A weekly take on US politics and policies and how they affect the world.
The deal offered by the United States is an “unfortunate compromise” that should be accepted by Russia and Ukraine, argues Anatol Lieven, director of the Eurasia programme at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Lieven tells host Steve Clemons that Ukraine's leaders should acknowledge that the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia over the past years are lost. He adds that Russia – by accepting a ceasefire on current battle lines – has “given up” on trying to occupy all the territory of Ukraine it had hoped for. Meanwhile, Europe “has nothing serious to offer” to end the fighting, Lieven says. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X : https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #aljazeera #aljazeeraenglish #aljazeeranewslive
Veteran Singaporean diplomat Kishore Mahbubani argues that it's “legitimate” for US President Donald Trump to be worrying about the widening gap between rich and poor in the United States, but his idea to force factory jobs back to the US is probably not going to work. Mahbubani tells host Steve Clemons that China will be damaged by the current trade war with the US, but “the Chinese are prepared to accept short-term pain for long-term gain”. The disarray in US policy is “a gift to China,” says Mahbubani. “I don't see countries walking away from China.” Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X : https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #aljazeera #aljazeeraenglish #aljazeeranewslive
US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama want the same things in the Middle East, argues Steven Cook, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations: “disentangling the US from its foreign adventures”. Cook tells host Steve Clemons that Trump wants a deal with Iran, and may be pressuring Israel to end its war on Gaza before his proposed trip to the Gulf region next month. There is a “trust deficit” between Trump and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, adds Cook, and this explains why Trump told Netanyahu to “be reasonable” regarding Syria and Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X : https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #aljazeera #aljazeeraenglish #aljazeeranewslive
As the US government imposed tariffs on goods from all other countries, President Donald Trump has asked Americans to “hang tough". But economists are warning of negative consequences for American households and businesses. Georgetown University professor Michael Strain, who heads economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, tells host Steve Clemons that “the risk of recession is very, very real.” Trump believes that the tariffs will stimulate the US economy and bring jobs back after decades of outsourcing, Strain argues, but the opposite is more likely: costs will rise, manufacturing will decrease, and Trump's approval rating will go down. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X : https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #aljazeera #aljazeeraenglish #aljazeeranewslive
If the sharing of private chats of top United States intelligence officials with a reporter “were a part of an episode of Veep [a satirical US TV series], I wouldn't have believed it”, former Pentagon official Alex Wagner says. The chats touched on Yemen, Europe, and other foreign and domestic policy concerns. Wagner and military affairs journalist Kevin Baron tell host Steve Clemons that the inadvertent inclusion of the journalist in the Signal group chats indicates a level of “carelessness” that is more insidious than the Trump administration cares to admit. Despite the gravity of the mistake, no one expects any accountability for the officials involved. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X : https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #aljazeera #aljazeeraenglish #aljazeeranewslive
In a span of days, Israel resumed its bombing campaign against the people of Gaza, the US launched a war with Yemen, and President Donald Trump threatened Iran to negotiate with Washington or else face war. But despite all the aggression, is the US getting its way? Not necessarily, argues Vali Nasr, professor of international affairs and Middle East studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. He tells host Steve Clemons that “the US and Israel are not looking to establish a regional order that's acceptable to the region itself.” Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X : https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #aljazeera #aljazeeraenglish #aljazeeranewslive
Far from being a tragedy for Africa, the demise of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) at the hands of President Donald Trump's administration should be cause for celebration, argues Arikana Chihombori-Quao, the former ambassador of the African Union to the US. Chihombori-Quao tells host Steve Clemons that USAID doesn't have much to show for its decades of education and healthcare projects in Africa and often destabilised countries under the guise of environmental, human rights or social justice agendas. And if the US is not interested in Africa, African leaders shouldn't beg for better relations, she said. “It takes two to tango,” the former diplomat said. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X : https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #aljazeera #aljazeeraenglish #aljazeeranewslive
As long as Israel keeps moving the goalposts, former Israeli government adviser Daniel Levy argues, there's no way to reach phase two of the ceasefire in Gaza, which Israel itself signed. Levy, president of the US/Mideast Project, tells host Steve Clemons that the biggest question is whether the United States, which is the guarantor of the agreement, will allow Israel to scuttle it. Phase two requires Israel to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and commit to the end of the war, which it is loath to do. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X : https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #aljazeera #aljazeeraenglish #aljazeeranewslive
United States President Donald Trump sees many European countries as extensions of the Democratic Party abroad, and thus his “adversaries”, argues Ed Luce, the US national editor at the Financial Times. Luce tells host Steve Clemons that the string of European leaders “bringing fruits to the volcano” in Washington will not be able to change Trump's views on Ukraine or Europe in general. “America now sees the world as a jungle,” he says. The power vacuum left by the US will usher in “a dangerous time ... when you have the revenge of geopolitics, the return of history,” Luce says. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X : https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #aljazeera #aljazeeraenglish #aljazeeranewslive
United States President Donald Trump's administration flipped the script on US-Europe relations in February. European officials were berated for being antidemocratic and were told their involvement was not needed in ending the Ukraine war. Meanwhile, US and Russian officials started meetings to end that war. Anatol Lieven, director of the Eurasia Program at the Quincy Institute, argues that European fears of Russian expansion are greatly exaggerated. But Melinda Haring, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, tells host Steve Clemons that it's dangerous for the US to reverse course on Ukraine and normalise relations with Russia.
