Stan van Houcke Audioblog

Lecture by the well-known American economist Richard Wolff on the 24th of January 2012 at the All Souls Church in New York titled: 'The Costs of Capitalism's Crisis: Who Will Pay?'

Lecture by James Peck, Adjunct Professor New York University, History and East Asian Departments. Author of ‘Ideal Illusions’, a critical study of how the US Government shaped human rights into a potent ideological weapon for purposes having little to do with rights, and everything to do with furthering America’s global reach. Peck was one of the speakers at the International Symposium Human Rights: Ideal Illusions? on 26 March 2012 – The Hague, Netherlands

Title of Lecture : Contours of Global Order: Domination, Stability, Security in a Changing World: the rise of Xenophobia in the West

Interview with Trita Parsi about his book Treacherous Alliance. The secret dealings of Israel, Iran, and the U.S. in which he shows that ‘in order for Israel to take center stage in the new Middle East, Iran would have to remain on the political fringe of the region and continue to be denied the role to which it believed it was entitled.’ According to professor Parsi: ‘The conflict between Iran and Israel wasn’t sparked by an ideological difference, nor is it ideological fervor that keeps it alive today.’ As the former Israeli minister of Foreign Affairs, Shlomo Ben-Ami, stated in 1997: ‘For everybody it was convenient that Iran becomes a major issue for the West because in that way we sort of submerged into a wider issue and relegated to a secondary status our problem with the Palestinians.'

Interview with the Palestinian-American political scientist, filmmaker and human rights activist Mohammed Alatar about his filmdocumentary The Iron Wall.

A lecture by professor Kishore Mahbubani about his book The New Asian Hemisphere; the irresistible shift of global power to the east. Kishore Mahbubani (born 1948, Singapore) is dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. From 1971 to 2004 he served in the Singaporean Foreign Service, ending up as Singapore's Ambassador to the United Nations. In that role he served as president of the United Nations Security Council in January 2001 and May 2002. The lecture was part of the 23th Globaliseringslezing organised in Amsterdam on the third of November 2008.

Interview with Hamid Dabashi, professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at the Columbia University in New York about his book Iran. A People Interrupted, "a brilliant analysis of the Iranian state of mind... Dabashi insists on a nuanced reading of the complexities of the Iranian social fabric," according to Hannan Hever, chair, Department of Hebrew Literature of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Interview with the American political scientist Norman Finkelstein, who held a lecture in Amsterdam under the title: The coming break-up of American Zionism.

Lecture by the American political scientist and author Norman Finkelstein under the title: The coming break-up of American Zionism.

Interview with the British author Jonathan Cook about his book Blood and Religion. The Unmasking of the Jewish and Democratic State. Jonathan Cook, a former staff journalist of the Guardian and Observer newspapers, has also written for The Times, Le Monde diplomatique, International Herald Tribune, Al-Ahram Weekly and Aljazeera.net. He is based in Nazareth, the largest Palestinian town inside Israel.

Interview with professor John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and professor Stephen Walt of Harvard University, the American authors of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy November 2007 both authors spoke in Amsterdam about their book which had been translated into Dutch. The Dutch moderator during the meeting in the packed hall was himself a pro-Israel lobbyist. But this also happens sometimes in the US, both authors told me the next day, when I asked them if in general the public reactions were fundamentally different in the Netherlands than in the USA.

Interview with the Palestinian scholar Salman Abu Sitta. Dr. Salman Abu Sitta is well known for his research work and is an ardent defender of the Palestinian right of return. Beginning november 2007 he gave two lectures in the Netherlands. His latest publications are The Atlas of Palestine en The Return Journey. A Guide to the Depopulated and Present Palestinian Towns and Villages and Holy Sites. Both books deal with the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948, the disaster which the Palestinians themselves call the Naqba. Salman Abu Sitta is Former member of Palestine National Council. Researcher on refugee affairs and author of over 50 papers on the subject. Founder of Palestine Land Society. Director of international development and construction projects. Dr. Abu Sitta was and still the first of few to educate others about the plight of the Palestinian refugees and their Right Of Return. Abu Sitta\'s research in this matter is becoming a great asset to future historians and generations.

