The one-sided trade agreement that Donald Trump imposed on the EU illustrates how the US empire exploits its "allies" in Europe as vassals to benefit the American oil/gas industry, Big Tech corporations, and the military-industrial complex. This did not start with Trump, but he has accelerated the vassalization of the European Union. Political economist Ben Norton explains.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpf6ZeABP1I

Topics

0:00 Intro

1:04 US empire doesn't have allies, only vassals

2:14 US-EU trade deal & tariffs

5:19 China defended itself in trade war

6:19 Ursula von der Leyen on US energy

7:28 (CLIP) Trump on US-EU trade deal

7:54 USA benefits

8:15 (CLIP) Trump: "the biggest of all the deals"

8:28 Europe gets nothing

9:11 (CLIP) US makes no concessions to EU

9:57 (CLIP) Trump on US fossil fuel exports

10:20 US gets everything, EU gets nothing

11:02 Vassalization of Europe

12:27 BRICS expansion

13:22 NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte

14:03 (CLIP) NATO chief calls Trump "daddy"

14:17 Trump addresses "daddy" comment

14:42 (CLIP) Trump: I'm NATO's "daddy"

15:03 Trump leaks humiliating text messages

16:26 Failure of EU "strategic autonomy"

17:18 NATO demands military spending at 5% of GDP

18:42 US military-industrial complex benefits

20:14 Paying imperial tribute

20:48 Replacing welfare state with warfare state

21:44 EU spending on education

22:08 EU spending on healthcare

22:33 Trump & MAGA take off the mask

23:26 VP JD Vance attacks Europe

23:40 Kissinger: "to be America's friend is fatal"

24:20 Trump boasts of ending Nord Stream

25:39 (CLIP) Trump: "I ended Nord Stream 2"

25:59 US targets European infrastructure

26:26 (CLIP) Trump: US wants to sell oil/gas

26:53 US attacks European "allies"

27:27 Sabotage of Nord Stream pipelines

28:05 Who blew up Nord Stream?

29:20 West opposed UN investigation

30:06 Polish official said US blew up Nord Stream

30:47 Historical amnesia

31:17 Why Germany wanted Nord Stream

32:34 (CLIP) Trump: Europe must buy US oil/gas

32:48 Trump pressured Angela Merkel on Russia

33:15 (CLIP) Trump: Europe must cut Russia ties

34:12 Trump sanctioned Nord Stream

34:55 USA seeks to divide Europe & Russia

35:39 Biden threatened Nord Stream

36:02 (CLIP) Biden: We will end Nord Stream

36:36 Bipartisan vassalage

37:30 US energy exports to Europe

38:08 EU imports of oil

39:25 EU imports of natural gas

39:56 EU imports of LNG

40:45 Climate change catastrophe

41:20 Germany re-opens coal plants

42:00 Germany's pro-war "Greens"

43:19 US imperial strategy: divide Europe

44:56 Imperialist Mackinder's heartland theory

45:28 US fears of Europe-Russia alliance

46:23 NATO's goal: keep US on top

47:24 Deindustrialization of Europe

47:59 EU attacks top trading partner China

48:40 Why are EU leaders Atlanticists?

49:01 EU leaders are literally crying

49:26 EU elites invest in US financial assets

51:57 US Big Tech corporations

52:35 Comprador bourgeoisie

53:48 Western oligarchies

55:00 US empire fears Eurasian integration

56:15 Trump tries to divide Russia & China

56:33 Europe is at a geopolitical crossroads

58:36 Outro

As US president, Donald Trump's policies have served the interests of wealthy elites, while hurting average working people and splitting his own MAGA base. Geopolitical economist Radhika Desai discusses with economist Michael Hudson.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cUksS_aN_8

This is part of the program Geopolitical Economy Hour. You can watch other episodes of the show here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP

Radhika's website: https://RadhikaDesai.com

Michael's website: https://Michael-Hudson.com

China and Russia help formerly colonized countries in the Global South defend their sovereignty amid constant US meddling and aggression, argues Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua, a Latin American country that has been invaded and militarily occupied by the USA multiple times. Ben Norton reports on the history of the Sandinista Revolution, and the struggle against Western imperialism.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-xjUmwZxQY

