Podcast appearances and mentions of ben norton

Donald Trump's tariffs are benefiting rich elites at the expense of the majority of the population, argues economist Michael Hudson. He explains how the US trade war on China is isolating the United States and encouraging countries to seek alternatives. Ben Norton hosts the interview. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGsLDQQuzU0 Read Michael Hudson's report "Return of the robber barons – Trump's distorted view of US tariff history": https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/04/14/michael-hudson-robber-barons-trump-tariffs/ Topics 0:00 Intro 1:11 Michael Hudson highlights 2:09 Interview starts 2:41 Replacing income tax with tariffs 5:40 Government industrial policy 9:22 Reaganomics 2.0 11:29 Gilded Age 14:54 China's model 17:50 (CLIP) JD Vance calls Chinese "peasants" 18:12 Public finance 22:57 Trade war on China 25:12 (CLIP) Trump demands tribute 25:42 US attempt to isolate China 26:30 USA doesn't have many cards 28:55 Import substitution 30:16 Trump is isolating the US 34:58 US dollar system in crisis 38:03 Reindustrialization 40:06 Trump's bullying strategy 43:26 Destroying the post-WWII system 49:06 Global South vs the West 50:58 Democracy or oligarchy? 56:05 Billionaire oligarchs 56:56 Corruption 58:25 Outro

Ben Norton joins us to discuss the potential of a global recession following Trump's disastrous tariff implementations.

Welcome to this week's episode of Scheer Intelligence, where host Robert Scheer dives deep into the compelling and complex world of international relations. In today's episode, we are joined by Ben Norton, a distinguished journalist based in China, and editor at Geopolitical Economy Report. With a profound understanding of the intricacies of China's economy, Ben offers invaluable insights into the ongoing trade tensions under the Trump administration and the shifting sands of global power dynamics. As we discuss everything from tariffs and trade wars to the implications of a multipolar world, prepare to gain a clearer picture of the challenges and realities facing not just the U.S. and China, but the global community at large. Join us for an enlightening conversation that goes beyond the headlines!

After Donald Trump imposed 145% tariffs on China, he was forced to issue exemptions for Chinese made cellphones, computers, semiconductors, and other electronics, because the deindustrialized US can't make them. Trump's huge trade war immediately failed, demonstrating that China is much stronger economically than the USA thinks. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6t1oQ5G668 Topics 0:00 Trump's trade war 0:45 Exemptions for Chinese electronics 1:56 China's trade with USA 2:27 Myth of US reindustrialization 3:26 Goals of tariffs 4:40 Lack of industrial policy 5:49 Trump's tariff exceptions 9:14 Trump begs Xi Jinping to call him 9:56 (CLIP) Howard Lutnick on China 10:12 China and Vietnam boost ties 11:28 China's economic strength 13:51 Airliners 16:05 Semiconductors 19:15 AI 20:47 China's technological development 22:43 Backfiring on US economy 23:43 Luxury goods 25:09 China's exports 27:13 China holds more cards than USA 29:22 US Treasury securities (bonds) 30:35 US unipolarity is over 31:20 Multipolarity 32:24 Outro

Donald Trump's trade war went nuclear, hitting China with 145% tariffs, aimed at economic decoupling. This is already backfiring on the US economy, which is heavily reliant on Chinese imports. The volatility also fueled a crisis in the bond market, with Treasury yields rising. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9k7132Iyeo Trump advisor reveals tariff strategy - Force countries to pay tribute to maintain US empire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnajhDMAWVA Topics 0:00 Economic war 0:51 Tariffs of 145% on China 1:56 China defends itself 2:41 Decoupling 3:49 (CLIP) Howard Lutnick attacks China 4:14 Scott Bessent on China 4:48 US trade with China 7:05 USA will lose trade war 8:02 China's manufacturing dominance 9:47 China's trade 10:33 High risk 11:35 Trump's arrogance 12:06 (CLIP) Trump: countries are "kissing my ass" 12:18 Mafia behavior 13:02 US empire demands tribute 13:35 (CLIP) Stephen Miran: US demands tribute 13:59 Threatening the world 15:55 China stands up 16:34 Trump admin's China hawks 17:47 (CLIP) Marco Rubio on new cold war 18:30 Biden admin targeted China too 20:01 US bond market shock 21:39 Treasury note yields 25:01 Interest payments on US national debt 26:05 Hedge fund margin calls 28:35 Trump's billionaires 28:53 Elon Musk 29:42 Bill Ackman 29:59 Jamie Dimon 30:35 Market manipulation? 32:21 Trump meme coins 32:58 Outro

