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:

1. 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:

1. This model forecast the US's current unrest a decade ago. It now says 'civil war', Australian Broadcasting Corp. 
2. The Science behind My Forecast for 2020, Peter Turchin
3. 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:

1. Engineering Contagion (Part 1): ALL ROADS LEAD TO DARK WINTER, Whitney Webb
2. 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 
3. Engineering Contagion (Part 3): HEAD OF THE HYDRA: THE RISE OF ROBERT KADLEC, Whitney Webb
4. 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:

1. The Persian Rug Weaver Strikes in the US’s Backyard Through Venezuela, Elijah Magnier
2. Syria Caesar’s Law: Who Does it Target and How Will it Affect President Assad? Elijah Magnier
3. Syria: Russia Challenges the US Through the Levant Gate, Elijah Magnier
4. 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:

1. Dispatches From Kansas City: The ‘Insurrection’ That Wasn’t (May 30-31, 2020), Danny Sjursen
2. Do Police Face Less Discipline Than U.S. Soldiers?, Danny Sjursen
3. Military Officers And Vets Uncomfortable With Trump’s Domestic ‘Battlespace’, Mark Perry
4. Book: Ghostriders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge, Danny Sjursen
5. 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:

1. Averting our Gaze from Biowarfare: Pandemics and Self-fulfilling Prophecies, Sam Husseini
2. Did this virus come from a lab? Maybe not — but it exposes the threat of a biowarfare arms race, Sam Husseini, Salon
3. Questioning the CDC: Is it a Complete Coincidence That China's Only BSL4 Is in Wuhan? -- Audio and Video, Sam Husseini
4. 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:

1. Hidden Over 2 Years: Dem Cyber-Firm's Sworn Testimony It Had No Proof of Russian Hack of DNC, Aaron Maté 
2. House Intel transcripts
3. 5/7/20 Remarks by President Trump in Meeting with Governor Abbott of Texas
4. 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:

1. Weaponized Immigrants and the History of America's Imperial Propaganda Machine, Yasha Levine
2. 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:

1. 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:

1. U.S. Constitution shredded by dangerous elected officials, Andrew Napolitano
2. House Intelligence Committee: Russia Investigation Transcripts and Documents
3. Jersey City break up fight on Bostwick Avenue, video NJ.com
4. When COVID-19 Deaths Go Up, Other Deaths Go Down
5. Mccarthy clip
6. NJ State officials hold April 29 coronavirus briefing
7. President Trump Meets with the Governor of Texas
8. ‘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:

1. NJ State officials hold April 27 coronavirus briefing
2. Corbett Report: Stop calling it contact tracing
3. 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:

1. China Hawks Exploiting America’s Fear of Coronavirus, Dave DeCamp
2. 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:

1. How Generals Fueled 1918 Flu Pandemic To Win Their World War, Gareth Porter, The American Conservative
2. 1918 Influenza Epidemic Records, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC)
3. Philadelphia, Nurses, and the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918, US Navy
4. Book (2020): The CIA Insider's Guide to the Iran Crisis: From CIA Coup to the Brink of War. 
5. Book (2005): Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam
6. 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:

1. Ukraine shake-up throws future of reforms into doubt, Financial Times
2. 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:

1. Time to Recommit to Syria, Foreign Affairs, Jennifer Cafarella
2. 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:

1. Around the Empire: Ep 132 Ending the War in Yemen feat Shireen Al-Adeimi
2. Around the Empire: Ep 128 Will the Saudi Kingdom Survive Their War on Yemen? feat Isa Blumi
3. Around the Empire: Ep 64 Yemen War Big Picture & Media Narrative feat Isa Blumi
4. Around the Empire: Ep 55 Imperial War, Gulf State Rivalry, Resources and Resistance in Yemen feat Isa Blumi
5. Foreign Policy Focus FPF #209 – Killing Yemen
6. Clashing UAE and Saudi interests are keeping the Yemen conflict alive, The Guardian
7. 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:

1. Matthew Hoh website: https://matthewhoh.com
2. At War With the Truth, Washington Post, Craig Whitlock (first WaPo article on Afghanistan Papers)
3. The Secret History of the War, Washington Post, Craig Whitlock (Afghanistan Papers)
4. Wiki: Afghanistan Papers
5. Those who ran the Afghanistan war lied. They must be held to account, Washington Post, Katrina vanden Heuvel
6. Afghan Papers Inadvertently Document WaPo’s Role in Spreading Official Lies, FAIR
7. WaPo’s Afghan Papers Propagate Colonial Narrative of Noble Intentions Gone Awry, FAIR
8. Book: The Cost of Loyalty: Dishonesty, Hubris, and Failure in the U.S. Military, Tim Bakken
9. 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. 

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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:

1. (Day 1) ASSANGE’S DEFENSE DETAILS CIA-BACKED ESPIONAGE OPERATION, TRUMP’S POLITICIZATION OF JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, Kevin Gosztola, Shadowproof
2. (Day 2) ASSANGE EXTRADITION HEARING: CHELSEA MANNING’S GRAND JURY RESISTANCE A MAJOR HURDLE FOR PROSECUTORS, Kevin Gosztola, Shadowproof
3. (Day 3) PROSECUTION: US-UK TREATY DOES NOT APPLY TO ASSANGE EXTRADITION, Kevin Gosztola, Shadowproof
4. (Day 4) JUDGE: JULIAN ASSANGE MUST REMAIN IN GLASS BOX DURING EXTRADITION PROCEEDINGS, Kevin Gosztola
5. Around the Empire: Ep 110 Assange Indictments Rely on Contrived Narrative feat Kevin Gosztola
6. 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:

1. Gordon Dimmack YouTube channel
2. Your Man in the Public Gallery – Assange Hearing Day 1, Craig Murray
3. 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
4. Kevin Gosztola Reports From Day 1 of Julian Assange's Extradition Hearing
5. 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:

1. Why is Julian Assange Being Tortured to Death?, Karen Kwiatkowski
2. Pray and Weep, Karen Kwiatkowski
3. Assange in Court, Craig Murray
4. VIPS: Extradition of Julian Assange Threatens Us All, Consortium News
5. VIPS Fault Mueller Probe, Criticize Refusal to Interview Assange, Consortium News
6. Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski Wins 2018 Sam Adams Award, Consortium News
7. The new Pentagon papers, Karen Kwiatkowski, Salon
8. In Rumsfeld’s Shop, Karen Kwiatkowski, American Conservative
9. Conscientious Objector, Karen Kwiatkowski, American Conservative
10. Open Door Policy, Karen Kwiatkowski, American Conservative
11. 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:

1. Who Started It?: A (Reverse) Timeline of US/Iran Retaliations, Danny Sjursen
2. The Islamic Republic of Restraint, Danny Sjursen