Topics

0:00 Global South is Global Majority

0:54 US interventions in Latin America

1:59 US imperialism in Nicaragua

3:12 CIA-backed Contras

5:18 Coup attempts in Nicaragua

6:03 China builds infrastructure

7:58 Nicaragua praises China & Russia

9:22 (CLIP) Daniel Ortega on China & Russia

10:11 46th anniversary of Sandinista Revolution

11:04 (CLIP) Ortega on European colonialism

11:33 US colonialist William Walker

13:19 (CLIP) Daniel Ortega on US imperialism

13:47 US military occupation & Sandino

14:32 Somoza dictatorship

15:22 US Contra war

16:29 (CLIP) Ortega on the Contras

17:54 ICJ case Nicaragua v USA

19:20 Inspirations for Sandinistas

20:17 (CLIP) Ortega on Haitian Revolution

21:43 Simón Bolívar on US imperialism

22:34 Algerian Revolution

23:00 Russian & Chinese Revolutions

23:13 (CLIP) Revolutions in Russia & China

23:46 USSR & China defeated fascism in WWII

25:13 Remilitarization of Europe

25:54 (CLIP) Ortega: West prepares for war

26:34 Fascism has roots in European colonialism

27:36 (CLIP) Ortega on fascism & colonialism

29:57 Palestine

31:07 (CLIP) Daniel Ortega on Palestine

32:01 Iran

32:23 UN is dominated by Western powers

32:59 United Nations & Miguel d'Escoto

34:19 UN can't stop illegal US wars

34:56 (CLIP) Ortega: We need a new UN

36:03 Global South perspectives

37:21 Outro

Western governments claim to be models of democracy, and demonize their geopolitical adversaries as "authoritarian", but empirical evidence shows that the USA and European countries are oligarchies dominated by economic elites and large corporations. Billionaire Donald Trump is the perfect symbol of this, but he's by no means the only one. Ben Norton explains.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BONnmHRmp_M

Topics

0:00 Narrative of Western "democracies"

0:26 (CLIP) Joe Biden on "democracy vs autocracy"

0:37 Western governments are oligarchies

1:54 Summary of oligarchic Western leaders

2:54 Scientific research shows USA is an oligarchy

4:29 US public opinion on healthcare

5:20 Money buys 80-90% of seats in US Congress

6:27 Citizens United ruling

7:21 Donald Trump: perfect symbol of US oligarchy

7:57 Robber barons

8:44 One Big Beautiful Bill: class war by the rich

9:49 Billionaires pay lower tax rate than most Americans

10:42 US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

11:35 Ex US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin

12:16 Steve Bannon worked for Goldman Sachs

12:58 US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick

13:07 Crypto was taken over by Wall Street

14:08 Trump is the symptom, not the cause

15:07 Biden promised nothing would change

16:07 Barack Obama: funded by Wall Street

17:53 Mitt Romney: servant of Wall Street

18:48 Super PACs

19:32 Bloomberg funded Biden's 2020 race

19:56 Billionaires funded Trump's 2024 race

20:35 Elon Musk donated $288 million for Trump

20:57 (CLIP) Elon Musk bought 2024 US election

21:11 World's richest man buys US politics

21:34 Wall Street wages war on Zohran Mamdani

22:46 Democratic Party sabotaged Bernie Sanders

24:34 UK Labour Party sabotaged Jeremy Corbyn

26:18 British spy agencies sabotaged Jeremy Corbyn

28:15 Symbol of UK oligarchy: Rishi Sunak

31:37 Neoliberal Keir Starmer: Tony Blair reincarnated

32:35 France's President of the rich: Emmanuel Macron

36:04 BlackRock's man in Germany: Friedrich Merz

37:40 Goldman Sachs' man in Italy: Mario Draghi

39:10 Goldman Sachs' man in Canada: Mark Carney

40:22 Summary of oligarchic Western leaders

41:35 Western governments are not democracies

42:45 Outro

The New York Times finally admitted Israel is carrying out a genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, in an article by an Israeli scholar who studies the Holocaust. A United Nations report detailed how US corporations are profiting from these crimes, although the Trump administration responded by imposing sanctions on the UN expert who exposed it, Francesca Albanese. Ben Norton explains.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb082pTy-Nw

Topics

0:00 US media whitewashes Israel's crimes

0:43 NY Times admits: Israel is committing genocide

3:43 Evidence of genocidal intent

5:24 NYT's pro-Israel propaganda

6:26 NY Times spread Iraq "WMDs" lies

7:17 No longer possible to deny reality

8:01 Ex EU foreign policy chief admits truth

9:42 (CLIP) Josep Borrell "garden" & "jungle" rant

9:55 Fears of justice

10:39 Nakba: History of colonialism in Palestine

11:37 Ex Israeli PM warns of concentration camps

12:28 Israeli genocide impossible without US support

13:01 Trump & Biden give Israel billions in weapons

13:42 US military-industrial complex benefits

14:24 UN report: US corporations profit from Gaza genocide

15:06 Big Tech monopolies in "Magnificent 7"