Lecture by and interview with the Palestinian scholar Salman Abu Sitta under the title: The Longest War against a People: The Palestinians\' Struggle for Freedom. Dr. Salman Abu Sitta is well known for his research work and is an ardent defender of the Palestinian right of return. Beginning november 2007 he gave two lectures in the Netherlands. His latest publications are The Atlas of Palestine en The Return Journey. A Guide to the Depopulated and Present Palestinian Towns and Villages and Holy Sites. Both books deal with the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948, the disaster which the Palestinians themselves call the Naqba. Salman Abu Sitta is Former member of Palestine National Council. Researcher on refugee affairs and author of over 50 papers on the subject. Founder of Palestine Land Society. Director of international development and construction projects. Dr. Abu Sitta was and still the first of few to educate others about the plight of the Palestinian refugees and their Right Of Return. Abu Sitta\'s research in this matter is becoming a great asset to future historians and generations.

Lecture by the Canadian author Noami Klein about her book The Shock Doctrine. The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. The lecture was given on the 11th of October 2007 in Amsterdam.

Interview with Susan Akram, Professor of Law Boston University, about the violated rights of Palestinian refugees. Susan Akram (50) is one of the foremost legal experts in the world of the rights of Palestinian refugees. Beginning October 2007 she gave a lecture on this subject at the Insitute of Social Studies in The Haque, the Netherlands. The next day I interviewed her at Schiphol Airport about the pro-Israel lobby in the US and the future of international law.

Lecture by Susan Akram, Professor of Law, Boston University, about the violated rights of Palestinian refugees. Susan Akram (50) is one of the foremost legal experts in the world of the rights of Palestinian refugees. Beginning October 2007 she gave a lecture on this subject at the Insitute of Social Studies in The Haque, the Netherlands.

Interview with the American painter Jerry Fresia, author of \'Toward an American Revolution. Exposing the Constitution and other Illusions.\' Jerry Fresia is a former US Air Force Intelligence officer, who lives, works and teaches painting in Lenno, Italy. Almost twenty years ago he wrote that US terrorism is \'not a deviation from Constitutional principles but rather the logical consequence of a system which protects the freedom of a handful of Americans to control a good deal of the earth\'s resources, and, correspondingly, the lives of millions of people scattered around the globe... We live in an undemocratic system that is a major source of terror and repression, both at home and around the world. In large measure this is due to the tremendous concentration of unchecked corporate power.\'

Interview with American author Jack G. Shaheen about his book Reel Bad Arabs. How Hollywood Vilifies a People. Jack Shaheen is Professor Emeritus of Mass Communications at Southern Illinois University, and the world's foremost authority on media images of Arabs. James E. Akins, Middle East specialist and former US diplomat wrote about Reel Bad Arabs: 'If you think overt racism in America is dead, think again. Jack Shaheen has shown in depressing detail in his book Reel Bad Arabs, that anti-Semitism in motion pictures is more virulent than ever provides the Semites being portrayed are Arabs. Films from Exodus (1960) to Rules of Engagement (2000) have relentlessly stereotyped Arabs and Muslims in ways that would fit seamlessly into Der Stürmer and the films of Nazi Germany.'

Early November 2008 Phyllis Bennis gave a lecture in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, about the future of the USA and the world under president Barack Obama and about her new book titled: 'Understanding the US-Iran crisis'. The Bush administration spent years threatening Iran – for its alleged nuclear ambitions, support for terrorism, and ambitions in the middle East – and war has often seemed only a step away. How did relations between the US and Iran come to be in this state? Are these dire claims even true? Is Iran in fact a serious threat? This primer provides an essential history and analysis of US-Iranian relations. Bennis's illuminating discussion responds to calls for aggression toward Iran with alternative strategies for defusing the crisis. This book is invaluable for anyone trying to prevent a new war in the Middle East. Phyllis Bennis is a fellow of the institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC and of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam.

Interview with the American journalist and author Charles C. Mann. Interview with Charles Mann about his latest book 1491. New revelations of the Americas before Columbus.