Western ideals of morality and international law have been dealt a fatal blow by Israel's war on Gaza, argues author Pankaj Mishra. Mishra, whose latest book is The World After Gaza: A History, tells host Steve Clemons that US and Israeli leaders are normalising the idea of mass expulsion of the two million Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip and may eventually succeed in carrying it out as the world watches. The author dives into the racist logic behind some Western foreign policies and argues that India has lost “moral and diplomatic leadership” due to its support for Israel.
Though cost cuts pursued by US President Donald Trump may be popular among many Americans, economists differ in their assessment of these measures' potential outcomes. Peterson Institute for International Economics senior fellow Joseph Gagnon tells host Steve Clemons that Trump's idea that tariffs on imported goods can replace taxes is unrealistic. The United States government is bloated and needs modernisation, Gagnon argues. But while measures including firing thousands of federal employees and gutting USAID can save billions, what impact could they have on the national economy and on the country's trillions of dollars in debt? Join the conversation on the long-term implications of Trump's “major reform” of the US government.
Despite the rhetoric, US President Donald Trump will not be able to ethnically cleanse Gaza nor resolve the Ukraine war, argues University of Chicago political scientist John Mearsheimer. Mearsheimer tells host Steve Clemons that Arab governments fear “the risk of being overthrown by their populations” should they bend to Trump's desire to “clean out” the Palestinian people in Gaza. On Ukraine, Mearsheimer predicts a “frozen conflict” without a peace treaty, and warns that Trump should stop “slapping around” US allies if he wants their cooperation in Europe, Latin America and Asia.
After Amazon and Google signed a $1.2bn contract to launch Project Nimbus, providing cloud technology to the Israeli government and the military, tech workers started to notice more Israeli use of artificial intelligence against the Palestinian people.Many of those engineers have become activists for “No Tech for Genocide”, including Zelda Montes, who was one of the dozens of Google staff who were recently fired for protesting against their company's involvement with Israel.Montes and tech entrepreneur Paul Biggar, who founded Tech for Palestine, tell host Steve Clemons why they refuse to build technology used for oppression, surveillance, warfare and apartheid.
In this episode, host Steve Clemons speaks with Ussama Makdisi, professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley; and Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group.The exchange of direct attacks between Iran and Israel is likely to subside, but the shadow war goes on, which could intensify as long as the war on Gaza continues, argues Vaez.And as long as the wider Palestinian issue remains unresolved, there is little to no hope for long-lasting stability throughout the region, says Makdisi, especially with the US policy of rejecting equal regard for the rights of the Palestinian people.
To the United Nations official tasked with reporting on Palestinian human rights, international law is clear: Israel should withdraw from the territories it occupied in 1967.Instead, Israel aims for the “impossibility to continue civil life in Gaza,” as UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese tells host Steve Clemons.Israel doesn't deny the killings and mass destruction, but instead justifies its behaviour as “compliance with international humanitarian law”, Albanese says.And the failure of governments around the world to force Israel to stop the onslaught only weakens the idea of international law, “because it creates precedents for others to violate it”.
