Soleimani by the US military. Was it a punishment for past actions or an attempt at deterrence toward Iran or both? We discuss the impact on the people of Iraq and Iran and the recent protests, the prospects for retaliation by Iran and war throughout the region. Dr. Bolourchi teaches at Rutgers University-New Brunswick Center for Middle Eastern Studies. She is is a thought leader whose work crosses multiple fields, from the academic to the legal to foreign policy and more. Her academic research examines the transformative discourse on Iran during the twentieth century across the political and religious spectra. She completed years of research in Iran, Syria, and Armenia and she has provided foreign policy and security analysis and commentary for a variety of publications and news channels internationally. She previously worked on matters of civil litigation and white collar criminal defense. Her legal work includes international and comparative analysis of human rights violations in the Middle East. Find her at LinkedIn and find her work on her Rutgers University Center for Middle Eastern Studies web page. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on January 3, 2020. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: A 'New' Yes with Iran? Economics, Logistics and Timelines, The International Institute for Strategic Studies Hello, world? Tehran has a few things to say, Neda Bolourchi, Atlantic Council Tehran, It's Time To Listen And Take A Realistic View Of The Protests In Iraq, Neda Bolourchi, LobeLog Revealed: Why Hariri going won't stop the Lebanese protests – and how Iran could now be in peril, Neda Bolourchi, Redaction Politics

Guest: Jeb Sprague. We discuss how regime change projects seem to be on overdrive right now, the key role played by the Organization of American States (OAS) in regime change operations in Latin American and Caribbean states (former colonial states). Recently in the Commonwealth of Dominica (an island country in the West Indie), there was a successful resistance to regime change. In Bolivia, there was strong resistance as well, but the coup plotters succeeded. Jeb's research and reporting on the role of Bolivia's top police and military brass in planning and executing the coup, shows that it was a long term project with training at the School of the Americas. Dr. Jeb Sprague is currently a Research Associate at the University of California, Riverside. He formerly taught at the University of Virginia and at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a founding member of the Network for Critical Studies of Global Capitalism (NCSGC) and has taught in the Caribbean, East Asia, and North America. He is the author of two books: "Globalizing the Caribbean: Political economy, social change, and the transnational capitalist class" (2019) and "Paramilitarism and the assault on democracy in Haiti" (2012). FOLLOW Jeb Sprague @JebSprague and find his writing at The Grayzone, MintPress News, The Canary and at his website jebsprague.blogspot.com. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on December 6, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Top Bolivian coup plotters trained by US military's School of the Americas, served as attachés in FBI police programs, Jeb Sprague, The Grayzone Book: "Globalizing the Caribbean: Political economy, social change, and the transnational capitalist class" (2019), Jeb Sprague Book: "Paramilitarism and the assault on democracy in Haiti" (2012), Jeb Sprague Around the Empire: Ep 109 Hybrid War on Venezuela, Embassy Seizure feat Jeb Sprague

Guest: Ivan Katchanovski. We talk about his vast research and his detailed and prolific writings and presentations on the Maidan protests and the 2014 Maidan massacre in Ukraine. Dr. Ivan Katchanovski is a political scientist and his research focuses on politics, conflicts, policy & political communication in Ukraine, US & Canada. who teaches at the University of Ottawa. He was Visiting Scholar at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University, Visiting Assistant Professor at the Department of Politics at the State University of New York at Potsdam, Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto, and Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Library of Congress. He received his Ph.D. from George Mason University. He is a prolific researcher and writer and his publications (which can be found on his University of Ottowa website and elsewhere), his interviews, and comments have appeared in numerous media outlets internationally. FOLLOW @I_Katchanovski. Find his work at his website https://uottawa.academia.edu/IvanKatchanovski Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on December 5, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: The Far Right, the Euromaidan, and the Maidan Massacre in Ukraine, Ivan Katchanovski, Academia The Maidan Massacre in Ukraine: Revelations from Trials and Investigations, Ivan Katchanovski (presentation) How Maidan Protesters Were Shot from Maidan-Controlled Buildings: Video Appendix H, Ivan Katchanovski (video appendix for presentation)

