Jeffrey Sachs joins Drop Site’s Ryan Grim and Murtaza Hussain to discuss how Washington’s delusions about American power are fueling wars abroad and a financial bubble at home.

Drawing on his firsthand experience advising Russia at the Soviet Union’s collapse and decades studying Asia’s economic rise, Sachs traces the roots of America’s belief that it can dominate the world. He explains why efforts to isolate Iran and Russia are failing, how U.S. sanctions are pushing countries toward alternatives to the dollar, and what he saw on a 15,000-kilometer road trip from Rome to Hong Kong this summer.

Sachs also argues that soaring U.S. stock valuations rest on a dangerous assumption: that American technological supremacy will endure. With China challenging that dominance, he warns of a “major financial correction” as Washington’s “geopolitical bubble” fuels a financial bubble that he argues is destined to burst.

0:00 Sitting Across From Yeltsin in 19911:44 The Gap Between Washington and Reality6:00 European Dominance: A 200-Year Fluke15:15 Yeltsin and the Unipolar Moment17:00 Watching Asia Catch Up: From Rome to Hong Kong32:07 Why Europe Rose & America’s Inherited Grandiosity38:10 You Can’t Isolate Iran or 42% of the World47:23 The Weaponized Dollar Is a Wasting Asset58:07 The Global Bond Selloff: Where Is the Money Going?1:00:13 The Geopolitical Bubble and the Coming Financial Correction

Pakistan’s imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan was recently taken from prison to hospital for medical treatment amid reports of his failing health in custody, including continued loss of eyesight in his right eye. The fate of Khan, the country’s most popular politician, has held politics in limbo in the nuclear-armed country of 240 million for the past three years. While the ruling military junta has expanded its ties with Washington, and begun building new alliances with Saudi Arabia and Turkey, domestic political and economic conditions continue to deteriorate within Pakistan itself—including brutal military crackdowns on protests in the province of Kashmir, insurgencies in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and rampaging inflation nationwide triggered in part by the ongoing Iran War.

On this week’s episode of the Drop Site News livestream, host Murtaza Hussain discusses the fate of Khan and the future of Pakistan with Drop Site reporter Waqas Ahmed.

Later in the episode, Murtaza is joined by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, head of the Bourse and Bazaar Foundation economic think tank to discuss the status of the Iran War, including the dueling blockades over the Strait of Hormuz and economic impact of U.S. sanctions on civilians in Iran. Batmanghelidj also provides a prognosis on the future of the conflict, which has shifted to an economic siege amid the U.S. Treasury declaration of an “Economic D-Day” against Iran this week, while giving an analysis of whether these measures will lead to compromise or escalation in the current standoff.

President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner traveled to the region for high level meetings with Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya in Cairo on Sunday followed by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to discuss the next stages of the so-called ceasefire plan that was announced by President Donald Trump last month.

Kushner emerged with no concrete commitments from Israel to the U.S. proposal that Hamas agreed to and instead issued Hamas a 60-to-90-day ultimatum to surrender its weapons before Israel withdraws from Gaza or takes any steps in return. Meanwhile, settlers backed by the Israeli military are increasingly rampaging across the occupied West Bank, attacking Palestinian families and forcing them from their homes. Drop Site’s Sharif Abdel Kouddous is joined by Diana Buttu a Palestinian human rights attorney and former adviser to the negotiating team of the PLO, to talk about the latest.

Then, Drop Site’s Julian Andreone is joined by two candidates running in Florida’s primary races today: Elijah Manley and Oliver Larkin, both are challenging entrenched pro-Israel Democratic incumbents, Rep. Jared Moskowitz and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz respectively. The polls close at 7 p.m. ET today.

And Sharif speaks with Tala Alfoqaha and Maria Kari, two members of the legal team for Maryam Tahmasebi, who was arrested by ICE agents in April along with her husband, Eissa Hashemi, and their 16-year-old son. They are all legal permanent residents of the U.S. with valid green cards but they have been held in immigration detention for the past four months allegedly because of something a relative was involved with nearly 50 years ago in Iran.