In this episode, Annelle Sheline tells host Steve Clemons that the contradictions in US policy toward Israel's war in Gaza made her job as a State Department officer in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor “so difficult”. Sheline announced her resignation publicly on March 27.And Khaled Elgindy, a political scientist at the Middle East Institute, argues that US President Joe Biden is a big factor in the country's stagnant policy toward Israel – supporting the war, with some alleviation of the humanitarian crisis. “Most people in the administration have probably moved on in their thinking,” Elgindy says.
The Biden administration has fallen into a predictable pattern on Gaza, according to Kenneth Roth, former head of Human Rights Watch: Talk about concern for civilian casualties, but undercut any pressure on Israel to stop the war.Roth tells host Steve Clemons that US President Joe Biden is engaging in “cynical” election politics by refusing to enforce the UN resolution calling for a ceasefire, or the World Court ruling ordering Israel to allow more food into Gaza, where starvation and disease are spreading because of Israeli measures.US disregard for international law will have far-reaching consequences, says Roth.
All of Israel's modern wars have ended with US intervention, but the current war in Gaza has gone on for half a year because “Biden is a slow learner”, argues University of Pennsylvania political scientist Ian Lustick.Israel needs an outside power to blame when it cannot achieve its aims. “That's because the war aims are fundamentally political, and the military cannot achieve them,” says Lustick.Lustick and Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti talk to host Steve Clemons about the current situation on the ground and the debate within the Democratic Party in the United States.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
“Does the United States want to be complicit in genocide?” This is the question that US leaders should be asking themselves as Israel's war on Gaza continues, argues Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs.Sachs tells host Steve Clemons that Israel could not continue “for one day” without US support, and the rhetoric from top Democrats criticising Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “meaningless” because no action is taken to stop the war crimes.This has led to US isolation on the world stage, as Israel is allowed to continue “whatever they have in their minds… which will never lead to peace”.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
US Senator Chris Van Hollen says it is time for the Biden administration to tell Israel, “If you continue to ignore us, there will be consequences.”Senator Van Hollen, who is one of seven senators (out of 100) to have called for a permanent ceasefire in Israel's war on Gaza, tells host Steve Clemons that Hamas's surprise attack last year “does not justify the humanitarian catastrophe that we're witnessing in Gaza”.The Democratic senator from Maryland said that the United States has to use “all the levers of our power and influence” to allow more aid to get to starving Palestinians.
US policy on Israel “looks incoherent because it is incoherent,” argues Matt Duss, former adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders, and this is making the United States look “feckless and weak”.Duss tells host Steve Clemons that Israel is violating US law by using US-supplied weapons while preventing humanitarian aid. But President Joe Biden “has simply taken the tools of leverage off the table”.Duss, the executive vice president at the Center for International Policy, says there are still no indications that the Abandon Biden movement within the Democratic Party, nor Israel's war crimes, will lead to a shift in course anytime soon.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis was the last big medical facility in the Gaza Strip destroyed by Israel's war.The World Health Organization says Israel killed 627 doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and other healthcare workers between October and January.With almost no supplies entering Gaza, what is next for the 2.3 million Palestinians forced to live in inhuman conditions?Host Steve Clemons speaks with Dr Thaer Ahmad, an emergency room physician in Chicago who recently returned from volunteering at Nasser Hospital; and with Dr Muaiad Kittaneh, a haematologist/oncologist who co-founded the Palestinian-American Medical Association.
About 20 countries have announced suspension of funding to UNRWA, the agency that has been providing services to Palestinian refugees since 1950.The official reason for the suspension was Israel's accusation that a dozen UNRWA employees in Gaza had participated in the October 7 Hamas attacks.To understand the potential consequences of undermining UNRWA – especially amid a humanitarian catastrophe – host Steve Clemons speaks with Leila Hilal, a former adviser to the UNRWA commissioner-general, and Anne Irfan, lecturer at University College London and author of Refuge and Resistance: Palestinians and the International Refugee System.
The United States' support for Israel's war on Gaza makes the country look ineffectual and hypocritical to the rest of the world, according to Harvard University professor Stephen Walt, co-author of The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy.Walt tells host Steve Clemons that Israel and the US-Israel relationship have changed over the decades, but US President Joe Biden is holding on to a view of Israel formed in the West in the 1970s.By rejecting a ceasefire, the US looks like it "encourages conflict" instead of being a peacemaker, Walt argues, especially since Israel has no political strategy for resolving the Palestinian question.
