MintCast

The United States is socially, politically and economically in crisis. As an increasingly large number of people are priced out of the economy, fewer and fewer buy into the sham of electoral politics. On the world stage, too, the U.S. is suffering. Countries everywhere are beginning to drop the dollar as the standard unit of exchange, and Washington’s prestige has been severely shaken due to its relentless, unequivocal support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Ben Norton joins MintCast host Mnar Adley to discuss all this and more. Norton is an investigative journalist and founder of Geopolitical Economy Report, a news source dedicated to looking at the world and seeing the big picture. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Beijing, China.

“The dollar is – even more than the military – the strongest weapon the United States has,” Norton told Adley, explaining that, because of the exorbitant privilege it enjoys in printing the world’s reserve currency, the U.S. can simply export many of its economic problems. It also means that Washington can print more money to pay for its military misadventures around the world. Thus, the dollar system has allowed the U.S. to preserve its global empire and avoid inflation despite running a massive global trade deficit for decades.

“I hate when countries go off the dollar,” Donald Trump said recently, adding: “I would not allow countries to go off the dollar because when we lose that standard, that will be like losing a Revolutionary war. That would be a hit to our country, just like losing a war. And we can’t let that happen.”

And yet that is precisely what is coming to pass, as even U.S. allies in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have taken steps in that direction. Previously, if any country defied Washington’s orders, it would be sanctioned into oblivion. Indeed, U.S. sanctions are powerful enough to destroy the economies of relatively small countries, such as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Cuba, or Venezuela. However, as Norton noted, Russia, and especially China, are simply “too big to sanction.”

Join us for a fantastic conversation where Ben Norton stitches together the fabric of the world’s top political news stories, allowing us to see the big picture.

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It sometimes feels like the world is on the brink of war. Israel has just escalated the conflict in the Middle East with a massive attack on Lebanon, implanting bombs in hundreds of pagers and other electronic devices, killing many and injuring thousands.

Around the world, the action has been condemned as an act of terror.

Today’s guest, Scott Ritter, unequivocally denounced the move. “This is something that is unjustifiable under any circumstances. There is no element of the law of war that would allow this kind of indiscriminate attack,” he said. Ritter is a former United States Corps Intelligence Officer and UN Weapons Inspector in Iraq. He is an author and a geopolitical analyst, whose work you can find at ScottRitter.com. He has closely followed the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The attack, he said, will have widespread implications, not least for Western corporations, who were caught unaware. “This is going to create a crisis of confidence among consumers that could end up costing Western companies billions of dollars,” he explained, adding:

Anybody with any shred of common sense will immediately throw away their Western-made electronic device and source one from a country such as China, where Israel is not going to be able to infiltrate and corrupt the integrity of the electronic device to achieve either intelligence collection goals or assassination [goals].”

While the Israeli military is vastly better armed and funded than Hamas, Ritter claimed that it was actually the Palestinian force that has come out on top after 12 months of fighting, stating:

Hamas right now, in my opinion, is winning this conflict. They are winning it strategically. They are paying a horrible price for it. But on October 6, nobody was talking about the creation of a Palestinian state. Today, it is on the tip of the tongue of so many people around the world. Why? Because the world has seen the truth about Israel.”

Not only that, but Israel is eating itself from within. Its military is seriously depleted; its economy has been shattered by rocket attacks, and by 12 months of war economy; and its society is beginning to fragment.

Whatever happens, it is clear that October 7 fundamentally changed the situation for Israel and Palestine forever.

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No matter how bad the attack on Palestine gets, Israel seems to find a way to make it worse.

With a series of high-profile assassinations that threaten to spark a regional war, Israel has raised the stakes once again. On July 30, it targeted Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr in Beirut. One day later, it killed Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ lead ceasefire negotiator, while he was in Tehran.

The killings sent shockwaves throughout the world, and both Hezbollah and Iran have vowed to respond, the former declaring that the war had entered a “new phase.” Could we be hurtling towards a wider, regional conflict?

To discuss this, MintCast host Mnar Adley is joined by Sharmine Narwani. Narwani is a Beirut-based journalist and political commentator. She is a columnist at The Cradle, a publication covering West Asia that seeks to represent millions of voices not heard in corporate Western media. Before joining The Cradle, she was a senior associate at St. Anthony’s College, Oxford.