The U.S. war against Iran has transformed into a form of economic siege as U.S. ships blockade Iranian ports and Trump promises a prolonged naval confrontation aimed at forcing Iran to relinquish its control over the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, Iran is imposing its own retaliatory siege aimed at the U.S. and its allies by striking ships attempting the pass the strait without its permission—vowing not to relent until the U.S. concedes a list of demands including economic compensation to Tehran and military withdrawal from the region.

On this week’s episode of the Drop Site News livestream hosts Murtaza Hussain and Ryan Grim discuss the economics of this war of blockades and its impact on the global economy with financial expert Brett Erickson.

In the following segment Murtaza and Ryan are joined by colleagues Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Abubaker Abed to discuss the one year anniversary of the assassination of Palestinian journalist Anas al-Sharif and five of his colleagues on August 10, 2025, and the ongoing targeting of Palestinian journalists covering the genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Last week, Hamas and President Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace announced they had formally agreed to terms addressing the weapons held by the Palestinian resistance. Sources from within Hamas told Drop Site that the issue was contentious and hotly debated internally, but ultimately the group moved forward with a strategy that the ball would now be in the court of Israel, the U.S., and regional mediators to uphold the deal. Almost immediately after the agreement was announced, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not withdraw Israeli forces, as required by the deal, and intended to continue striking Gaza. Israel has killed more than 1,200 Palestinians since the October 2025 ceasefire was announced and has extended its occupation in total violation of the terms Israel signed and Trump guaranteed. This is part of a longstanding pattern that plays out after Palestinian negotiators accept terms that the U.S. claims will end the war and occupation.

On the Drop Site News livestream, Jeremy Scahill speaks with Palestinian academic and analyst Sami Al-Arian about why Hamas agreed to the terms, which include a decommissioning of heavy weapons and military infrastructure in Gaza. They also discuss the future of Palestinian resistance and the upcoming elections, in which Europe and the U.S. have worked with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to create a framework for banning Hamas and other pro-resistance factions from participating.

Then, Jeremy and Ryan Grim discuss Tuesday’s primary elections in Michigan and Missouri, including the closely watched race between Abdul El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens. Later, they discuss the 2028 campaign, and the difficulty that could be faced by potential candidate Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who passed on an opportunity to be the leading moral voice of opposition to Israel’s genocide, a decision that continues to be a headwind for her.

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Armed Israeli settlers backed by the military and government have continued to escalate attacks on Palestinians living in the West Bank in recent weeks, attacking villages and towns amid an ongoing push to assert Israeli sovereignty over the territory. At the same time, there are indications that the “wall of fear” among Palestinians in the West Bank has begun to crumble—as individual Palestinians have engaged in increasingly bold efforts to defend their homes and communities against armed attacks.

On this week’s stream, Murtaza Hussain and Maysa Mustafa discuss the situation in the West Bank with Abdaljawad Omar, a professor at Birzeit University in the West Bank.

Later in the show, Murtaza discusses the youth-led, “Cockroach Movement” protests in India against corruption and economic inequality with guests Akshay Marathe, former national spokesperson for India’s Aam Aadmi Party, and journalist Meghnad Bose.

As the U.S. continues to carry out an air campaign against Iran and attempts to wrest back control of the Strait of Hormuz, the war is already reshaping the future of Gulf Arab states that rely on the critical waterway as well as the protection of U.S. military bases in the region.

On this week’s stream, Ryan Grim and Murtaza Hussain discuss the impact of the war on the GCC states with Amir Handjani, an analyst on the region and board member at the Quincy Institute.

Grim and Hussain also discuss the upcoming Democratic primary races in Michigan with progressive 7th Congressional District candidate Will Lawrence, as well as Michigan political reporter Sam Robinson.

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On this week’s stream, Rep. Ro Khanna describes being detained by Israeli settlers backed by the Israeli army in the West Bank earlier this month—and talks about his meetings with Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Khanna and Drop Site co-founder Jeremy Scahill debate Palestinian armed resistance, the Iron Dome, and Congress’s role.

