Inside-America

The US and Iran have held six rounds of indirect talks in Vienna, since April, in an attempt to revive the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA); signed in 2015 by President Obama. Three years later, President Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the agreement.

A final round of negotiations is expected to begin over the next few days, with France, Germany, the UK, Russia and China —other main signatories to the agreement —acting as go-betweens. The leaders of France, Germany and China called on all parties involved to seize ‘the window of opportunity for an agreement’. While some expect a final agreement to be announced on July 14, the sixth-year anniversary of the JCPOA, many obstacles remain.

Guests:

Sadegh Zibakalam

Professor of Political Science, Tehran University

Dennis Ross

Former Special Assistant to President Obama and Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Joe Cirincione

Senior Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft

As China marks the 100th anniversary of its Communist Party, its continued political, economic, scientific and military rise has put the United States on edge.

Since 1979, China’s economy has doubled every eight years, putting it on track to surpass the US as the world’s largest economy, a status it has already attained according to some models.

As President Xi Jinping’s party prepares to ‘embark on a new, splendid journey in the next century’, US President Joe Biden has promised to invest to ensure that America prevails in the race with its main rival, China. And he has bipartisan support —a rarity in today’s divided US Congress. Legislation to boost America’s economic competition with China and put pressure on Beijing for human rights violations is moving forward in the Senate and the House.

How far will the US go in confronting China? Could this lead to a new Cold War?

Guests:

Mickey Kantor- Former United States Secretary of Commerce (1996-1997) & United States Trade Representative (1993-1996)

Dr. John Fleming- Former US Member of Congress (R- Louisiana) & served in the Trump administration as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development and Assistant to the President for Planning and Implementation

Victor Gao- Vice President of the Center for China and Globalization

Watch other episodes of Inside America ➡ Weekly in-depth interviews with American opinion and policy-makers exploring the issues shaping US politics. 👉http://trt.world/InsideAmerica​

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Is the Republican Party attempting to abridge the voting rights of African Americans and other Democrat-leaning minorities? Inside America host Ghida Fakhry gives us her take in this week’s In Short.

Watch the full programme here: https://youtu.be/SYkGlCGr1QM

#US #Voting #Democracy

With midterm elections less than 18 months away, Democrats in the US Senate pushed ahead with their attempt to pass the ‘For the People Act’, a voting rights bill aimed at expanding voting rights across the United States.

The legislation known as HR 1 passed in the House of Representatives in early March without Republican support but failed to get enough votes in the Senate when it was put to a vote. Automatic voter registration and expanded mail-in and early voting are among some of the bill’s key provisions — as well as tighter rules on congressional redistricting, election security and campaign finance.

Despite Republican congressional opposition, the ‘For the People Act’ has the support of 69% of Americans with 85% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans in favor.

Democrats in Congress introduced the proposed legislation in an attempt to curb restrictive voting state laws that are being passed in record numbers by Republican-controlled legislatures. Since the 2020 election, 22 laws have already been enacted in 14 states, including the critical swing states of Arizona, Florida and Georgia, with an additional 61 bills currently advancing through 18 other states.

Overall, lawmakers in 49 states have introduced at least 389 bills that would seemingly limit voting rights. Republicans argue these bills aim to improve public trust in elections. Democrats say it is a form of voter suppression aimed at making it more difficult for people to vote, especially in communities of color.

So is this a Republican assault on the voting rights of Americans, primarily non-white communities? Or a power grab by Democrats as some Republicans argue?

Guests:

Ted Harvey

Former Colorado Republican State Senator and Chairman of the Committee to Defeat the President

Marc Morial

President of the National Urban League and Former Mayor of New Orleans

Jacob Hacker

Professor of Political Science at Yale University

Is the United States pushing Russia and China closer together? Inside America host

Ghida Fakhry gives us her take in this week’s In Short.