Quoting Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, Narwani told Adley today that “Israel is crossing all kinds of red lines now,” and is acting in an increasingly “unhinged” manner, actions which fundamentally come from weakness and vulnerability. “Israel very clearly cannot fight its wars by itself. Facing just one adversary on one front, Israel required the active assistance of three Western nuclear powers and one regional Arab state (Jordan), to thwart the [recent] Iranian attack,” she said.

If Israel is indeed reliant on foreign powers, then that raises the worrying question of increased Western involvement in the region and the war. Already, NATO nations launched Operation Prosperity Guardian – an attempt to secure Red Sea shipping lines from Ansar Allah attacks.

This has largely failed, as Ansar Allah has held firm and managed to overcome incredible odds. “Yemen is the surprise of the Resistance Axis, and their unity of fronts,” Narwani said, adding:

Who would have thought that war-torn Yemen, severely depleted, with shortages of food, energy, medicines and basic supplies, without access to their ports…that they would rise up and become the star of the Axis, by just having the absolute nerve to hit the Americans, the British, the Saudis, the Emiratis, the Israelis.”

Narwani said that they have managed to do this because Yemenis do not read Western media and have, therefore, not been tamed into displaying “good behavior” toward the United States. Instead, they display an entirely different attitude.

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MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

It is election season once again, and that means that the world’s eyes are drawn to our corrupt two-party duopoly. With a rapidly aging Biden decaying in front of us, Donald Trump is now a heavy favorite to become Commander-in-Chief of the US empire once more.

Trump has chosen JD Vance as his running mate, a character made and financed by Silicon Valley and surveillance state billionaire Peter Thiel. It seems no matter whom you vote for, our national security state – and that of Israel – will be the winner.

Peter Thiel’s CIA-tech empire “Palantir” helped Israel develop the AI lavender system, which has been used by the Israeli military to target civilian homes and children and completely decimate the world’s largest concentration camp with precision.

However, this is not Peter Thiel's first ride in the Trump campaign as he helped bankroll Trump himself in the 2016 election and even worked in his cabinet to advance the surveillance state by collecting our data during COVID.

Despite Trump campaigning as a populist anti-establishment draining the swamp, he is the swamp, and he’s planning on overfilling his swamp with figures like Peter Thiel, who will take our technocratic surveillance state and war machine to the next level – far worse than what we say during COVID.

And who better to help us learn more about this than one of the most influential journalists of our time – Whitney Webb. She’s the contributing editor of Unlimited Hangout and the author of “One Nation Under Blackmail.” Whitney is also a former MintPress investigative journalist.

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

It is clear to at least half the world, some four billion people, that the United States is not the power that it once was… Our reputation is in tatters in the world.” That is what retired U.S. Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson told MintCast host Mnar Adley today.

“When you talk about history and the history of empire in particular, what you find are examples of precisely what is happening to us today,” Wilkerson added, noting, in particular, the fall of the Western Roman and Persian empires and how, after they began to teeter, their leadership started to reinforce failures in military operations, in diplomacy and foreign policy in general.

“Look at Ukraine. We are reinforcing what is clearly a defeat for NATO, Washington and London (Washington’s poodle). And yet, we are reinforcing. We are sending billions more dollars,” he said, noting that U.S. policy in Gaza and Afghanistan were similar stories.

Lawrence Wilkerson served in the Army for 31 years before joining the State Department, where he was Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Yet, in recent years, he has become one of the most vocal critics of American foreign policy. Today, he is a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.

The military is facing a severe recruitment crisis. Public confidence in the armed forces is at a modern low. According to a November poll, one-third of Americans would actively discourage their friends and family from military service. In 2023, the Army, Navy and Air Force all fell well short of the recruitment goals—a common occurrence in recent years. It appears Generation Z simply does not want to fight.

Wilkerson says this has led to a serious dilemma for war planners in Washington. “If the United States were to go to war with China or Russia today, we would lose badly,” he told Adley, stressing that America has neither the mobilization capacity nor the defense industrial base to defeat their largest foes, and certainly not both of them together.

In today’s interview, Adley and Wilkerson touch on many of the key geopolitical hotspots of the day, including the Israeli assault on Gaza. Wilkerson is horrified by what he has seen there and suggests that U.S. support for Israel is costing Washington dearly on the world stage.

