Since taking office in 2018, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO, has reasserted more state control over Mexico’s natural resources, nationalizing its lithium reserves, while vocally opposing US interference in Mexico. So it’s no surprise that the corporate media in Washington is following along with the program of labeling him a strongman, an authoritarian, and anti-democratic. while U.S. politicians like Lindsay Graham invoke drugs and violence to threaten military intervent...
Apr 27, 2023•37 min
With Saudi Arabia and Iran making peace as part of a deal brokered by China, much has been made about the absence of the U.S. and what it means for U.S. hegemony. But what about the implications for the region? What might it look like in practice? Who are the potential spoilers? And why did this happen now? Also, what does it mean for the U.S. empire's greatest global partner, Europe? To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Adnan Tabatabai, the co-founder and CEO of the Germany...
Apr 21, 2023•32 min
The historic deal brokered by China for a Saudi-Iran rapprochement reflects not only a changing region, but a shifting world order. While the US focuses on its proxy war in Ukraine, with US officials essentially blocking meaningful peace discussion both there and in Yemen, its “strategic competitor” China now looks like the adult in the room. Its diplomatic initiatives have become a force for stability in the biggest conflict regions, from Yemen to Syria. To better understand what's going o...
Apr 18, 2023•40 min
Rania Khalek of Breakthrough News and Zoe Alexandra of Peoples Dispatch sat down with Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum, the head of government in Mexico City and one of the founders of Morena, the party of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. She is a rising figure in Mexican national politics and a leading contender for the 2024 presidential elections.
Apr 15, 2023•28 min
Before 2011, Syria was a relatively stable country that had decent electricity, one of the best medical sectors in the region and produced much of its own food and medicine. Today Syria has collapsing infrastructure, dire food insecurity, crippling fuel shortages, severe brain drain and only has control over part of the country’s territory. Mainstream US media places all the blame on President Assad while covering up the role of US sanctions. To discuss the decades-long US war on Syria, Rania Kh...
Apr 10, 2023•1 hr 17 min
When most people in the West think of the war in Ukraine, they think of February 24, 2022 when Russia launched its invasion. But for 8 years prior, there had been a war raging in the eastern part of the country that received little attention because its reality was inconvenient for mainstream Western narratives. In the Donbas region, an estimated 15,000 people had died following what many there described as a US-backed coup in 2014 that gave rise to an anti-Russia government and helped empower f...
Mar 28, 2023•1 hr 4 min
To discuss the war on whistleblowers, the U.S. government’s prosecution of Julian Assange and how the case against him poses a threat to journalism everywhere, Rania Khalek spoke to Kevin Gosztola, managing editor of Shadowproof, co-host of the Unauthorized Disclosure podcast and author of the newly published book “Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange.” You can purchase Kevin’s book here: https://www.project-censored.org/shop/p/guilty-of-journalism-the-political-case-a...
Mar 24, 2023•1 hr 7 min
Whatever happened to Ukraine’s foreign fighters? What are the parallels between Syria and Ukraine? And where does the Cold War against China fit into it? To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by investigative journalist Seth Harp, a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and author of the forthcoming book The Delta Force Murders, which will be published by Viking Press. Seth’s articles discussed in the episode: https://theintercept.com/2022/06/30/ukraine-azov-neo-nazi-foreign-fighter/...
Mar 17, 2023•59 min
Africa’s Sahel region is experiencing historic shifts as anti-colonial sentiment sweeps across the region, with the French military being kicked out of one country after another after failing to rout insurgencies fueled by their own policies. France and its allies have responded by blaming disinformation, authoritarianism, and the west’s favorite boogeyman: Russia. Meanwhile the security situation in the Sahel continues to deteriorate. To help break it all down, Breakthrough News journalist Euge...
Mar 17, 2023•1 hr 9 min
The Middle East is drowning in anti-Iran propaganda emanating from Western, Gulf and oligarch-funded outlets that seek to turn the populations in the region against Iran and other institutions deemed to be “backed by Iran.” In Lebanon this plays out in a sectarian narrative that portrays Hezbollah as an Iranian proxy and depicts Shias as agents of an Iranian occupation of the country. This pattern has also been replicated in neighboring countries in an attempt to turn people against the regional...