American voters feel “impotent and hopeless” as they approach an election where the main choices are a “neo-fascist Pied Piper” (Donald Trump) or “the war criminals of the Democratic Party”, argues independent presidential candidate Cornel West.West, one of the United States's pre-eminent philosophers and justice activists, tells host Steve Clemons that President Joe Biden is enabling Israeli genocide and that Israel cannot be secure if “precious Jewish security and safety is predicated on the domination of precious Palestinians”.West argues that recent talk of a two-state solution is “subterfuge – a refusal to deal with the 700,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank”.
Actions speak louder than words, so journalists should conclude that Israel's war on Gaza is proceeding exactly as the Biden administration likes, argues Jeremy Scahill, one of the co-founders of the independent news website The Intercept.Scahill tells host Steve Clemons that the United States offers political, legal, diplomatic and military support for Israel's scorched-earth campaign, while some officials have voiced concern for Palestinian lives.Scahill argues that even if Hamas did not exist, Israel would face armed resistance because, over the decades, Palestinians have been sent the message that diplomacy would not work and Israel would not treat them as human beings.
President Joe Biden's failure to demonstrate the same regard and sympathy for Palestinian suffering as he has shown Israel has turned the United States into “Israel's lawyer,” says former US State Department official Aaron David Miller.Miller tells host Steve Clemons that Israel has lost the Western perception of being David in the story of “David v Goliath,” and its image will be further damaged the more its people veer to the right.US officials “don't have any better answers right now than the Israelis do”, Miller says, adding that there will be no “open breach” in relations with the Netanyahu government.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
Israel waged 15 wars against Gaza in the last 75 years, and all failed to resolve the core issues, says former French diplomat Jean-Pierre Filiu, professor of Middle East Studies at Sciences Po.Filiu tells host Steve Clemons that Gaza's rich history as a trading post connecting Africa and Asia goes back 4,000 years. The way Israel has cut it off from the world “goes against its history and the nature of its people”.He says Israel's destruction of Gaza's heritage sites - ancient mosques, churches, museums - means that “the memory of humanity is being erased before our eyes.”
By mimicking United States tactics in World War II in Germany and Japan, Israel has made a grave mistake with its war on Gaza, according to retired US Army Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt.Kimmitt tells host Steve Clemons that Israel's tactics - firebombing and “starting new” - have made it unwelcome among the peoples of the region.Despite Israel's assassination of a top Hamas commander in Lebanon and disruption of shipping routes in the Red Sea, the US is less concerned about regional instability than it was in October. The situation “has not hit US red lines,” he says.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
David Frum, staff writer for The Atlantic magazine and a pro-Israel supporter, tells host Steve Clemons that Israel and the United States should “avoid solution-ism” for the Palestinians and focus on day-to-day necessities, like food and water.The way Israel has responded to the Hamas attack of October 7 was “inevitable”, Frum says, adding that “Israel has never been allowed this much scope to act”, by the US, United Kingdom and European Union.Join this wide-ranging conversation on the internal debates within Israeli society, and how Israel envisions the future of the region, including rapprochement with Saudi Arabia.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
In the evangelical Christian worldview, the 1948 creation of Israel was a fulfilment of Biblical prophecy and the Palestinians are either “non-existent” or “the enemies of God, because they are the enemies of the State of Israel”, explains Palestinian human rights defender Jonathan Kuttab.Kuttab tells host Steve Clemons that believers of this interpretation of holy scripture do not care about international law or catastrophic war in the region. “They say, ‘Bring it on. That's the End Times. That's the Second Coming. That's wonderful.'”And if 30 percent of Americans hold these beliefs, what is the impact on US policy on Palestine and Israel?Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
“No national liberation movement in history is based on what its enemy wants,” says the former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayyad.For the Palestinian Authority to have any legitimacy in the eyes of the Palestinian people, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) would have to expand its membership to include Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Fayyad tells host Steve Clemons.Without achieving a "national consensus", the Palestinian Authority is in no position to rule the Gaza Strip when Israel's war on Gaza ends, Fayyad says. Otherwise, the United States' hopes for a “revitalised” Palestinian leadership are pointless.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
Contrary to what Israeli leaders say, the war on Gaza is not making Israel safer, according to political scientist Ian Bremmer, founder of Eurasia Group, which studies geopolitical risk.Bremmer argues that the human carnage created by Israel in Gaza over the past few weeks is strengthening Hamas and isolating Israel.Meanwhile, United States support for Israel's actions has made Washington “more isolated … than the Russians were when they invaded Ukraine”.Join host Steve Clemons as he asks Bremmer about the war on Gaza and its global ramifications, including the roles played by Iran, Saudi Arabia and some European countries.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