Guest: Elijah Magnier. A new generation of Iraqis has new ideas and is not willing to accept an old, corrupt system dominated by ruling parties and sectarianism. Iraqis want foreign meddling to stop and they want reform and change. They want the country's resources to be used to improve the quality of life. Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr still has enormous influence over the protesters in the street and the ministers in the government. But what does Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr want to achieve? Prime Minister Mahdi inherited all the corruption and deficits from previous governments, the complications of alliances with the US and Iran and neighboring countries. His errors in handling the protests and his police forces and the violent crackdown led to his downfall. The search for a new leader of the parliament and the important ministries is on but there probably won't be a new election until 2021. Will this new generation of Iraqis succeed in acting as a check on the corrupt actors going forward? Elijah Magnier is a veteran war correspondent and political analyst with over 35 years of experience covering the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). FOLLOW Elijah Magnier @ejmalrai. Read and support his work at ejmagnier.com Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on December 4, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Why Abdel Mahdi has to go: Many mistakes by the US, Iran and the Marjaiya, Elijah Magnier Who holds the Initiative, and who has the Power to mobilise the Street in Iraq?, Elijah Magnier ATE Episode 68: Iraq Politics & Stalled Idlib Op in Syria feat Elijah Magnier (9/17/18) ATE Episode 127: Iraq Protests, US-Iran War, Regime Change feat Elijah Magnier (10/6/19)

On this Foreign Policy Focus and Around the Empire swap cast, Kyle and Joanne discuss the Democrats' efforts to impeach Trump over Russiagate. Statements by Nancy Pelosi and witnesses in the impeachment hearings show the blob's real aim to prevent Trump from adopting a more realistic foreign policy towards Russia. The hosts also cover Attorney General Barr's interview about the FBI IG report on the investigation into Trump's campaign. Barr explains why the media's coverage of the report is misleading and the Durham report could reveal the intelligence community's role in the origin of Russiagate. FOLLOW Kyle on Twitter: @Kyaaale. SUBSCRIBE to the Foreign Policy Focus podcast at the Libertarian Institute. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on December 10, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Guest: Gordon Dimmack. We chat about the crazy politics in the US and UK, the high level of propaganda, and the election in the UK that will be held this week with Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn as top contenders for Prime Minister. We talk about the Tory, Labour and other UK parties, likely coalitions and the top issues like Brexit and the NHS. We also touch on Russigate and the recently released IG Report. Gordon hosts a popular YouTube channel where he covers news, politics, war and the horrific state of our corporate media. He broadcasts mostly from the Midlands but also on the ground at various events around the country and his slogan is "Make Orwell fiction again." FOLLOW Gordon on Twitter @gordondimmack. SUBSCRIBE to his YouTube channel and support him via Patreon.com/GordonDimmack or StreamLabs. Find his work at his website gordondimmack.com. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on December 10, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Q&A: Manipulators, Optimism, Utopia, Trump, Writing Tips & More, Caitlin Johnstone

Guest: Dr. Bob Gill. We discuss the documentary, "The Great NHS Heist", wherein Dr. Gill, a general practitioner within the NHS system, and others, talk about the imminent threat to and the covert destruction of the English National Health Service. We also talk about what we in the UK and in the US can do to better understand the situation and inform our peers about our respective situations in health care. To quote from a bit of the abstract on the film from its website: "We witnessed the new corporate managerialism and marketisation of healthcare, shrinkage of the NHS bed capacity, and transfer of assets into the private sector using Private Finance Initiative and NHS land sales. Private operators expanding their grip on the NHS, securing contracts for the provision of ancillary and then clinical services, rapidly accelerated by the 2012 Health and Social Care Act. The privatisation lobby crafted effective cover stories and carefully managed the national debate to maintain public ignorance and remained largely unchallenged by a compliant mainstream media. Successive reforms were presented as essential improvements while disguising the reality of creeping privatisation. The stage was set for the heist of NHS land, patient medical data, and the £120 billion annual tax-funded budget for US corporate raiders." Dr. Bob Gill is a British doctor, an NHS campaigner and the producer of the crowdfunded documentary film, "The Great NHS Heist".. FOLLOW @drbobgill, find all the information at the website TheGreatNHSHeist.com SUBSCRIBE to their YouTube channel and support the work at GoFundMe. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on December 8, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Documentary: The Great NHS Heist Website: TheGreatNHSHeist.com The Great NHS Heist GoFundMe