Mar 07, 2023•59 min
Award-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh joined Rania Khalek on Dispatches to discuss his latest bombshell on how the Biden administration destroyed the Nord Stream pipeline using remotely triggered explosives with the help of the CIA, US Navy divers, and NATO member Norway. This means the US targeted the critical energy infrastructure of its most important European ally, a major violation of sovereignty in what essentially constitutes objectively an act of war against Germany. But G...
Mar 02, 2023•59 min
Two years into his presidency, Biden’s foreign policy has been defined by the war in Ukraine and a weakening American hegemony, one that also characterized Trump’s time in office. Some argue the American empire is in decline no matter which party is in control. So where will U.S. foreign policy go from here as the new Cold War era drags on? Does it even matter which party is in charge anymore? How are anxieties of a U.S. decline playing out in the media and in popular culture? And where does tha...
Feb 23, 2023•1 hr 2 min
With the United States hyper focused on Russia and China, it’s easy to forget that the empire is still up to its old tricks in the rest of the Global South. What does the insatiable U.S. imperialist appetite mean for the resource-rich countries of Latin America? After all, that copper, gold, zinc, silver, lead, iron, and natural gas in Peru, the lithium in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, and the oil in Venezuela isn’t gonna steal itself. How is the Cold War with Russia and China playing out throug...
Feb 13, 2023•1 hr 13 min
To understand how this new Cold War might play out, we have to understand the foundations of the original Cold War of the 20th century. What was NATO’s role? What did it mean for the Third World back then? What does it mean for the Third World today, particularly those countries that seek an independent, sovereign path? What is the danger of rising fascist movements? And what are the lessons for anti-imperialists who live and organize in the imperial core? To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek ...
Feb 09, 2023•1 hr 15 min
It’s widely accepted that humans are driving climate change and environmentalism has become mainstream. But what if “humanity” in the abstract isn’t to blame? Is it true that humans are inherently bad for nature? What if the real culprit is the systems we’re forced to operate under — capitalism, imperialism, colonialism— perpetrated by particular sections of humanity over others? So who, or what is to blame is really to blame for climate change? What are the limitations of the mainstream environ...
Feb 03, 2023•1 hr 33 min
Bitcoin, Stablecoin, Tether, Blockchain, Coinbase, Binance, Etherium, Luna, Celsius, Circle, FTX, NFTs: What’s all this crypto jargon really about? What stage of capitalism does it mean we’re in? How has digital currency been impacted by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine? What are the geopolitical implications for the US cold war with China? And what’s the significance of the downfall of Sam Bankman-Fried? Could we see an even more dramatic unraveling in the crypto world in the future, one tha...
Jan 27, 2023•58 min
The year 2022 was defined by the war in Ukraine, the expansion of NATO, and continued encirclement of China as the U.S. prepares for “great power conflict.” But the US empire is so overstretched, that sanctions have become the favorite form of warfare— to disrupt and isolate many countries at once. Could they backfire in 2023? To discuss this and more Rania Khalek was joined by Bikrum Gill, who teaches at the department of political science at Virginia Tech. Mentioned in the episode: https://dev...
Jan 24, 2023•1 hr 16 min
According to Western media, China can’t do anything right. First it was doing too little to address COVID, then it was doing too much and needed to reopen, and now it’s wrong to open up as it is. But if you look at things objectively, and take off the Western-colored glasses, is all the criticism really warranted? While the rest of the world rushed to fully reopen, it took three years to study and trace the virus, build medical infrastructure, train workers, and wait until a much less deadly str...
Jan 19, 2023•1 hr 7 min
Why is the US willing to risk a nuclear apocalypse to weaken Russia and China? Our leaders say it’s about protecting the international rules based order from an authoritarian axis of evil. But this is just a guise. It’s actually about maintaining US unipolar hegemony over the world, which requires preventing or at the very least delaying the integration of Europe and Asia, an integration that is logical, both economically and geographically. To discuss this and more Rania Khalek was joined by Vi...
Jan 03, 2023•58 min
It’s springtime for fascists in Israel as the secular war criminals are being replaced by an alliance of the far-right, with religious extremists and organizers of racist mob violence. The head of America’s Union for Reform Judaism called the appointment of Itamar Ben Gvir as public security minister akin to “appointing David Duke, one of the heads of the KKK, as attorney general.” To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Ali Abunimah, director of The Electronic Intifada and author o...