Ilan Pappe, born in 1954, is professor in political science at the University of Haifa. He is one of the so called 'new historians' of Israel. His latest book is titled The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. About this subject he gave two lectures, the first one at the University of Amsterdam in January 2007.

Ilan Pappe, born in 1954, is professor in political science at the University of Haifa. He is one of the so called \'new historians\' of Israel. His latest book is titled The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. About this subject he gave two lectures, the first one at the University of Amsterdam in January 2007.

A lecture by the American economist and Nobel Prizewinner Joseph Stiglitz. Joseph Stiglitz (born February 9, 1943) is an American economist and member of Columbia University faculty. He is recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics (2001). Former Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank, he is famous for his critical view of globalization and international institutions like the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank. In 2000 Stiglitz founded the Initative for Policy Dialogue (IPD), a think tank on international development based at Columbia University. Since 2001 he has been a member of the University of Manchester’s Brooks World Poverty Institute. Joseph Stiglitz\'s latest book is Making Globalization Work November 2006 he gave a lecture about this subject in Amsterdam.

A lecture by the Israeli journalist Gideon Levy. Early november 2006 one of the most upright and brave journalists I know, Gideon Levy of Ha'aretz, gave a lecture in Amsterdam during a conference on war and peace. A lecture about the Israeli repression of the Palestinians.

Lewis Lapham, till 2006 editor of Harper's Magazine. Author and Journalist. A lecture.

Lewis Lapham, till 2006 editor of Harper\'s Magazine. Author and Journalist. A lecture.

A lecture by the British author and correspondent for The Independent Robert Fisk about the biased way Western mass media raport on the Middle East.

Robert Fisk. Middle-East correspondent of The Independent. A lecture.

Interview with professor James Lovelock about his new book 'The Revenge of Gaia.'

Interview with the author and historian Ronald Wright about his book \'A Short History of Progress.\'

Interview with the American author Phillys Bennis, fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC and the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. Her latest book is \'Challenging Empire. How people, governments and the UN defy US power.\'

Interview with the American author Chalmers Johnson about the American Empire. Chalmers Johnson is president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, a non-profit research and public affairs organization devoted to public education concerning Japan and international relations in the Pacific. He taught for thirty years, 1962-1992, at the Berkeley and San Diego campuses of the University of California and held endowed chairs in Asian politics at both of them. At Berkeley he served as chairman of the Center for Chinese Studies and as chairman of the Department of Political Science. His B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in economics and political science are all from the University of California, Berkeley... He was chairman of the academic advisory committee for the PBS television series \"The Pacific Century,\" and he played a prominent role in the PBS \"Frontline\" documentary \"Losing the War with Japan.\" Both won Emmy awards. His most recent books are, as editor and contributor, Okinawa: Cold War Island (Cardiff, Calif.: Japan Policy Research Institute, 1999); and Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire (New York: Holt Metropolitan Books, 2000). The latter won the 2001 American Book Award of the Before Columbus Foundation. His new book, The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic was published by Metropolitan in January 2004. Professor Johnson has just finished writing his new book in this trilogy about the American Empire and will be published at the end of 2006 under the title: Nemesis. The Last Days of the American Republic.

An interview with the American dissident thinker Noam Chomsky about his book \'Necessary Illusions.\' A few days ago I found a lost tape with an interview I had fourteen years ago with Noam Chomsky about his book \'Necessary Illusions\' which was published in 1989. Listening to his words I noticed again how clear his analyses and vision is. He spoke about the beginning and end of the Cold War, about the first Gulf War and about the drastic effects of the so called globalisation.

Interview with the American writer and broadcaster Jim Tarbell about his book \'Imperial Overstretch.\' Jim Tarbell wrote together with the historian Roger Burbach the book \'Imperial Overstretch. George W. Bush and the hubris of empire.\' Tarbell is a writer and broadcaster based in Northern California. In 1987 the Bitish historian Paul Kennedy showed in his book \'The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers\' that one can speak of imperial overstretch the moment the empire costs more than it produces. I started the interview by asking Jim the question how he defines imperial overstretch.

