Around The Empire

Guest: Connor Freeman. We talk about the escalation ladder of hostilities with China and how it developed under the last four presidents and how we seem to climb further up that ladder every day.

In a long bonus episode we talk about the fall of Saigon moment in Afghanistan, playing out right now. We recorded this episode less than 48 hours ago but things are changing so rapidly that I added an update at the end of the bonus episode.

Connor Freeman is a writer at the Libertarian Institute, primarily covering foreign policy. He has been featured at Antiwar.com and Counterpunch and the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. He is a frequent guest on the Conflicts of Interest podcast.

FOLLOW Connor at @FreemansMind96 and find his work at The Libetarian Institute, Antiwar.com, The Ron Paul Institute and other media outlets.

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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Recorded on August 12, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

Next on the Agenda: War With China, Connor Freeman

Guest: Jon Lancelot. Hosts: Joanne Leon, Kelley Lane. A wide ranging discussion on hybrid warfare, cybersecurity, cyberdiplomacy, democracy, technocracy and more. In a bonus segment we talk about creeping fascism and what went wrong with the progressive movement.

Jonathan Lancelot is a cybersecurity analyst at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and principal policy analyst for the OSET Institute focused on election cybersecurity in the context of national security. He has a Master of Diplomacy with a focus on cyber-diplomacy and has been published in several journals. He also has an extensive technical background in computer science and has worked for Apple, the U.S. Senate and the US Department of Defense.

FOLLOW Jon on Twitter at @lancelotpolitic

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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Recorded on July 21, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Human Crisis in Mozambique in the age of Cyber-Diplomacy, Jonathan Lancelot, Small Wars Journal
2. Russia Today, Cyberterrorists Tomorrow: U.S. Failure to Prepare Democracy for Cyberspace, Jonathan F. Lancelot, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law
3. Cyber-diplomacy: cyberwarfare and the rules of engagement, Jonathan F. Lancelot, Journal of Cyber Security Technology

Guest: Margaret Kimberley. We talk about the recent assassination and leadership change in Haiti and the campaign for US military intervention. The details of the assassination are important but the fundamental issue is the undermining of Haiti's sovereignty and who is really dominating and determining the rulership of the country.

From Black Alliance for Peace:

Who rules Haiti? Certainly, neither the Haitian people nor Haitian civil society. Instead, in the two weeks since President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated, the absence of Haitian sovereignty and the hollow nature of Haitian independence has been cynically exposed.

"A rogue's gallery of international actors—supposed "friends" of Haiti—have intervened in the republic's internal political affairs, handpicking the face of Haiti's government, while determining who best can serve Haiti's imperial masters," says Jemima Pierre, Haiti/Americas Coordinator for the Black Alliance for Peace."

In a bonus segment, we talk about the relentless regime change operations in Cuba and the current events happening there, from a perspective of self determination for a decades long target of imperial powers.

Margaret Kimberley is the author of the book Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents and she's the co-founder, editor and senior columnist for Black Agenda Report (BAR). She also writes on her own FreedomRider blog and is a member of the Coordinating Committee at Black Alliance for Peace.

FOLLOW Margaret on Twitter @freedomrideblog Find her work at the Black Agenda Report and at her FreedomRider blog.

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.

Reference Links:

1. Black Alliance for Peace - Haiti section
2. Black Alliance for Peace July 19 Twitter thread on Haiti
3. Who Rules Haiti? Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Undermining of Haitian National Sovereignty
4. Black Agenda Report - Haiti section

Guest: Tom Luongo. We talk about the financial aspect of war and foreign policy, central bank wars between the Fed and the European Central Bank, the World Economic Forum and the Great Reset. In the bonus segment we talk about how the sanctions and trade disputes with China were condemned when Trump was in office but have been resurrected under Biden and it now seems that trade war with China is back in fashion.

Tom Luongo is an analyst, writer and a former research chemist. His specialty is markets analysis informed by geopolitics. He publishes a blog Gold Goats 'n Guns, a podcast and a monthly investment letter. He contributes at Newsmax Media and is published by and does commentary for many other media outlets.

FOLLOW Tom at @TFL1728. Find his work at Gold, Goats 'n Guns, on Youtube, Odysee and other platforms.

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.

Recorded on July 16, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Podcast Episode #75 – Davos and the Week That Changed Everything Part 1, Tom Luongo
2. Podcast Episode #76 – Davos, Ukraine and the Week That Changed the World Part II, Tom Luongo
3. Podcast Episode #77 – Davos, The Fed and the 5 Basis Points That Moved the World Part III, Tom Luongo
4. US issues sanctions, warns businesses of risks in China and Hong Kong as Beijing promises to 'respond strongly', CNN
5. Reuters: Britain carves out exemption for gold clearing banks from Basel III rule
6. Someone Is Buying Up Power Plants and Critical Infrastructure in 22 Countries. The Trail Leads to JPMorgan – a Bank Repeatedly Charged with Rigging Markets, Wall Street on Parade

Guest: Scott Horton. We talk about the war in Afghanistan, a landlocked country with rough terrain and the diverse groups of people who live there. We talk about the reasons why we lost that war and have to withdraw. We also discuss the news and footage from the withdrawal in progress and the reactions to the various factions who support and oppose that, and the dishonesty and hypocrisy that happen when people try to justify long wars and occupations like this one. In a bonus episode, we discuss the possibility for destabilization of the entire region around Afghanistan, the impact and involvement of China, Russia and Iran, and how things are likely to play out.