US President Donald Trump wants to use tariffs as part of a plan to save the dominance of the dollar as the global reserve currency. His top economic advisor Stephen Miran outlined the Trump administration's strategy to force other countries to pay the USA to maintain its imperial financial and military order. Ben Norton explains the idea behind the hypothetical "Mar-a-Lago Accord". VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnajhDMAWVA Topics 0:00 Trump's top economic advisor 0:42 Trump wants to save dollar hegemony 1:04 (CLIP) Trump on US dollar 1:21 Dedollarization 2:01 BRICS 2:46 (CLIP) Trump threatens BRICS 3:15 Tariffs 3:50 Bretton Woods system 4:38 Keynes' Bancor proposal 5:07 US exorbitant privilege 5:39 Nixon shock, gold standard, petrodollar 6:43 Financialization 7:35 Billionaires 8:01 Deindustrialization 8:10 Current account deficit 8:33 Trump advisor Stephen Miran 9:17 Overvaluation of US dollar 10:30 Stephen Miran's plan 11:16 Mar-a-Lago Accord 12:59 Economic nuclear war 14:07 Trump admin's goals 15:20 Paying for US empire 17:30 Trump admin's 5 demands 20:25 (CLIP) Sharing costs of US empire 21:13 China 21:32 (CLIP) Decoupling from China 21:55 Hudson Institute 23:58 US financial crisis of 2008 25:42 Manufacturing 26:02 Trump hits China with 104% tariffs 27:23 Economic game of chicken 27:50 Can USA win trade war? 30:04 (CLIP) Miran: US has leverage over China 30:59 China vows "to fight to the end" 32:00 US economic dependence on China 33:00 Chinese exports 34:01 China's top export destinations 34:36 ASEAN is China's top trading partner 35:16 Indonesia 36:08 China is world's top trading partner 36:54 China's trade with Russia 38:34 Can USA reindustrialize? 38:52 (CLIP) "We can make stuff at home" 39:09 Reindustrialization is very difficult 41:40 Trade war will hurt Americans 42:17 Moving taxes from rich to poor 43:15 Do other countries pay US tariffs? 43:34 Dollar falls 44:38 Yield on US Treasury securities 46:10 Mortgage rate spread 46:42 Credit card interest rate 47:14 Interest payments on US national debt 48:37 Backlash on US economy 49:51 Danger of blowback 50:31 Plaza Accord revisited 51:16 Changes in global economy 52:50 China learned from Japan crisis 54:33 Imperial hubris 55:12 Vietnam in a multipolar world 58:07 Outro

In what he called "Liberation Day", Donald Trump imposed heavy tariffs on countries around the world, falsely claiming they were "reciprocal". In reality, the taxes on imports were based on the US trade deficit with other nations. Ben Norton explains how the Trump administration's economic policies are contradictory and will backfire hard on the US economy, fueling inflation while failing to re-industrialize. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv5ZkxQvsz8 Topics 0:00 Trump imposes heavy tariffs 0:27 (CLIP) Trump's "Liberation Day" 0:52 Trump's global trade war 1:18 (CLIP) Tariff is most beautiful world 1:41 New tariff rates 3:20 Backfiring 4:04 How the tariffs were calculated 7:08 Retaliation 8:45 Role of US dollar dominance 9:30 (CLIP) Trump on de-dollarization 9:48 (CLIP) Trump threatens BRICS 10:17 US balance of payments 12:37 Alternative to US dollar 13:14 Dumbest trade war in history 13:42 Reindustrialization 14:32 Financialization 17:53 Inflation 20:00 Coffee, fruit, & vegetables 22:06 Imports from China 24:02 Imports from Vietnam 25:26 Imports of electronics 27:51 Industrial policy 33:41 Moving tax burden from rich to poor 37:02 Outro