Then: As the FIFA World Cup enters its final week, visiting teams and fans have been subject to discriminatory treatment or bans by the U.S. FIFA has been accused of increasingly corrupt practices, poor officiating in matches has grown into accusations of systemic bias, and the issue of Palestine has been raised. Drop Site’s Sharif Abdel Kouddous speaks with Abdullah Al-Arian, a professor of history at Georgetown University in Qatar and editor of the book “Football in the Middle East: State, Society, and the Beautiful Game” about the politics of the World Cup.

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Since October 7, 2023 and the launch of the genocidal war on Gaza, the U.S. and Israel have manufactured a reality in the Middle East—a new reality in which ceasefires have been redefined as a diplomatic cudgel to incapacitate any resistance to Israel’s wars and force surrender. Israel can continue its attacks, claiming self defense, while local, indigenous forces or resistance groups must adhere to not only the terms of the so-called agreements, but also to submit to new and evolving demands.

Nowhere has this dynamic this been more pronounced than in the case of the Gaza ceasefire signed in October 2025. On the Drop Site News livestream, Diana Buttu, Palestinian human rights lawyer and a former legal advisor and negotiator for the Palestine Liberation Organization, speaks to Jeremy Scahill about the state of negotiations with Trump’s Board of “Peace.” Buttu and Scahill analyze the latest developments, including Israeli media predictions that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—currently campaigning for re-election—may launch another massive military operation in Gaza.

Meanwhile, as millions of people gather in Iran for the multi-day funeral procession for the slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the future of the fragile Memorandum of Understanding between Tehran and the Trump administration hangs in the balance. President Donald Trump expressed surprise at the size of the crowds in Iran, saying he thought people hated Khamenei. For Iran’s leaders, the funeral has served as both an act of defiance and a warning to the U.S. and Israel.

Vali Nasr, Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins, joins Scahill and Murtaza Hussain for a wide-ranging discussion on Khamenei’s life and legacy. Nasr, whose latest book is “Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History,” also discusses the state of the Iran MOU, the prospects for a broader agreement and how Iran’s government would navigate attempts by the White House to strip Iran of its negotiating leverage.

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In mid-June, the U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding that was formally intended to bring a halt to the war and open a path for negotiations on a range of issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran, however, made clear that it would not proceed to any long-term deal unless the U.S. compelled Israel to end its war against Lebanon. Since the signing of the MOU, Israel has maneuvered to ensure its forces can remain entrenched in Lebanon and worked with the Trump administration to delink Hezbollah from the Iran deal. Hezbollah formally entered the war on March 2 and Iran has insisted that the ceasefire must apply not only to Iran, but to southern Lebanon as well. Israel and the U.S., however, embarked on an alternative path aimed at enlisting the Lebanese government as their local partner in a campaign aimed at disarming and dismantling Hezbollah.

A subsequent “framework,” signed on June 26, between Israel and Lebanon appears to have succeeded in laying the foundations. The text portrays Hezbollah as an illegal insurgent movement and enables Israeli forces to remain indefinitely in Lebanon until Lebanese Armed Forces enact the “successful disarmament of non-state armed groups and dismantlement of their infrastructure.” Only after this is accomplished, would Israeli occupation forces “progressively redeploy out of the Lebanese territory.”

As the U.S. and Iran continue indirect technical talks, there are mounting concerns in Tehran that Trump is simply using the negotiations to prepare for a resumption of the war. Tehran has also said that it will not stand idly by as Israel continues its attacks on Lebanon, pointing out that the MOU explicitly commits the U.S. to end the war.

Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill spoke with Amal Saad, a lecturer on international relations and politics at Cardiff University in the UK who is writing a book on Hezbollah and the Axis of Resistance. In a wide-ranging discussion, Saad offers a comprehensive analysis of the U.S.-Israeli campaign to co-opt the Lebanese government into the war against Hezbollah. They also discuss Iran’s regional and global position in the post-October 7 world, and Saad explains why she believes another war on Iran is inevitable.

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