Interview with the American veteran Geoffrey Millard, spokesman of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Interview with Ray Dolphin, the Irish author of the book The West Bank Wall. Unmaking Palestine. Ray Dolphin, who works as a consultant for the United Nations and is stationed in Jerusalem, explains what the actual purpose is of the West Bank wall. In his book he shows that the stealing of more Palestinian land is the real motive behind the building of the wall. It makes the creation of a viable Palestinian state impossible because it cuts up the West Bank in innumerable little Batustans, between which the Palestinians cannot move freely. Dolphin: 'Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Israel would determine its permanent borders by the year 2010. Now obviously this date may slip, but I’m not sure if you’re aware that Israel is the only country in the world which has never declared where its borders lie. He has said – and members of his party Kadima have said – that the Wall, which is supposed to be a temporary security barrier, will play a large part in determining where these borders lie. So I’d just like to say something about [what happens] if the Wall becomes a border, which it is in many respects already, what that means for the people concerned, and also for the West Bank and the two-state solution.'

Interview with Khaled Hroub, director of the Cambridge Arab Media Project in association with the Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge. Interview with Khaled Hroub, author of the book Hamas: Political Thought and Practice, about the fight between Hamas en Fatah. Mr. Hroub is known as one of the best informed scientist about Hamas.

Lecture by the American scientist Saskia Sassen about globalization. Mrs. Sassen is the Ralph Lewis Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago, Centennial Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics, and visiting Professor of Urban Political Economy at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. Saskia Sassen is one of the world's leading authorities on globalization. Friday the 20th of April 2007 Saskia Sassen gave the Eighteenth Globalization Lecture in Amsterdam. Her most recent book is titled: Territory, Authority, Rights, from Medieval to Gloabal Assemblages (Princeton University Press, 2006)

Interview with Peter W. Galbraith, who served as the first U.S. Ambassador to Croatia and who wrote The End of Iraq. How American Incompetence Created A War Without End. The interview is followed by a lecture Galbraith gave on friday march 16, 2007 in the Norwegian capital Oslo.

Interview with Peter W. Galbraith, who served as the first U.S. Ambassador to Croatia and who wrote The End of Iraq. How American Incompetence Created A War Without End. The interview is followed by a lecture Galbraith gave on friday march 16, 2007 in the Norwegian capital Oslo.

Interview with Peter W. Galbraith, who served as the first U.S. Ambassador to Croatia and who wrote The End of Iraq. How American Incompetence Created A War Without End. The interview is followed by a lecture Galbraith gave on friday march 16, 2007 in the Norwegian capital Oslo.

Phyllis Bennis, author of \'Before and After. US Foreign Policy and the September 11th Crisis\' gave on 10 september 2006 in Amsterdam a lecture on Israel, the USA and the failed war in Lebanon. \'It failed to do what it was supposed to do,\' being the annihilation of Hezbollah. At the same time Israel lost a lot of support under ordinary Americans because of the terror the jewish nation inflicted on the Lebanese population, a fact which was broadcasted life in the USA. The usual pro-Israel propaganda didn\'t work this time, according to Bennis.

Interview with David Ray Griffin (67) about his book \'The New Parl Harbor,\' in which he attacks with facts the offical account of the assault on the World Trade Center-towers and the Pentagon-building. Griffin has been for over 30 years professor of Philosophy of Religion at the Claremont School of Theology in California. He is author and editor of more than 20 books. The human rights lawyer and Professor Emeritus Richard Falk of Princeton University, writes in the foreword of the book: \'this is a disturbing book, depicting a profound crisis of political legitimacy for the most powerful sovereign state in the history of the world... It is rare, indeed, that a book has this potential to become a force of history.\' Although more than 100.000 copies of \'The New Pearl Harbor\' have been sold in The USA, the corporate mainstream press boycots the book. I interviewed professor Griffin in Amsterdam on 8 september 2006, after the translation of his book into Dutch. My first question was why and when he did start doubting the official version of 9/11?

Thirteen years ago I interviewed the British historian Paul Kennedy about his books \'The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers\' and \'Preparing for the Twenty-First Century.\' Recently I discovered the videotape of the interview. Although more than a decade old his analyses of the politics of the United States are still extremely clear and viable.