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:

1. Corporate Media Find All the Wrong Lessons for US Left in Corbyn’s Defeat, Alan MacLeod
2. Labour’s Brexit Strategy Backfires as UK Votes to Leave EU at Any Cost, Alan MacLeod, MintPress News
3. Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn to Step Down After UK Election Catastrophe, Alan MacLeod, MintPress News
4. British Weapons Manufacturers, Banks, See Share Price Rocket after Conservative Election Victory, Alan MacLeod, MintPress News
5. Election Result Signals a Possible End of the United Kingdom, Alan MacLeod
6. 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:

1. Pompeo’s Gulf Of Tonkin Incident, Gareth Porter
2. Book: Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam, Gareth Porter
3. Book: Manufactured Crisis: the Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare, Gareth Porter
4. 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:

1. Around the Empire Episode 13: Crowdstrike’s Russian Hacking Claims feat. Jeffrey Carr (4/12/17)
2. Think Tank: Cyber Firm at Center of Russian Hacking Charges Misread Data, VOA
3. Cyber Firm Rewrites Part of Disputed Russian Hacking Report, VOA
4. Trump-Zelensky July 25, 2019 phone call transcript
5. “How a Fringe Theory About Ukraine Took Root in the White House”, New York Times, Scott Shane
6. (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:

1. What Comes Next After the US Assassination of Qassem Soliemani? The Options, Elijah Magnier 
2. ATE Episode 140: Uprising in Iraq feat Elijah Magnier (12/18/19)
3. ATE Episode 127: Iraq Protests, US-Iran War, Regime Change feat Elijah Magnier (10/6/19)
4. 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:

1. A 'New' Yes with Iran? Economics, Logistics and Timelines, The International Institute for Strategic Studies
2. Hello, world? Tehran has a few things to say, Neda Bolourchi, Atlantic Council
3. Tehran, It’s Time To Listen And Take A Realistic View Of The Protests In Iraq, Neda Bolourchi, LobeLog
4. 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:

1. Top Bolivian coup plotters trained by US military’s School of the Americas, served as attachés in FBI police programs, Jeb Sprague, The Grayzone
2. Book: “Globalizing the Caribbean: Political economy, social change, and the transnational capitalist class” (2019), Jeb Sprague
3. Book: “Paramilitarism and the assault on democracy in Haiti” (2012), Jeb Sprague
4. 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:

1. The Far Right, the Euromaidan, and the Maidan Massacre in Ukraine, Ivan Katchanovski, Academia
2. The Maidan Massacre in Ukraine: Revelations from Trials and Investigations, Ivan Katchanovski (presentation)
3. 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:

1. Why Abdel Mahdi has to go: Many mistakes by the US, Iran and the Marjaiya, Elijah Magnier
2. Who holds the Initiative, and who has the Power to mobilise the Street in Iraq?, Elijah Magnier
3. ATE Episode 68: Iraq Politics & Stalled Idlib Op in Syria feat Elijah Magnier (9/17/18)
4. 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:

1. 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:

1. Documentary: The Great NHS Heist
2. Website:  TheGreatNHSHeist.com 
3. 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:

1. Bolivia coup led by Christian fascist paramilitary leader and millionaire – with foreign support, Grayzone, Max Blumenthal & Ben Norton
2. Top Bolivian coup plotters trained by US military's School of the Americas, served as attachés in FBI police programs, Grayzone, Jeb Sprague
3. 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:

1. How Democrats Became the Party of Monopoly and Corruption, VICE, Matt Stoller
2. 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:

1. The Blob Strikes Back, Hunter DeRensis, National Interest
2. 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:

1. The U.S.-Backed Coalition Can’t Agree on Why It’s Bombing Yemen, Shireen Al-Adeimi
2. How Dare Samantha Power Scrub the Yemen War From Her Memoir, Shireen Al-Adeimi
3. 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:

1. Freedom Rider: The Return of Hillary Clinton, Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report
2. Wasserman Schultz, Democrats did not tilt 2016 primary in Clinton’s favor, judicial panel rules, Sun-Sentinel
3. 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:

1. Book: Secession and Security: Explaining State Strategy Against Separatists, Ahsan I. Butt, Amazon, Download
2. Ahsan Butt’s website, Twitter page
3. India just pulled Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy. Here’s why that is a big deal for this contested region, Ahsan Butt, Washington Post
4. 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:

1. If We Have to Choose Between Compromise and Genocide, We Will Choose Our People, Mazloum Abdi (SDF Commander), Foreign Policy
2. “This is our reward?”: After 4 years fighting ISIS, Syrian Kurds face uncertain future as US pivots to Turkey, Defense Post, January 2019
3. 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:

1. Destroying Yemen: What Chaos in Arabia Tells Us about the World, Isa Blumi, UC Press
2. Around the Empire: Ep 55 Imperial War, Gulf State Rivalry, Resources and Resistance in Yemen feat Isa Blumi
3. 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:

1. THE US-IRAN SILENT WAR IS TRANSFORMED INTO AN “IRAQ UPRISING”, Elijah Magnier
2. Around the Empire: Ep 68 Iraq Politics & Stalled Idlib Op in Syria feat Elijah Magnier
3. Around the Empire: Ep 122 Brink of War: Israel and Hezbollah feat Elijah Magnier
4. The Post-Saddam Hussein Settlement in Iraq Is on the Brink of Collapse, Patrick Cockburn
5. 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:

1. The Komisar Scoop
2. The Man Behind the Magnitsky Act, 100Reporters, Lucy Komisar
3. The BBC and the European Court get the Magnitsky story wrong, Lucy Komisar
4. The Man Behind the Magnitsky Act: Did Bill Browder’s Tax Troubles in Russia Color Push for Sanctions?, Lucy Komisar
5. 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:

1. 9/14/19 video statement from spokesman for Yemen/Houthi armed forces about the drone attack on Saudi oil facilities. Translation by Nasser Arrabyee 
2. Yemen's Houthis say Aramco plants still a target, Reuters
3. Scott Horton Show: 9/9/19 Nasser Arrabyee on the Ongoing War in Yemen
4. Damage At Saudi Oil Plant Points To Well Targeted Swarm Attack, Moon of Alabama
5. The Secret of Yemen’s War? We Can End It, NYT, Martin Griffiths (UN Special Envoy for Yemen)
6. 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:

1. Exclusive: US extracted top spy from inside Russia in 2017, CNN, Jim Sciutto
2. C.I.A. Informant Extracted From Russia Had Sent Secrets to U.S. for Decades, NYT, David Sanger
3. Possible Russian spy for CIA now living in Washington area, NBC, Ken Dilanian
4. CIA slams CNN's 'misguided' and 'simply false' reporting on alleged CIA spy's extraction from Kremlin, Fox News, Gregg Re
5. Kremlin says reported U.S. spy in Russian president's office was fired years ago, Reuters
6. Loud and Clear radio show 9/10/19

Swapcast with Foreign Policy Focus podcast host Kyle Anzalone, on the firing of Trump’s national security advisor, John Bolton.  

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 September 14, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Trump Oval Office press conference on Bolton firing
2. Pushback with Aaron Maté: Ex-CIA analyst on why he predicted John Bolton’s firing
3. Around the Empire: Ep 111 John Bolton and Escalation With Iran feat Kyle Anzalone
4. Washington Post: How clashes with Trump led to John Bolton's firing