Guest: Ben Norton. We discuss the coup in Bolivia where the recently reelected president, Evo Morales, was forced to step down by the military leaders and later flee to Mexico. An extreme right-wing opposition and fascist paramilitary then moved in to take control. Ben explains some of the groups and individuals involved in the coup and the support and involvement of other Latin American countries and the United States. Ben Norton is a journalist, writer, and filmmaker. He is the assistant editor of The Grayzone, and the producer of the Moderate Rebels podcast, which he co-hosts with editor Max Blumenthal. FOLLOW @BenjaminNorton Find his work at The Grayzone. SUBSCRIBE to their Youtube channel and support them on Patreon. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on November 14, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Bolivia coup led by Christian fascist paramilitary leader and millionaire – with foreign support, Grayzone, Max Blumenthal & Ben Norton Top Bolivian coup plotters trained by US military's School of the Americas, served as attachés in FBI police programs, Grayzone, Jeb Sprague Bolivia: audios leaked from opposition leaders calling for a coup against Evo Morales, EN24

Guest: Michael Tracey. In a wide ranging discussion we talk about the Democratic primary, the progression of Russiagate, Spygate, Ukrainegate and how it led to the impeachment circus going on now. We discuss the "investigate the investigators" process going on in the background and the media coverage of all of the above. In relation to the 2020 primary, we talk about the different candidates and their rallies and supporters. And we talk about Tulsi Gabbard's rise in the polls and her recent events and appearances, including her support for the 9/11 families. Michael Tracey is a journalist based in the New York City metro area and the host of a podcast and Youtube channel. His articles are published by many different media organizations and he is a frequent commentator on TV and online media. FOLLOW @mtracey, subscribe to his Youtube channel and support his work at Patreon, Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on November 11, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Guest: Matt Stoller. In this episode, we discuss an excerpt of Matt's new book: Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy. Here are two paragraphs from the book's abstract: In Goliath, Matt Stoller explains how authoritarianism and populism have returned to American politics for the first time in eighty years, as the outcome of the 2016 election shook our faith in democratic institutions. It has brought to the fore dangerous forces that many modern Americans never even knew existed. Today's bitter recriminations and panic represent more than just fear of the future, they reflect a basic confusion about what is happening and the historical backstory that brought us to this moment. The true effects of populism, a shrinking middle class, and concentrated financial wealth are only just beginning to manifest themselves under the current administrations. The lessons of Stoller's study will only grow more relevant as time passes. Building upon his viral article in The Atlantic, "How the Democrats Killed Their Populist Soul," Stoller illustrates in rich detail how we arrived at this tenuous moment, and the steps we must take to create a new democracy. Matt Stoller is a fellow at the Open Markets Institute. He worked for both the Senate and House of Representatives as an advisor. He has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, The New Republic, Vice, Salon and he was a producer for MSNBC's The Dylan Ratigan Show, Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthewstoller. Find his work at Open Markets Institute and various publications. Buy his new book: "Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy" FOLLOW @matthewstoller and buy his new book "Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy" Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on October 28, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: How Democrats Became the Party of Monopoly and Corruption, VICE, Matt Stoller Book: Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy, Matt Stoller

Guest: Hunter DeRensis. Hunter describes the US foreign policy establishment, or "The "Blob", as a "self-anointed mandarin class or, if you prefer, deep state, that has largely operated unmolested until the advent of Trump now appears to believe that it can foil, or even subvert, the policies of a president it deems unfit for office, a development that should worry Democrats and Republicans alike." We talk about William Taylor, an old Cold warrior member of "The Blob" and discuss how they are driving the impeachment effort. We also talk about the anonymous op-ed published in the NYT last year and a new book by the same anonymous author, titled "The Warning" published this month. Lastly, I ask Hunter to speculate on who that anonymous author might be and he gives us his theory and the reasoning behind it. Hunter DeRensis is a foreign policy reporter for The National Interest and a contributor to The American Conservative and the Libertarian Institute. FOLLOW @HunterDeRensis and find his work at the The National Interest. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on October 28, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: The Blob Strikes Back, Hunter DeRensis, National Interest A Warning: Why Should Anyone Trust Anonymous?, Hunter DeRensis, National Interest

Guest: Shireen Al-Adeimi. We discussed the recent attacks on Saudi oil facilities and the battle in Najran, near the Saudi-Yemen border. Shireen then lays out some history on the wars in recent decades in Yemen, both civil wars and foreign interventions, and offers important insights on how the Saudi-United Arab Emirates coalition backed by the US and other western powers, does not even have a coherent objective anymore. Further, the Saudis and Emiratis are fighting against each other in a proxy war. Lastly we talk about Samantha Power's new memoir in which she omits any mention of the war in Yemen or her role in the Obama administration's decision to support and sustain it. "Shireen Al-Adeimi is an assistant professor of education at Michigan State University. Having lived through two civil wars in her country of birth, Yemen, she has played an active role in raising awareness about the U.S.-supported, Saudi-led war on Yemen since 2015. Through her work, she aims to encourage political action among fellow Americans to bring about an end to U.S. intervention in Yemen." FOLLOW Shireen on Twitter @shireen818. Find her work on the In These Times website. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on October 3, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: The U.S.-Backed Coalition Can't Agree on Why It's Bombing Yemen, Shireen Al-Adeimi How Dare Samantha Power Scrub the Yemen War From Her Memoir, Shireen Al-Adeimi Yemeni Alliance Committee on Facebook