Scott Horton is the author of the book Fool's Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan and his most recent book Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism. He's the managing director of the Libertarian Institute, editorial director at Antiwar.com, host of Antiwar Radio on KPFK and the host of the Scott Horton Show podcast. Scott has spent the past two decades giving voice to ardent anti-war and anti-interventionist activists, experts and reporters from across the spectrum and has done more than five thousand interviews. Find his work at LibertarianInstitute.org, antiwar.com, ScottHorton.org, and FOLLOW him on Twitter at @scotthortonshow.

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.

Recorded on July 15, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

Book: Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism, Scott Horton

Book: Fool's Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan, Scott Horton

Guest: Dr. Neda Bolourchi. We talk about the recent election in Iran: a deep dive about the background, the people involved, the consolidation of power and the outlook for the future. In a bonus segment we talk about the US shifting priorities toward great power competition and what this means for policy and strategy with respect to Iran.

Dr. Neda Bolourchi is an assistant professor and Associate Director of Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University-New Brunswick Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Her research travels include years in Iran, Syria, and Armenia, has peer reviewed work on religion, politics, legal systems, and the modern Middle East and She also has a J.D. in International Law and her legal work includes international and comparative analysis of human rights violations in the Middle East.

Find Neda at LinkedIn and find her work on her Rutgers University Center for Middle Eastern Studies web page.

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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Recorded on July 2, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. In Focus South Asia | Iran's Presidential Elections | Episode 164 | Indus News
2. The who's who of Iranian players behind the new president, Muhammad Sahimi
3. "Seeing Red, Hearing the Revolution" (chapter by Neda Bolourchi) Losing Our Minds, Coming to Our Senses: Sensory Readings of Persian Literature and Culture by Leiden University Press

As a holiday special for 4th of July, a researcher who is well known on Twitter and goes by the pseudonym Gumby4Christ and Joanne talk about his research on the Covid origins lab leak theory, the pandemic in general and how basic freedoms and rights in our society have been impacted by the response to all of it.

FOLLOW @gumby4christ on Twiitter.

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.

Recorded on July 4, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. The Lab-Leak Theory: Inside the Fight to Uncover COVID-19's Origins, Vanity F
2. RFK Jr The Defender podcast: Fauci's Smoking Gun with Dr. Meryl Nass
3. MediaRoots podcast: Libs Love Lab-Leak, Geopolitical Sting Op & the Wuhan Coincidence w/ gumby4christ
4. MediaRoots podcast: The Oswald Institute of Virology, COVID-19 Origins & US Military Biowarfare w/ gumby4christ
5. In-Depth Interview: Author Kris Newby and Prof. Mark Crispin Miller Talk About Chronic Lyme Disease, and Its Likely Origins, Peter B. Collins
6. Documents from gumby4christ FOIA request CDC FOIA: USAMRIID

Guest: Jeremy Kuzmarov. We talk about Jeremy's new article in Covert Action Magazine, titled How Organized Crime Infiltrated American Business After WW II and Corrupted National Politics from Truman to Trump. In it, he talks about a book by Jonathan Marshall, titled Dark Quadrant: Organized Crime, Big Business, and the Corruption of American Democracy. In a bonus segment, we talk about the January 6th riots.

Jeremy Kuzmarov is Managing Editor of CovertAction Magazine. He is the author of four books on U.S. foreign policy, including Obama's Unending Wars (Clarity Press, 2019) and The Russians Are Coming, Again, with John Marciano (Monthly Review Press, 2018).

FOLLOW Jeremy at @jkuzmarov and find his work at Covert Action Magazine.

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.

Recorded on June 16, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. How Organized Crime Infiltrated American Business After WW II and Corrupted National Politics from Truman to Trump, Jeremy Kuzmarov
2. Was January 6th a Dress Rehearsal for Coup d'État in the U.S.? Jeremy Kuzmarov
3. Book: Dark Quadrant: Organized Crime, Big Business, and the Corruption of American Democracy, Jonathan Marshall

Joanne from Around the Empire and Hrvoje from Geopolitics and Empire get together for a wide ranging discussion about the Great Game, the Great Reset, the pandemic lockdowns and other responses, the ramping up of hostilities with Russia and China, withdrawal from Afghanistan and the sudden permission to speak about the lab leak theory.

FOLLOW Hrvoje at @Geopolitics_Emp SUBSCRIBE to the Geopolitics and Empire podcast on podcast apps, Youtube, Odyssey and other platforms and find the website at geopoliticsandempire.com

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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Recorded on June 7, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Guest: Sharmine Narwani. We talk about Gaza, the Resistance and the differences between attacks on Gaza in past years and what is happening now, who really needs a ceasefire the most and why a ceasefire with no real change does not really help the Palestinians. We talk about reactions from other countries in the region to the latest attack on Gaza and Sharmine provides an update on the current situation in Lebanon which has fallen out of the news of late but is still in crisis and still deals with foreign interference. Lastly we talked about a new media project that Sharmine will be launching soon. In a bonus question, we talk about the evolution of the map of Palestine and Israel since World War II and how that map might change going forward -- essentially the future of Israel and Palestine.

FOLLOW Sharmine @snarwani and find her work at her website mideastshuffle.com

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on Rokfin rokfin.com/aroundtheempire, Patreon patreon.com/aroundtheempire, Paypal paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod, YouTube youtube.com/aroundtheempire, Spotify, iTunes, iHeart, Google Podcasts

FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.

Recorded on May 18, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. When Fighting Erupts Between Israel and Hamas, the Question of War Crimes, New York Times
2. Human Rights Watch: A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution
3. (2014) Another ceasefire in Gaza? No, thank you, Sharmine Narwani