Watch the full programme here: https://youtu.be/SaKgRdyMAfM

All smiles as US President Joe Biden meets leaders of the G7 and NATO in an effort to reassure allies that America is back on the international stage ahead of his much-anticipated meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

As European leaders welcome Biden back into the club, can they count on the US to be a long-term ally? And will Biden’s continued focus on a contest between Western democracies and rising autocratic governments resonate with his European counterparts? Or will they take a more cautious approach in countering China’s rise?

Guests:

Rose Gottemoeller- Former NATO Deputy Secretary General (2016-2019), former under secretary for arms control and international security at the US Department of State, and chief US negotiator of the nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia, New START

Wolfgang Ischinger- Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Germany’s former deputy foreign minister and former German ambassador to the US

Jim Gilmore- Former US ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), former governor of Virginia and former chairman of the Republican National Committee

Watch other episodes of Inside America ➡ Weekly in-depth interviews with American opinion and policy-makers exploring the issues shaping US politics. 👉http://trt.world/InsideAmerica​

Follow us: 👉www.twitter.com/_InsideAmerica 👉www.twitter.com/Ghida_Fakhry

Subscribe: 👉Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3d0LYLy

It is a legislative procedure that was used just last week by Republican Senators to block the Democrats’ push for a congressional commission to investigate the Jan. 6th attack on the US Capitol. A growing number of Democrats argue that the filibuster —a Senate rule that allows one or more lawmakers from the minority party to prevent or delay indefinitely a vote on a piece of legislation — is being used by Senate Republicans to obstruct President Biden’s agenda.

Several other progressive pieces of legislation and White House priorities, including an infra-structure bill, have been stalled in the evenly-split Senate.

Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer, wrote in a letter to his Democratic caucus, that Republican tactics have demonstrated “the limits of bipartisanship and the resurgence of Republican obstructionism” —warning that “the next few weeks will be hard and will test our resolve as a Congress and a conference”.

Meanwhile a coalition of progressive groups are stepping up the pressure on Senate Majority Leader Schumer to get rid of the filibuster. More than 100 groups sent a letter to the New York Senator calling on the Senate Democratic caucus to “eliminate the filibuster as a weapon” that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell can use to “block efforts to defend and strengthen our democracy and make our government work for the American people”.

Guests:

Lauren Cohen Bell

Professor of Political Science at Randolph-Macon College

Harry Reid

Former Democratic Senate Majority Leader

Trent Lott

Former Republican Senator from Mississippi and Senate Majority Leader

Will Trump’s response to his latest legal challenges add more fuel to the ‘stop the steal’ campaign? Inside America host Ghida Fakhry gives us her take in this week’s In Short.

Watch the full programme here: https://youtu.be/vJcpqgsPtVg

Senate Republicans used their filibuster power Friday to block the establishment of an independent commission to compile a full account of what happened when rioters stormed the US Capitol on January 6th, further solidifying the Republican party’s loyalty to Donald Trump. The lack of an investigation is likely to leave unanswered questions about why so many people rallied around the former president’s so called “big lie”, that he —not Biden— won’t the elections, a claim Trump still maintains.

Without a thorough investigation into what happened on January 6th, will Americans- and the Republican party- continue to rally around Donald Trump and his claims regarding the elections?

Guests:

Reed Galen- Co-founder of The Lincoln Project

Saul Anuzis- Former Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party and senior adviser to United States Senator Ted Cruz during the 2016 presidential campaign

David Cay Johnston- Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of "The Making of Donald Trump" and "It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration is Doing to America". He is also co-founder of DCReport.org

Watch other episodes of Inside America ➡ Weekly in-depth interviews with American opinion and policy-makers exploring the issues shaping US politics. 👉http://trt.world/InsideAmerica​

Follow us: 👉www.twitter.com/_InsideAmerica 👉www.twitter.com/Ghida_Fakhry

Subscribe: 👉Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3d0LYLy

Is the Black Lives Matter movement contributing to a better understanding of the Palestinian question in the US? Inside America host Ghida Fakhry gives us her take in this week’s In Short.

#BlackLivesMatter #Palestine

Watch the full programme here: https://youtu.be/tyT9Tk9dBW8