Guest: Margaret Kimberley. On this Halloween special episode, we discuss the prospects for a "ghoulish rematch" in 2020 between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. We mainly focus on Hillary Clinton, recent events and various signs that she is considering making another run for president and why that would be a disaster. FOLLOW Margaret on Twitter @freedomrideblog Find her work at the Black Agenda Report. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on October 29, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Freedom Rider: The Return of Hillary Clinton, Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report Wasserman Schultz, Democrats did not tilt 2016 primary in Clinton's favor, judicial panel rules, Sun-Sentinel Event: How Propaganda Manufactures Consent by Big Apple Coffee Party featuring Max Blumenthal, Margaret Kimberley, Aaron Mate, Lee Camp

Guest: Ahsan Butt. We discuss the history of Kashmir and the current situation after India stripped the Jammu & Kashmir regions of their limited autonomy status to bring it under the direct control of the Indian government. Also we talked about Prime Minister Modi's history and his relationship with American officials and politicians and why India is considered an important geopolitical balance to China. We discuss Tulsi Gabbard's support for Modi and lastly about the obstacles to ending the war in Afghanistan. Ahsan Butt is an Associate Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University and a non-resident fellow at the Stimson Center. He generally work on issues of ethnicity and nationalism, security, international order, and South Asia and he is the author of the book: Secession and Security: Explaining State Strategy Against Separatists FOLLOW @ahsanib, find his book on Amazon or at the OAOPEN Library, or visit his website. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on September 25, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Book: Secession and Security: Explaining State Strategy Against Separatists, Ahsan I. Butt, Amazon, Download Ahsan Butt's website, Twitter page India just pulled Jammu and Kashmir's autonomy. Here's why that is a big deal for this contested region, Ahsan Butt, Washington Post The Caravan: All in the Family: The American Sangh's affair with Tulsi Gabbard

Swapcast with Foreign Policy Focus podcast host Kyle Anzalone, on the withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria and the Kurds/SDF new partnership with Syria with Russia as the guarantor. The Turkish military continues with its "Operation Peace Spring" invasion along with its "rebel" fighter allies, some of whom are jihadis formerly backed by the US-led coalition. President Trump ordered the withdrawal of US forces from Syria with the exception of Al Tanf. It remains to be seen how much, if not all of that territory will be reclaimed by the Syrian state. Syrian government forces are moving rapidly into some parts of northeast Syria that had been under the control of the Kurdish-led, US-backed SDF forces. They aim to regain control of all of their territory, which might result in direct fighting between Syrian and Turkish forces. Meanwhile the American foreign policy "Borg" (as retired Col. Pat Lang calls it or "the Blob" as President Obama called it, or the War Party as I sometimes call it) is engaged in a total freak out which Kyle and I will describe in more detail. The events of the past few days are momentous for a number of different reasons that are just as complicated and multi-faceted as this war in Syria itself. FOLLOW Kyle on Twitter: @Kyaaale. SUBSCRIBE to the Foreign Policy Focus podcast at the Libertarian Institute. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on October 14, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: If We Have to Choose Between Compromise and Genocide, We Will Choose Our People, Mazloum Abdi (SDF Commander), Foreign Policy "This is our reward?": After 4 years fighting ISIS, Syrian Kurds face uncertain future as US pivots to Turkey, Defense Post, January 2019 Democrats, Republicans to seek reversal of Trump Syria pullback, AFP

