Wider View Radio Podcast

Impunity and its discontents

Impunity - the Saudis are accused of it in the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi, but where does it come from? We hear from Noam Chomsky and Gideon Levy among others as we examine post WWII disregard of international law.

African Colonization Again

A review of headlines outside the mainstream media is followed by a look at Africa featuring Ajamu Baraka on the campaign to end AFRICOM, a review of US interference in Africa and the use of debt as a weapon to control African nations.

Shireen Al-Adeidi on the war in Yemen

This program features with Yemeni-born professor Shireen Al-Adeidi of Michigan State University along with excerpts from a Real News interview of Dr. Isa Blumi, both discussing the ongoing war in Yemen and its origins.

Bruce Gagnon on Russia and the Midterms

Lifelong anti-war activist Bruce Gagnon, Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space joins us to discuss his recent trip to Russia and to reflect on the Midterm Elections and their implications for the anti-war movement.

Mark Sleboda on the view from Russia

Moscow-based international affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda talks about the recent US elections as perceived from Russia and Russian policy in the Middle East

A conversation with Professor John Marciano

This week's episode of Wider View features a conversation with college professor and long-time activist John Marciano.  John has been an activist since the early days of the SDS wherever he lived, in upstate New York for many years, then Southern California, and now in Talent, Oregon. 

Norman Ball

My guest today is Norman Ball.  Norm graduated from Washington and Lee University and worked on the presidential campaign of independent John Anderson in 1980.  After a career in the consulting business, he has returned to writing and politics. He has published two essay collections, The Frantic Force and How Can We Make Your Power More Comfortable, and writes for a number of political websites.  He lives in the Washington DC area.

Norman Ball refers to the Triffin Paradox and to a document entitled Providing for the Common Defense (pdf)), the assessment and recommendations of the National Defense Strategy Commission appointed by Congress.  An article in Foreign Affairs outlines the idea of US tactical aggressive use of nuclear weapons as a viable strategy.  That article is behind a paywall but is discussed from the Russian perspective in a blog post from the Russian Nuclear Forces Project.  Other recent articles on US nuclear posturing include Martin Berger’s “Washington is Getting Dangerously Jumpy”, and the new study by the National Defense Strategy Commission that concludes the US needs to spend more money on the military despite a $716 billion American defense budget this year, which is four times the size of China’s and more than 10 times that of Russia.  

The Chris Hedges interview with Ralph Nader can be found here.  A brief explanation of Michael Glennon’s idea of the Trumanite Network can be found on Wikipedia.  The article that led me to Norman is entitled The Life of the Party Has Left.  You can find more articles by Norm on http://thesaker.is and other websites.

For more information on the Triffin Paradox and its relation to US foreign policy, see Norman Ball's essay on the Triffin Paradox on his website.

While Ball’s views are outside the progressive framework, they are quite intriguing and give those of us engaged in anti-imperialist and anti-war work something useful to chew on.  

 

Jeff Blankfort on the Israel Lobby in the US

A pro-Palestinian activist since 1970, Jeff Blankfort was formerly the editor of the Middle East Labor Bulletin and co-founder of the Labor Committee of the Middle East. He was also a founding member of the November 29 Coalition on Palestine and the Palestine Solidarity Committee. He currently hosts the radio program Takes on the World on KYZX in Mendocino, CA.

 

A Ukraine Backgrounder

In responses to listener feedback, this program provides a context for understanding the situation in Ukraine, and particularly the recent provocation in the Kerch Strait by the Ukrainian regime. It also contains an excerpt from one of the last talks by author William Blum

A chat with Don DeBar

This episode features a conversation I had on the winter solstice with Don DeBar. Don is Senior producer of CPR News, a daily (M/F) 30-minute radio news program available at https://CPRnews.podbean.com . Don is a frequent guest on RT television, Press TV and other media.

We discuss the latest Russiagate revelations, Trump's decision to pull troops out of Syria, and the reaction of the #Resistance.