15:33 Palantir profits

16:29 IBM profits from Holocaust

17:18 Trump admin sanctions UN expert

18:13 (CLIP) UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese

18:53 USA attacks UN human rights experts

20:22 Bush family & US corporations profited from Holocaust

21:09 Andrew Feinstein's powerful words

22:04 Fascism is colonialism turned inward

24:40 Imperialism: true face of Western "democracies"

25:43 Israel's genocidal intent was always clear

27:08 Don't erase history

28:01 Outro

Close Donald Trump allies like Steve Bannon say "the president is pissed every time he looks at the BRICS de-dollarization effort". The US government fears the Global South's challenge to the exorbitant privilege of the dollar. Trump is trying to make an example out of Brazil, threatening high tariffs to punish Lula da Silva, who promotes a multipolar world and a new global reserve currency. Ben Norton explains.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MguxV2HZWVk

As Trump threatens BRICS, it grows stronger, resisting US dollar and Western imperialism: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/07/10/trump-threat-brics-us-dollar-western-imperialism/

Topics

0:00 (CLIP) Trump: "The dollar is king"

0:17 Western imperialists fear BRICS

1:20 Trump threatens tariffs on BRICS

1:37 Dedollarization enrages Trump

3:21 (CLIP) Trump's angry rant against BRICS

4:43 Schrödinger's BRICS

5:24 US officials demonize BRICS

6:00 Non-Aligned Movement

7:18 US divide-and-conquer strategy

7:58 (CLIP) Trump: divide Russia and China

8:16 US empire is failing

9:00 Trump attacks Brazil

10:07 Brazilian President Lula da Silva

10:52 Jair Bolsonaro, Trump ally

11:26 Bolsonaro's failed coup attempt

12:07 Elon Musk meddles in Brazil

13:00 US-sponsored coups in Latin America

14:29 Elon Musk: "We will coup whoever we want"

15:27 US-backed coups in Brazil

18:01 Brazil pushes back against US meddling

19:52 Multipolarity

20:35 Dedollarization

21:08 Gold

22:30 US empire's main weapon: the dollar

24:06 Sanctions: economic warfare

24:53 BRICS develops alternatives

25:30 End of US dollar's exorbitant privilege

27:29 Why Trump is afraid

28:46 Outro

US President Donald Trump has threatened heavy tariffs on BRICS, claiming the organization is "dead", but it is actually growing in size and influence. 10 members and 10 partners participated in the 2025 BRICS summit in Brazil, where they discussed plans for dedollarization, trade and investment in national currencies, and how to create a more multipolar global order. Ben Norton explains.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmR03QFdhfs

Topics

0:00 Trump attacks BRICS

0:25 (CLIP) Trump claims "BRICS is dead"

1:16 BRICS is growing

1:49 BRICS: 10 members & 10 partners

2:26 BRICS: 44% of global GDP (PPP)

2:41 BRICS: 56% of world population

2:55 Vietnam joins BRICS

3:27 Cuba joins BRICS

4:11 Mexico attends BRICS summit

4:58 Trump threatens tariffs on BRICS

6:07 Trump doesn't understand BRICS

6:21 (CLIP) Trump claims Spain is in BRICS

6:58 Lula: World doesn't want an "emperor"

8:03 Dedollarization

8:31 (CLIP) Trump threats to save US dollar

8:48 BRICS promotes dedollarization

9:54 Brazil challenges US dollar dominance

10:44 New Development Bank (NDB)

11:03 US meddling in Colombia

11:50 US-backed coup in Bolivia

13:01 US-backed judicial coup in Brazil

13:40 BRICS trade in local currencies

14:38 Dedollarization: slow and steady

15:29 Dedollarization in BRICS declaration

17:32 IMF alternative: Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA)

20:29 New international financial system

21:27 Vladimir Putin's speech

21:48 Why the absence of Xi Jinping and Putin?

