Gilbert Doctorow, the European Coordinator of The American Committee for East West Accord, discusses secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson’s carefully-crafted comments during his Senate confirmation hearing; the US’s entirely avoidable suicidal conflict with Russia; and Henry Kissinger’s reemergence as a “realist” voice of reason as Trump’s foreign policy team comes together.

Peter Van Buren, author of We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People, discusses the novelty of leftists calling him a Russian patsy and Trump supporter for appearing on RT; creating a stable Iraqi state through US-Iran negotiations; and what Obama’s last minute escalation in Afghanistan means for the incoming Trump administration.

Daniel Lazare, author of The Frozen Republic: How the Constitution Is Paralyzing Democracy, discusses Obama’s expansion of Bush’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan into Libya, Syria and Yemen; the fragility of democratic government in both Turkey and the US; and why the deep state seems intent on stopping Trump before he even takes office.

William Binney, a retired senior NSA official and whistleblower, discusses the dubious evidence that Russia used computer hackers to manipulate the election and help Donald Trump win; why 9/11 and other terrorist attacks could have been prevented if the NSA used a targeted approach to intelligence gathering instead of “get it all” bulk collection; and the flawed method of using cell phone metadata to identify and target terrorists.

Trita Parsi, the founder and president of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), discusses why the Iran nuclear deal has so far been more favorable to the US than Iran; Trump’s (probably misinformed) opinion that the deal is terrible and must be scrapped; and what Iran’s loss of its moderate political leaders could mean for diplomacy in the near future.

Independent journalist Rania Khalek discusses the mainstream Western media’s unrelenting “Syrian freedom fighter” narrative, and why they can’t be honest about who they are really supporting; namely a bunch of human-rights-violating jihadist groups affiliated with Al Qaeda.

Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi discusses the intelligence community’s weak evidence pointing to Russian involvement in the DNC and John Podesta email leaks that may or may not have led to Hillary Clinton’s election defeat; and the privately-sourced 35-page report alleging Donald Trump has been compromised by scandalous information the Russians have on him.

Hope Hodge Seck, a reporter for Military.com, discusses the Obama administration’s last-minute deployment of a 300-Marine team of advisors to Helmand province in Afghanistan, where the Taliban is resurgent and no reliable opposition exists.

Eric Margolis, journalist and author of American Raj: Liberation or Domination, discusses why it’s time to end all the craziness over North Korea and have real negotiations on sanctions, US regime-change efforts, and nuclear weapons.

Gareth Porter, an independent investigative journalist and historian, discusses the evidence that shows CENTCOM commander Gen. Jeffrey Harrigan deliberately targeted a Syrian army position on September 17th, killing scores of Syrian troops, ending talk of a “Joint Integration Center” for US-Russian cooperation in fighting Islamic State forces, and casting doubt on whether Obama or the Pentagon is in charge of foreign policy.