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

Since 9/11, the United States has launched a series of attacks on sovereign nations, from Afghanistan and Iraq to Libya, Syria and beyond. These wars have left the region beleaguered and broken. But recently, as American power wanes, a new set of forces has emerged. An axis led by Iran, Syria and Yemen has emerged to counter U.S.-Israeli dominance and global giants, such as China and Russia, are increasingly being drawn into the region.

Could this lead to a new and even brighter future for West Asia?

Tim Anderson joins the show to discuss all things West Asia. Tim is a writer, academic, and director of the Center for Counter Hegemonic Studies. His latest book, “West Asia After Washington: Dismantling the Colonized Middle East,” explores this topic.

“It is quite obvious that the U.S.’ influence in this region [West Asia] is in decline,” Anderson told MintCast host Alan MacLeod, laying out several factors in said decline, including the embarrassing American withdrawal from Afghanistan, the unanimous demands from Iraq that the U.S. leave the country, the growing importance of Russia and China in the region the increasing importance of the BRICS economic bloc, the successful Russian operation to keep Assad in power in Syria; the Yemeni blockade of the Red Sea; the failure of the U.S. in Syria and the nosedive in global public opinion of the United States.

Anderson joined the show from Damascus, Syria – something that would have been nearly impossible until recently. He noted the tremendous destruction that the civil war had wrought upon the country, much of which is still occupied by the United States, Israel, and other actors. Nevertheless, despite American unilateral coercive measures (i.e., sanctions), life in the major cities is approaching normality again.

Anderson identifies Iran as a critical player in the formation of a counter-hegemonic axis. It has found allies in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and, crucially, China and Russia. This grand alliance of powers opposing U.S. policy in the region was something that American planners in the 1990s considered their greatest fear.

Nevertheless, a wounded animal is a dangerous one, and the U.S. is far from a spent force. And so, while American power wanes, the people of West Asia should still be on high alert.

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

In the wake of escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, MintCast brings you an exclusive interview with Seyed Mohammad Marandi, Professor of English Literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran. Join MintPress as we delve into the unfolding events and gain insights into Iran's perspective.

As the world's attention remains fixated on the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the subsequent global student protests, focus has shifted to the broader implications of Israel's actions, particularly concerning Iran. Recently, Israel's bombing of the Iranian Embassy in Syria, followed by retaliatory drone attacks from Iran, sparked fears of further escalation. However, despite hawkish rhetoric from certain quarters, both sides seemed inclined to avoid further confrontation.

Against this backdrop, we sit down with Dr. Marandi to explore the mood in Iran amidst these turbulent times. Furthermore, we delve into the motivations behind Iran's missile strikes on Israel, shedding light on the strategic rationale behind these actions.

Moreover, Dr. Marandi addresses Iran's support for various groups across the region, including Ansar Allah in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon. We examine the extent of Iran's involvement and the underlying rationale guiding its foreign policy decisions.

We revisit Dr. Marandi's recent debate with TV host Piers Morgan, highlighting the nuances of language and the implications of demonizing terminology such as "regime," offering valuable insights into the power dynamics shaping media discourse on Iran and its adversaries.

In this episode, we also explore the complexities of Iran's nuclear program and the implications of its enrichment activities in the aftermath of the United States' withdrawal from the JCPOA. Dr. Marandi also analyzes Iran's economic strategies, including its burgeoning partnerships with Russia, China, and other BRICS nations, and the potential impact on its resilience against American sanctions.

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

Gaza is the “key issue of our era,” Green Party presidential hopeful Jill Stein told the MintCast today. “Every international law in the books is being broken,” she said, “This is not something that began on October 7. This is the continuation of ethnic cleansing and displacement that began in 1947 and 1948 with the displacement of 750,000 people.”

While Stein condemned Israel for its actions, she placed ultimate responsibility for much of the violence on Washington, telling MintCast host Mnar Adley that:

Quite simply, Joe Biden needs to pick up the phone and tell Israel to cease and desist from this war being conducted on Gaza, the blockade, the use of starvation as a weapon, the total violation of international law and the conduct of a genocide, which is going on. There is enormous agency that the United States has here: we are paying for this. We are supplying 80% of the weapons [to Israel]!”