Israel has gone far beyond “going after Hamas” in the first 10 weeks of its war on Gaza, according to one of the United States' leading political scientists, John Mearsheimer.He tells host Steve Clemons that murdering hundreds of civilians daily and starving the rest is a “punishment campaign” and “should be unacceptable to decent people all over the world”.In this episode, Mearsheimer, who teaches international relations at the University of Chicago, looks into Israel's long-term strategies and explains why the elites in the US, Europe and the Arab world are not taking concrete steps to stop Israel's bombing campaign.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
University of Maryland professor Shibley Telhami says US President Joe Biden is making his decisions on Palestine and Israel “based on personal beliefs, personal preferences, personal emotions,” and “not necessarily driven by a considered assessment of American interests at stake”.Telhami tells host Steve Clemons that Biden's “inability to show empathy” for the Palestinians is shocking, and that the president's recent warnings to Israel were driven in part by his calculations for next year's election.All the talk about plans for “the day after” the war are distractions from the real-time death and destruction in Gaza, Telhami says.
For expressing their opinions on the Israel-Palestine, many Muslim Americans and Arab Americans have paid a hefty price, including the loss of jobs and suspension from college.Universities across the US are also cracking down on student activism.Since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza on October 7, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has received double the usual amount of reports of bias and requests for help, according to the executive director, Nihad Awad.Speaking to host Steve Clemons, Awad warns that as the Israeli narrative continues “falling apart”, more attempts to dehumanise the Palestinian people will be seen.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
Some US officials have talked about the need to protect innocent Palestinian lives, but US President Joe Biden has said almost nothing.Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Steven Cook says it was a mistake for Biden to have offered the “bear hug” - full, unconditional support for Israel.Now Biden is stuck in a position of supplying Israel with the means to kill more Palestinians while asking Israel to allow basic food and water into Gaza.Join host Steve Clemons in his wide-ranging conversation with Cook about where the war on Gaza is heading.
For many on the American right, the Palestinians are a proxy for Iran and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel are "criminals".On the left, the Palestinian issue is about a nation striving for freedom.The only thing both sides agree on is that peace and stability are highly unlikely anytime soon.In this episode, host Steve Clemons gets two diametrically opposed takes on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The first is from former US National Security Advisor John Bolton. The second is from the former executive director of Human Rights Watch in the Middle East and North Africa, Sarah Leah Whitson.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
After the war on Gaza, US President Joe Biden says he wants to “reinvigorate” the attempts to create a Palestinian state alongside Israel.But the devil is in the details. After the Hamas attack on Israel, and Israel's scorched-earth war on Gaza, will either side want to talk about peace and stability? Are Israelis willing to make the compromises that Palestinians would find acceptable, and vice versa?Mara Rudman worked as a Middle East envoy in the Clinton and Obama administrations. She tells host Steve Clemons that US national security interests will force Washington to impose a resolution.
Israel has not explained what it seeks to accomplish in its war on Gaza beyond the destruction of Hamas, according to US General David Petraeus, the former director of the CIA and former commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.Petraeus tells host Steve Clemons that the US has no choice but to remain a “steadfast ally” of Israel, lest China and other countries point to Washington's abandonment of its friends.In this wide-ranging conversation, the former CENTCOM commander added that “there are no hands going up in the region” to volunteer to manage Gaza after the war.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
President Joe Biden's rigid pro-Israel stance would have been considered convention for United States policy 50 years ago."It's not a mainstream position any more," says Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.Alterman tells host Steve Clemons that Hamas's surprise attack on Israel, and Israel's continuing destruction of the Gaza Strip, will force major changes in the political leadership of Palestinians and Israelis.There will be no progress unless Israel makes way for a solution "that gives dignity and some sense of self-determination to the Palestinians," says Alterman.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
When the US Congress voted to censure the only Palestinian-American member of the House, congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, it argued that she was “promoting false narratives” on the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.Journalists Ryan Grim and Katie Halper tell host Steve Clemons that if Congress cannot bear to hear different views on Palestine, it is a worrying sign for American society at large.Many Americans have been fired from their jobs for expressing their opinions, and pro-Palestinian student groups have been banned around the country.But the debate endures as Israel's war on Gaza rages on.