Dec 19, 2022•1 hr 19 min
The US-dominated unipolar world has rapidly eroded, and the recent victory of Lula in Brazil provided a new lift for those struggling against imperialism in the Global South. Are imperialist powers less able to impose themselves on the Global South with past tools of invasion, coups, assassinations? To discuss the past and present tools used by the United States against popular movements and revolutionary struggles seeking self determination, Rania Khalek was joined by Vincent Bevins, author of ...
Dec 16, 2022•53 min
BT’s Rania Khalek sat down with Palestinian icon and revolutionary Leila Khaled in Beirut, Lebanon to discuss her life and participation in the Palestinian struggle for liberation.
Dec 12, 2022•51 min
The US and Europe have tried to make Africa a battleground in their Cold War against Russia and China. They‘ve even labeled Africa as NATO’s “Southern Neighborhood” and are using AFRICOM as a mechanism to control the continent under the guise of protecting it from malign Chinese and Russian influence. What does this mean for sovereignty and independence across Africa and how are African countries pushing back? To help break it all down Rania Khalek was joined by Mikaela Nhondo Erskog, a research...
Nov 30, 2022•44 min
Iran’s protests have been more enduring than previous waves. Some call it a CIA-backed color revolution while others say it is a popular movement. There have been significant incidents of armed violence. And there is no doubt that Iran’s enemies will take advantage of any sign of weakness as they do in all countries deemed rogue. To better understand what's going on and what we can expect, Rania Khalek was joined by Mohammad Marandi, professor of english literature and orientalism at the Un...
Nov 23, 2022•1 hr 15 min
Rania Khalek is joined by UN Special Rapporteur Prof. Alena Douhan who returned from a 12-day visit to Syria where she assessed the negative impact of sanctions across the country. Upon her return, she called for the sanctions, which she deems illegal and a violation of human rights, to be lifted immediately. Prof. Douhan holds the UN position of Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on Human Rights. Read her statement here: https://www.ohchr.org/en/node/10416...
Nov 18, 2022•1 hr 2 min
The US is trying to reshape NATO into an anti-China alliance while demanding that the EU join in. So far the US has been somewhat immunized from the consequences of cutting economic ties with Russia. For Europe though, the outcome of sanctions has been much more dire as winter approaches. A decoupling from China would be even more devastating to Europeans, as indicated in the recent meetings with Macron and Scholz. Is the EU really willing to commit economic suicide for the US as it’s already do...
Nov 16, 2022•54 min
The crisis of Western capitalism has led to the election of an ultra-right party in Sweden, with historical connection to the Nazi movement. The drive for escalation with Russia prompted Finland and Sweden to join NATO, placing themselves on the frontlines of a war in which they have nothing to gain. While it may appear that NATO is all about countering Russia, the U.S. is in the process of reconfiguring it into an anti-China military alliance, which would cause even more economic devastation to...
Nov 11, 2022•39 min
How did 9/11 change the direction of the US left? What about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the election of Obama and then Trump, the Arab Spring, Russiagate and now the war in Ukraine? How has the new Cold War against Russia and China created new lines of differentiation and what is the path forward? Brian Becker, host of The Socialist Program, joined Rania Khalek to talk about this and more in part 2 of their discussion about the US left. You can watch Part 1 here: https://youtu.be/Hf-lS_lj...
Nov 08, 2022•1 hr 12 min
Katie Halper joins Rania Khalek to talk about the aftermath of her getting fired from The Hill for criticizing Israeli apartheid as well as the ongoing cynical weaponization of anti-Semitism to discredit advocacy for Palestinian human rights. The segment that got Katie fired from The Hill: https://youtu.be/_3xLOxx1ggQ Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts. Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK...
Nov 01, 2022•50 min
When the war in Ukraine began, Western officials bragged that they were going to “turn the ruble into rubble” and bring Russia to its knees. Seven months later, as the war and sanctions drag on with no end in sight, it’s the Euro that is turning to rubble and Europe being brought to its knees. It turns out sanctioning your largest gas supplier with no alternative in place, following years of stagnation and an economy-destroying pandemic, isn’t a great idea. To discuss the economic fallout for th...
Oct 26, 2022•55 min