Guest: Isa Blumi. We discuss the war in Yemen, the recent attacks on Saudi oil facilities, the ground operation in Najran, some recent, perhaps game changing statements by Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, and other comments made by the Saudi energy minister and by Russian and Iranian officials at the Valdai conference. Isa talks about what he describes in his book as the "shifting causal factor behind the ongoing violence in Yemen", the need for resources, the coalition infighting and the worsening predicament of the Saudi Kingdom and their frenemies in the Gulf. At the root of it is a fragmenting, collapsing empire and global financial interests plundering the world. Dr. Isa Blumi is an historian, an author and an Associate Professor at Stockholm University. His very prescient book, titled Destroying Yemen: What Chaos in Arabia Tells Us about the World tells the story of the wars in Yemen but also "ultimately tells an even larger story of today's political economy of global capitalism, development, and the war on terror as disparate actors intersect in Arabia." FOLLOW Isa Blumi @IsaBlumi and find his latest book at UCPress.edu. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on October 4, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Destroying Yemen: What Chaos in Arabia Tells Us about the World, Isa Blumi, UC Press Around the Empire: Ep 55 Imperial War, Gulf State Rivalry, Resources and Resistance in Yemen feat Isa Blumi Around the Empire: Ep 64 Yemen War Big Picture & Media Narrative feat Isa Blumi

Guest: Elijah Magnier. We discuss the uprising and protests across Iraq that turned violent this week, with over a hundred deaths and thousands of injuries. Elijah's sources within the office of the Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi told him that the protests were planned during the summer months and the demands of the people are legitimate. The current prime minister inherited a corrupt system and a country struggling to recover from devastating war, sanctions and billions of dollars in debt. The protests coincide with an assassination attempt on the leader of the Iranian Quds force, Qasem Soleimani and PM Mahdi's office said the objective now seems to be about creating chaos in Iraq and Iran and possibly a coup d'état / regime change carried out by military or encouraged by foreign forces, Saudi Arabia and the US. Elijah Magnier is a veteran war correspondent and political analyst with over 35 years of experience covering the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). FOLLOW Elijah Magnier @ejmalrai. Read and support his work at ejmagnier.com Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on October 6, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: THE US-IRAN SILENT WAR IS TRANSFORMED INTO AN "IRAQ UPRISING", Elijah Magnier Around the Empire: Ep 68 Iraq Politics & Stalled Idlib Op in Syria feat Elijah Magnier Around the Empire: Ep 122 Brink of War: Israel and Hezbollah feat Elijah Magnier The Post-Saddam Hussein Settlement in Iraq Is on the Brink of Collapse, Patrick Cockburn Iran-US Tensions Threaten Fragile Iraqi Stability, Amid Army Dismissal, Patrick Cockburn

Guest: Lucy Komisar. A deep dive into the story behind the "Magnitsky Hoax". Lucy tells the story of Bill Browder, Hermitage (his hedge fund) and how he managed to create a massive political weapon called the Magnitsky Act to protect himself and his benefactors and to use against others. The story also involves shell companies, tax havens, money laundering, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Robert Maxwell, Gazprom, HSBC, Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Trump Tower meeting, the resurgence of the Cold War with Russia, Russiagate, the Mueller Report, and more. Lucy Komisar is a New York City-based journalist with a long history of investigating offshore banks and corporate secrecy and abuses. One of her current long term projects is the investigation of the Browder/Magnitsky hoax. FOLLOW Lucy on Twitter @LucyKomisar where there is lively and active participation in this investigative work and find her work at her website TheKomisarScoop.com. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on September 24th and 27th, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: The Komisar Scoop The Man Behind the Magnitsky Act, 100Reporters, Lucy Komisar The BBC and the European Court get the Magnitsky story wrong, Lucy Komisar The Man Behind the Magnitsky Act: Did Bill Browder's Tax Troubles in Russia Color Push for Sanctions?, Lucy Komisar Documentary: The Magnitsky Act: Behind the Scenes, Andrei Nekrasov Timestamps: 2:00 Intro, Lucy's background, how she met Bill Browder, investigating money laundering, Khodorkovsky, Avisma, Browder, Yukos, Peter Bond, Russia 9:00 The Magnitsky Hoax, how Browder/Magnitsky ties into other things like Russiagate, resurgence of the Cold War, Robert Maxwell, etc. 11:30 Bill Browder background, Robert Maxwell, Salomon Brothers, telecom Peter Star, Edmond Safra, IMF funds, Beny Steinmetz, Hermitage hedge fund, Mossack Fonseca, Ziff Brothers 16:30 Offshore shell companies, fall of USSR, "shock therapy", shares/vouchers, Cyprus, Gazprom, Russia-Cyprus double taxation treaties, fraud, Kalmykia region in Russia, Browder tax evasion 23:45 Sergei Magnitsky (Browder's accountant) investigated 2006, Browder lost Russian visa 2005, Putin, 2007 Browder companies docs seized, Firestone Duncan, Browder says companies stolen 31:00 Magnitsky interrogated 2008, prepares to flee, arrested & imprisoned, HSBC (trustee for Hermitage fund), tax refund fraud, Renaissance, Prevezon, OCCRP, Browder media stenographers, Rimma Starova blew the whistle, Russian reporter Oleg Lurie met Magnitsky in prison, Magnitsky doesn't mention abuse to Lurie or human rights orgs, Browder doesn't mention to US House Human Rights Committee, Magnitsky dies in prison in Nov 2009 poor medical treatment, Russian authorities investigate and report terrible prison conditions, medical neglect 46:00 Russia still pursuing Browder for tax evasion, Jonathan Winer worked for John Kerry's State Dept and later APCO, Khodorkovsky also client of APCO, Winer helps Browder craft a new story & strategy ("Magnitsky Hoax") of Magnitsky murder, forgeries, used by media and govt for The Magnitsky Act, in his fraudulent document Browder names new culprits 54:30 Browder and Magnitsky Act help advance US anti-Russia foreign policy, OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) helps Browder create docs, Magnitsky Act includes a section protecting Khodorkovsky 1:01:00 Documentary "The Magnitsky Act: Behind the Scenes" debunks Browder's story, banned from broadcast 1:03:00 Ken Dilanian's May 2016 reporting on Magnitsky and Browder was killed by NBC, Robert Otto State Dept emails leaked 1:11:45 Trump Tower meeting, Natalia Veselnitskaya, Rob Goldstone, Prevezon case, Russiagate narrative, Fusion GPS, Glenn Simpson 1:32:30 Trump-Russia investigation, The Mueller Report repeats Browder's Magnitsky hoax story 1:43:00 in 2016 Browder found guilty in Russian court and new embezzlement charges filed as a result of his tax refund fraud 1:51:00 Complexity of tax havens, shell companies, money laundering, purpose of Global Magnitsky Acts campaign as a political weapon