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager who worked for George Soros, insists, “Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream”. The Donald Trump administration knows its tariffs will result in higher inflation. Products will become more expensive as the US tries to economically decouple from China. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DOCZjS_MVc Topics 0:00 Inflation is coming back 0:41 US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent 1:57 Billionaires 2:34 (CLIP) Bessent: no more cheap goods 2:49 Stagnant real wages 3:54 How China exported deflation 6:20 Myth of the "American Dream" 6:55 End of income mobility in USA 8:04 US life expectancy falls 9:13 Trump's billionaire-filled administration 9:39 Inflation rises 10:11 Richest 10% drive US economy 11:07 Corruption 11:35 Scapegoating 12:15 Recession risks 13:39 Housing is unaffordable 15:40 Elon Musk 16:13 Blackstone 17:13 Fake populism 18:00 Outro

The US is waging an economic war on China while threatening Chinese students here on student visas. But China has maintained huge economic and social growth, in spite of severe economic sanctions and new tariffs. Brian Becker is joined by Ben Norton, an investigative journalist currently based in Beijing, and the editor of the independent news website Geopolitical Economy Report, at geopoliticaleconomy.com.Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/TheSocialistProgram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

Donald Trump is portrayed as a "populist" committed to average working-class people, but his policies benefit wealthy elites at the expense of everyone else. His administration includes 13 billionaires -- including Elon Musk, the world's richest oligarch -- and he is cutting taxes on the rich and corporations while imposing a consumption tax on the poor through tariffs. Ben Norton explains how Trump is waging a class war. VIDEO with charts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL8cg-wWBO8 Check out our related video on JD Vance's speech on reindustrializing the US: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywmpea6vvOE Why Donald Trump won the US election: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/11/08/donald-trump-us-election-kamala-harris-economy/ Topics 0:00 Intro 0:09 (CLIP) Trump at McDonald's 0:33 Billionaires in Trump admin 1:36 Big Tech oligarchs 2:36 Corruption and bribery 3:17 Trump meme coin 4:20 Tax cuts for the rich 5:20 Tariffs are a tax 6:45 Trump's tax law benefited rich 8:25 Billionaires avoid taxes 10:01 Historical tax rates 11:44 Corporate tax rate 12:50 Progressive taxation 15:02 Why Trump won: inflation 16:43 Election turnout 18:02 Trump's low approval rating 20:20 Why people are angry 21:03 (CLIP) Obama on Wall Street 21:19 BlackRock CEO 21:48 Elon Musk 22:12 (CLIP) Trump on Tesla 22:21 US economy relies on rich 24:05 Unemployment rate is misleading 25:36 Stagnant real wages 29:34 Inflation is sticky 30:31 No more cheap goods 31:14 Scott Bessent & George Soros 33:25 (CLIP) Scott Bessent on American Dream 33:40 Cheap goods & China 36:51 Tariffs & reindustrialization 38:22 Myth of American Dream 40:07 US life expectancy is falling 41:17 Scapegoating 43:37 Recession warnings 45:01 Housing 47:02 Elon Musk buys White House position 47:35 Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman 48:34 Trump's fake "populism" 49:22 Hopeful examples 50:15 Mexico: AMLO 51:43 Mexico: Claudia Sheinbaum 53:11 Learning from Mexico 54:50 China's poverty reduction 57:54 US oligarchy 58:37 Outro