In Afghanistan, United States General Stanley McChrystal referred to “insurgent math” to explain how every civilian killed by US forces led to 10 new insurgents.This is the same problem Israel is creating for itself by killing massive numbers of innocent Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to US Representative Seth Moulton, a Marine veteran who fought in Iraq.“I want Israel and Palestine to have peace,” Moulton tells host Steve Clemons. But for that to happen, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to put forth a political solution and “explain to the Palestinians what their future is”.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
Israeli-American peace activist Miko Peled has been advocating anti-Zionism for decades, arguing that Western governments who back Israel “are supporting the fight against justice, the fight against peace”.As US officials stress the need for a two-state solution, Peled tells host Steve Clemons that a serious peace between Palestinians and Israelis can only be achieved if all of them - followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam - live as equals and share the country.The biggest problem facing the Palestinians, according to Peled, is that they are “political orphans” - they have no regional power defending their rights and aspirations.
While the United States government fully backs Israeli actions in its war on Gaza, other countries have taken a different approach.Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Israel's actions have “gone beyond the scope of self-defence”. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pushed back against the Israeli and US classification of Hamas as a terrorist group, saying, “Hamas is not a terrorist group, it is a group of liberators who protect their land.”Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Charles Kupchan tells host Steve Clemons that the US will have to get used to a world where Washington can't always call the shots.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
Israel has killed more than 4,385 Palestinians, destroyed entire neighbourhoods in Gaza, and shut off food, water and electricity to millions of people after a Hamas attack killed more than 1,405 Israelis on October 7.United States President Joe Biden wants to give billions of dollars of additional aid to Israel to pursue its military campaign.The Biden administration is rejecting calls for a ceasefire, but mediating for small amounts of food aid for Gaza.Daniel Levy, a former adviser to the Israeli government, tells host Steve Clemons that US support for Israeli warmongering is “leading to hell”.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
Decades of misguided strategy have wreaked havoc on the region, even before Hamas's recent attack on Israel and the Israeli response in Gaza, according to Harvard University Professor Stephen Walt.Global powers have allowed the status quo to fester. Washington still publicly calls for a two-state solution even though developments in the region have rendered this policy obsolete. Meanwhile, Israel believed it could keep a lid on Gaza indefinitely as it pursues its settlement policy in the West Bank.So what can we expect now? Join host Steve Clemons in this wide-ranging discussion with one of the top US political scientists.
Was it an historic blunder for Western leaders to keep expanding NATO eastward, even though they knew it would provoke a war with Russia eventually?Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs argues that the United States provoked the tragedy in Ukraine, and that the Biden administration should be working to resolve it, even if that means painful compromises – such as redrawing the map of Ukraine.Sachs tells host Steve Clemons that the war is becoming less and less popular throughout Europe and the US, which means that large-scale funding may soon dry up.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News
Will the Republican-led impeachment inquiry succeed in painting United States President Joe Biden as “crooked"? Will it backfire and be judged as a colossal waste of time? Can Biden's attempt to paint the 2024 election as a “fight for democracy” work again? How much will Biden's age affect his chances of winning? Will the economy play into the hands of Biden or his chief opponent, former President Donald Trump?On this episode, host Steve Clemons asks pollsters Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, and Micah Roberts of Public Opinion Strategies, to weigh in on the main drivers of US public opinion.
A society overflowing with guns and drugs. Politicians who would rather cater to the extreme fringes of their parties instead of the country as a whole. And dark money flowing in from secretive billionaires with eccentric agendas.This is the United States depicted in the novel The Last Election by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang.Yang left the Democratic Party to start his own non-partisan party, called Forward.He tells host Steve Clemons that the US is headed for a bleak future unless new leaders rise who are willing to "solve the problems that are literally driving us crazy".