A physician by trade, Stein has been involved in the Green movement for decades. She first ran for office in 2002, attempting to become the governor of her native Massachusetts. In 2012 and 2016, she was selected as the Green Party’s presidential candidate. Running against Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016, she received over 1% of the national vote. She is currently the overwhelming favorite to represent the Green Party in the 2024 presidential election.

Congress, Stein noted, has just approved $3.8 billion in aid to Israel, with another $17 billion pending for the purpose of “not only continu[ing] its genocide but to expand its wars in the Middle East.”

Global public opinion is increasingly turning against the U.S., Stein warned, turning both Washington and Israel into “pariahs.” Even inside the United States, recent polling shows that a majority of Democratic voters consider Israeli actions to constitute genocide. And President Biden continues to offer unconditional support.

This, it seems, is pushing millions of voters to consider the Green Party as an alternative. Stein described the Democratic establishment as in a state of “panic” over the “widespread revolt” among its voter base, which could see the party’s chances of winning elections destroyed. For that reason, she said, they are fielding “an army of corporate lawyers to try to dirty trick us, to find little technicalities to throw us off the ballot.”

This is not a new phenomenon, as the Green Party has long dealt with the Democrats’ attempts to suppress them. However, what has changed, Stein said, is the party’s willingness to announce their intentions to limit democracy open

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

Haiti is in crisis. As armed groups come together and storm the island nation’s institutions, leading to mass prison breaks, U.S.-backed Prime Minister Ariel Henry – who was abroad at the time, desperately trying to negotiate some kind of foreign intervention – has resigned.

Henry’s departure has left a power vacuum on the island. Will an alliance of armed groups seize power in a revolution? Will factions of the old government hang on? Or will the United States intervene to reassert control over the Caribbean nation?

On today’s MintCast, Jake Johnston joins Alan MacLeod to discuss the turbulent situation in Haiti. Johnston is Senior Research Associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) in Washington, D.C. He is the lead author for CEPR’s Haiti: Relief and Reconstruction Watch blog and author of the book, “Aid State: Elite Panic, Disaster Capitalism, and the Battle to Control Haiti.”

Henry, Johnston said, has faced a “legitimacy crisis from day one.” Firstly, he was named prime minister in July 2021, just two days before the assassination of dictatorial president Jovenel Moïse. Secondly, many Haitians have never accepted the way he came to rule, either.

Many in the West are now openly calling for another U.S.-led intervention on the Caribbean island nation. “This time, Haiti really is on the brink. The US and UN must act to restore order,” wrote the influential think tank Chatham House. Meanwhile, The Washington Post called for a more “robust” and “broader” intervention than the one the UN has suggested, which could see American boots on the ground for the third time in 30 years.

But far from paying debts to Haitians, the current government in Washington D.C. is concentrating on stopping Haitian immigration and is reportedly even considering using its notorious detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to lock up Haitian migrants and refugees.

The United States has an extremely long history of torturing Haiti. From refusing to recognize its independence for decades to invading and occupying it for two decades in the early twentieth century to supporting dictators and organizing coups on the island, Haiti’s current predicament is, in no small part, down to Washington.

Today, MacLeod and Johnston discuss the history, present and future of American imperialism in Haiti and what Haiti’s future

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

One week after Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire in an extreme act of Protest for Palestine – the world has been awe-struck by his galvanizing act of courage, with his last words being Free Palestine. Across the world, including in Yemen and Gaza, Bushnell is being memorialized as a martyr for Palestine as Israel continues its genocide in Gaza that has left over 30,000 people dead. 

His protest was not only moving but stood in stark contrast to the empty rhetoric given by so-called liberal politicians who've done very little to stop Israel from continuing its war on civilians. Bushnell was horrified not only by Israel’s actions but also by his own air force. It was recently revealed that Bushnell had classified information about the U.S. Air Force aiding Israel in bombing Gaza.

Yet media searches of Bushnell’s name produce headlines and articles framing his protest as a mental health issue, inferring that he may have been suicidal. YouTube even includes “suicide hotline” messages under videos discussing Bushnell.

So, who was Aaron Bushnell, and how was his extreme act of protest actually in line with a long history of active military servicemembers who had a conscious awakening during their service, including in the Vietnam War era? To talk more about this, we are joined by Mike Prysner, a former Iraq war veteran turned antiwar activist and organizer. Prysner is also a producer and journalist with the Empire Files. He openly calls on military members to refuse to serve in the U.S. military and draws attention to the global class war.

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.