Politics & Policy

Why did UAW’s Shawn Fain Endorse Biden After Calling for a Ceasefire? – Frank Hammer
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Why did UAW’s Shawn Fain Endorse Biden After Calling for a Ceasefire? – Frank Hammer

UAW president Shawn Fain called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza yet endorsed Biden, who has been accused of complicity in Israel’s genocidal war. Frank Hammer, a former president and chairman of the United Auto Workers local 909 in Detroit, joins theAnalysis to discuss the role of the UAW and the working class in balancing opposing Biden’s policies and a possible Trump victory.

Venture Capital Fuels U.S. Military Support for Israel, Egypt, and Saudis – Shana Marshall
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Venture Capital Fuels U.S. Military Support for Israel, Egypt, and Saudis – Shana Marshall

Dr. Shana Marshall is the Associate Director of the Institute for Middle East Studies at George Washington University in D.C. She highlights a crucial element of financing the military and defense technology sector by venture capitalist and private equity firms with dubious financial and political interests. She explains how the business models of these firms shape the sort of weaponry produced in the U.S., such as an increase in drones and AI-powered systems and the “attritable” form of warfare that is waged as a result. Furthermore, she argues that U.S. policy in the Middle East and American support for authoritarian regimes has had dire consequences for the people in the region.

Systemic Corruption at Home and Abroad – Sarah Chayes

Systemic Corruption at Home and Abroad – Sarah Chayes

Author of the book “On Corruption in America: And What is at Stake” and former NPR correspondent Sarah Chayes discusses embedded corruption networks in Afghanistan, particularly under U.S. and allied occupation, and other countries plagued by endemic corruption. She argues that the very institutions— primarily Western— seeking to tackle corruption in these countries end up propping up corrupt financial and military institutions by supporting networks of elite capital interests and a conglomeration of private contractors.

Strategically and Morally Bankrupt: U.S. Policy in the Middle East – Col. Lawrence Wilkerson
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Strategically and Morally Bankrupt: U.S. Policy in the Middle East – Col. Lawrence Wilkerson

Retired U.S. Colonel Larry Wilkerson discusses the Biden administration’s unconditional support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bombardment of Gaza and large-scale indiscriminate attacks on Palestinian civilians. He points to state-sanctioned torture and other unlawful acts committed by the U.S. after 9/11 and asserts that the Israeli government is responding to Hamas’ attacks in a similar fashion by wholly disregarding international legal norms. In doing so, Israel is putting its own population at risk, as well as collectively punishing the Palestinians.

Christian Nationalism Unleashed in the U.S. Military – Mikey Weinstein

Christian Nationalism Unleashed in the U.S. Military – Mikey Weinstein

Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a non-profit organization, explains why proselytizing in the U.S. military is both dangerous and unconstitutional. Christian nationalist and dominionist ideologies are espoused by high-ranking officers in the military, some of whom are involved in nuclear war and military planning. This highly disturbing reality, Mikey argues, is largely ignored by policymakers. As was reported following the U.S. Capitol attack on January 6th, 2021, an unusually high number of those charged in relation to the attack had a military background, and some of them adhered to radical Christian views.

BRICS: An Anti-Imperialist Fantasy and Sub-Imperialist Reality? – Patrick Bond (pt 1/2)
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BRICS: An Anti-Imperialist Fantasy and Sub-Imperialist Reality? – Patrick Bond (pt 1/2)

Patrick Bond, political economist, Professor of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg, and Director of the Centre for Social Change, discusses the recent BRICS summit in Johannesburg. The BRICS countries continue to call for greater representation within Bretton Woods institutions, while their opposition to US-dollar hegemony has been feeble at best. Patrick Bond lays out the complicity of the BRICS and soon-to-be BRICS+ elite in corruption networks as they profit from Big Oil and Gas contracts and accelerate environmental disasters. This is part 1 of 2.

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