Guest: Nasser Arrabyee. Speaking to us from Yemen, Nasser describes the recent drone attacks by the Yemen armed forces (led by the Houthis) on the Saudi oil facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais. We discussed the fact that there have been numerous other, progressively advanced, retaliatory strikes by Yemen on Saudi Arabia in recent months and over the past few years. Further, we talk about the five year bombardment and blockade of Yemen by Saudi Arabia (with the critical assistance of the United States) and how the number of casualties has been grossly understated. Nasser Arrabyee is a journalist and filmmaker based in Sanaa, Yemen. He has produced four documentaries about the war in Yemen and has been published by numerous media outlets including the New York Times, Bloomberg and Foreign Policy. FOLLOW Nasser Arrabyee on Twitter @narrabyee. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on September 17, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: 9/14/19 video statement from spokesman for Yemen/Houthi armed forces about the drone attack on Saudi oil facilities. Translation by Nasser Arrabyee Yemen's Houthis say Aramco plants still a target, Reuters Scott Horton Show: 9/9/19 Nasser Arrabyee on the Ongoing War in Yemen Damage At Saudi Oil Plant Points To Well Targeted Swarm Attack, Moon of Alabama The Secret of Yemen's War? We Can End It, NYT, Martin Griffiths (UN Special Envoy for Yemen) Yemen Houthi drones, missiles defy years of Saudi air strikes, Reuters

Guest: Aaron Maté. We talk about the latest Russiagate "bombshell" story that revealed the identity and Washington, DC area location of a Kremlin spy, Oleg Smolenkov, and claimed that he provided intelligence proving that Vladimir Putin ordered an election influence operation favoring Donald Trump. Also we discuss the machinations of former CIA DirectorJohn Brennan, the Barr and Durham investigation of the investigators and the political ramifications of Russiagate overall. Aaron is the host of the Pushback With Aaron Maté show at the Grayzone and a contributing writer at The Nation. FOLLOW Aaron on Twitter @aaronjmate, subscribe to his show Pushback with Aaron Maté at the Grayzone channel on YouTube and support him at Patreon. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on September 15, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Exclusive: US extracted top spy from inside Russia in 2017, CNN, Jim Sciutto C.I.A. Informant Extracted From Russia Had Sent Secrets to U.S. for Decades, NYT, David Sanger Possible Russian spy for CIA now living in Washington area, NBC, Ken Dilanian CIA slams CNN's 'misguided' and 'simply false' reporting on alleged CIA spy's extraction from Kremlin, Fox News, Gregg Re Kremlin says reported U.S. spy in Russian president's office was fired years ago, Reuters Loud and Clear radio show 9/10/19