We're back and starting off season two with a literal bang. Nick and Nina discuss the growing network of alliances on both sides of the Libyan Civil War, as well as the rapidly escalating unrest in Belarus. By examining whether the US is still capable of the UN's goal of "collective security," we question whether these conflicts might ignite the next "Big One" between great powers across the globe.

Nina Illingworth is an independent analyst who writes about media, propaganda, politics and class warfare online at ninaillingworth.com and on social media.

Nick Galea is a criminal defense attorney who likes to yell into a mic once in a while.

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_invasion_of_Manchuria

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Italo-Ethiopian_War

https://theconversation.com/kashmiris-are-living-a-long-nightmare-of-indian-colonialism-121925

https://globalnews.ca/news/7279549/netanyahu-uae-israel-annexation/

https://www.dw.com/en/china-blames-us-for-backing-hong-kong-violent-separatists/a-49941205

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-usa/chinese-reports-on-u-s-diplomat-in-hong-kong-have-gone-from-irresponsible-to-dangerous-state-department-idUSKCN1UZ2HK

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/01/china-humiliating-uk-hong-kong-handover-deal

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/02/trump-foreign-policy-impeachment

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44120428

https://mondoweiss.net/2019/11/the-root-cause-of-the-conflict-is-the-israel-lobby/

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/512452-trump-on-recognizing-jerusalem-as-the-capital-of-israel-thats-for-the

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/02/soleimani-trump-iran-iraq-093102

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/01/donald-trump-iran-warn-obama

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/02/gaddafis-prophecy-comes-true-as-foreign-powers-battle-for-libyas-oil

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/libya-war-supporting-200104110325735.html

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/07/08/liby-j08.html

https://fair.org/home/media-nato-regime-change-war-libya-slave-markets/

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/07/hillary-libya-nato-qaddafi-obama/

https://jacobinmag.com/2019/10/turkey-syria-war-fascism-rojava-erdogan-isis-kurds

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/erdogan-turkey-kurds-border-syria-war-trump-ethnic-cleansing-a9204581.html

https://jacobinmag.com/2016/11/turkey-kurds-erdogan-armenia-genocide-hdp-pkk

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/turkey-illegitimate-haftar-withdraw-key-libya-areas-200722160827376.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53262725

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-belarus-election/battling-protests-lukashenko-says-putin-agreed-to-help-security-of-belarus-idUSKCN25B0E0

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-belarus-election/im-not-a-saint-lukashenko-offers-to-hand-over-power-after-referendum-idUSKCN25D0IJ

https://yasha.substack.com/p/belarus-are-neoliberalism-and-nationalism-1cb

https://jacobinmag.com/2020/08/belarus-strike-election-fraud-lukashenko

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/08/belarus-protests-lukashenko-minsk

https://fair.org/home/denying-the-far-right-role-in-the-ukrainian-revolution/

https://www.ned.org/region/central-and-eastern-europe/belarus-2019/

https://www.vox.com/2015/6/29/8845913/russia-war