23:31 Why Iran's president did not attend

24:22 China's view of BRICS

26:15 Goals of BRICS

27:03 Financial imperialism: the "reverse Marshall Plan"

30:28 Billionaire oligarchs

31:58 Malaysia PM Anwar Ibrahim

32:22 Non-Aligned Movement

33:37 (CLIP) BRICS inspired by Non-Aligned Movement

35:02 (CLIP) Malaysia PM on de-dollarization

35:44 Bandung Conference

36:46 (CLIP) Malaysia PM: BRICS follows Bandung

37:27 Decolonization and multipolarity

39:57 NATO militarization and warmongering

40:32 Climate change

41:17 Palestine and Iran

41:57 Multilateralism under attack by USA

42:50 Imperialism vs democracy

43:27 Capitalist oligarchy

43:43 Trump: symbol of US imperialism

44:28 Meaning of BRICS

45:14 Outro

BRICS has expanded to 20 countries - 10 members and 10 partners - after adding Vietnam. BRICS+ now makes up 43.93% of world GDP (PPP) and 55.61% of the global population. Ben Norton explains how the US failed to divide China and Vietnam in the Second Cold War.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZUeShGMarI

Sources, links, and downloadable charts here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/07/04/brics-expansion-population-gdp-vietnam

Asia is uniting, creating a new post-West global order: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRGkCw-Sqk0

Topics

0:00 Vietnam joins BRICS

0:42 History of BRICS expansion

1:01 BRICS membership

1:21 Map of BRICS+

1:30 BRICS: 44% of global GDP (PPP)

1:50 BRICS: 56% of world population

2:26 Cold War and Non-Aligned Movement

3:33 USA tries to divide Vietnam & China

5:07 Vietnam's foreign policy is non-aligned

5:53 Timing of Vietnam's decision

6:47 Trump's tariffs

7:39 China improves relations with Vietnam

8:32 Complex history of China-Vietnam relations

10:47 Vietnam's "Four Nos"

11:48 China's non-alignment

12:17 Similarities of Chinese & Vietnamese socialist system

13:36 Vietnam's economic development

15:32 Incomes in Vietnam & China

16:40 Socialist market economy

17:22 Life expectancy in Vietnam & China

18:38 Popularity of Vietnamese & Chinese governments

19:34 Western capitalist oligarchy

21:11 Global South alternatives

21:57 The ASEAN Way

22:37 ASEAN-GCC-China Summit

23:16 Outro

Iran has used its status as a leading oil and gas producer to promote dedollarization, rejecting the US dollar and trading with China, Russia, India, and other BRICS members in their national currencies. Ben Norton explains the Western economic war on Iran, and Tehran's response.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ziGNmvOh6k

US pressures Saudi Arabia to sell oil in dollars, not Chinese yuan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmYybJZo3fo

The real reasons for the US-Israeli war on Iran, explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwH780cEcEQ

Topics

0:00 US dollar's "exorbitant privilege"

0:50 Sanctions: weaponization of US dollar

1:33 De-dollarization

3:54 Economic warfare

5:15 History of US meddling in Iran

6:41 Geopolitics of oil

7:22 Iranian leaders promote de-dollarization

8:42 BRICS trade in national currencies

10:33 Iran's oil and gas production

10:51 Gulf flirts with petroyuan

11:34 History of petrodollar system

12:31 OPEC oil embargo

13:55 Saudi King Faisal

14:30 OPEC oil embargo

14:55 Nixon-Kissinger deal with Saudis

16:50 Super Imperialism

17:39 Oil backs US seigniorage

19:31 Saudi Arabia and petrodollar

20:20 US pressure on Saudi Arabia

21:44 War on Iran

22:27 Why USA wants regime change

23:47 Outro

War on Iran is part of the US empire's larger attempt to re-impose its unipolar dominance on the global political and financial system, argues economist Michael Hudson. Washington wants to preserve dollar hegemony and the petrodollar, while disrupting BRICS and Eurasian integration with China and Russia. He is interviewed by host Ben Norton.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DEXReFGb24

Transcript here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/06/27/war-iran-us-unipolarity-michael-hudson/

Michael Hudson's article - War on Iran is fight for US unipolar control of world: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/06/22/michael-hudson-war-iran-us-unipolar-control

Michael Hudson's website: https://michael-hudson.com

Topics

0:00 Intro: US war on Iran

3:45 Summary of US imperial strategy

8:15 Interview starts

9:00 History of US meddling in Iran

11:06 US divide-and-conquer plan

14:02 Israel: US empire's aircraft carrier

17:07 Geopolitics of Iran

18:56 China's Belt and Road Initiative

21:02 Attempt to encircle Russia & China

23:34 US aggression backfires on dollar

27:29 Oil and petrodollar

36:43 Super Imperialism

40:06 Sanctions & economic warfare

44:35 Military-Industrial Complex

51:33 Outro

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