US Vice President JD Vance gave a speech about globalization that inadvertently revealed the truth about the US empire, the goal behind the new cold war on China, the economics of imperialism, and how the Trump administration is serving billionaire Big Tech oligarchs in Silicon Valley at the expense of the working class. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywmpea6vvOE US Big Tech CEOs admit they want AI monopoly: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/02/03/us-ai-monopoly-unipolar-world-china/ Topics 0:00 (CLIP) JD Vance excerpt 0:38 US vice president speech 1:03 Preparing for war on China 3:15 Summary of Vance's speech 3:56 (CLIP) Marco Rubio on China "threat" 4:39 Deindustrialization 5:02 (CLIP) JD Vance vows "industrial comeback" 5:41 Uniting billionaires and "populists" 6:26 Neoliberalism 7:01 JD Vance's patron Peter Thiel 8:22 Trump recruits Big Tech billionaires 9:34 For monopoly, against competition 10:21 (CLIP) Peter Thiel loves monopolies 10:35 Elon Musk and Trump 11:05 Billionaire Marc Andreessen 11:47 (CLIP) Trump admin loves Silicon Valley 12:08 Trump coalition: billionaires & workers? 13:37 (CLIP) Techno-optimists vs populists? 14:21 Big Tech manifesto 15:56 Scapegoating China 17:13 (CLIP) JD Vance scapegoats China 17:34 JD Vance calls China "biggest threat" 18:53 (CLIP) JD Vance scapegoats China 19:12 Neoliberal globalization 20:07 (CLIP) JD Vance on globalization 21:18 Neoliberal globalization 22:07 Imperialism & dependency theory 24:11 China's development 24:35 US bans Chinese competitors 26:15 (CLIP) JD Vance on China's AI 26:40 US Big Tech monopolies 27:23 (CLIP) "Competition is for losers" 27:38 Trump's tariffs 28:36 Jake Sullivan's industrial policy speech 29:16 (CLIP) Jake Sullivan on Washington Consensus 31:36 Industrial policy 32:45 Tech war on China 33:31 Trump's strategy 34:01 (CLIP) JD Vance on US shipbuilding 34:53 China's Shipbuilding 35:46 State-owned enterprises 38:07 US government-owned factories 40:32 Industrial policy 43:41 (CLIP) Tax cuts on rich & deregulation 44:07 Reaganism 2.0 44:28 Historical tax rates on rich 45:48 Oligarchs avoid taxes 46:52 Trump boosts deficit & debt 47:38 Fake industrial policy 49:09 (CLIP) JD Vance is "fan" of Big Tech 49:28 Andreessen Horowitz investments 50:30 S&P 500 stock buybacks & dividends 51:03 Reaganomics 51:59 Trumponomics 53:21 Tariffs & wealth transfer 53:55 Outro

Donald Trump has threatened to colonize Greenland and make it a US territory, even though 85% of people there oppose this. Ben Norton explains the geopolitical and economic reasons: the USA wants to block China from the Arctic region and to profit from the territory's natural resources, especially critical minerals. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjXzhd4GVzE Topics 0:00 Greenlanders don't want to join USA 0:58 (CLIP) Trump threatens Greenland 1:10 Targeting China 1:58 Natural resources 2:59 Independence from Denmark 3:40 Why they oppose US annexation 4:32 Protests in Greenland 5:57 Greenlandic political parties 7:25 (CLIP) Trump threatens Greenland again 7:59 Imperialism 8:44 (CLIP) Trump's Manifest Destiny 9:16 Expand US territory 9:29 (CLIP) Trump wants to "enlarge" US 9:59 Monroe Doctrine 10:45 Geopolitics of the Arctic 11:32 Map distortions 12:44 Geopolitics of Arctic Circle 13:52 (CLIP) Trump: divide Russia & China 14:15 (CLIP) Marco Rubio on China "threat" 14:41 China 15:25 (CLIP) Trump on Greenland 16:02 (CLIP) NATO chief Mark Rutte 16:21 NATO imperialism 17:48 (CLIP) Trump on US troops 18:41 NATO imperialism 19:00 JD Vance 19:16 (CLIP) Vance on China 19:45 US war with China 20:58 Supply chains 21:37 Ukraine's minerals 22:11 Greenland's minerals 22:29 (CLIP) Vance on natural resources 22:50 (CLIP) Vance on Greenland 23:20 Greenland's critical minerals 24:28 Red, White, and Blueland 25:11 US imperialism 26:51 Outro

The United States is the biggest arms dealer on Earth, responsible for 43% of the world's weapons exports from 2020 to 2024. The US transferred seven times more than China, and five times more than Russia. Ben Norton explains how the military-industrial complex profits from war. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVFvEmhey_k Sources and links here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/03/13/us-top-weapons-exports-china-russia/ Credit to Stephen Semler for some charts: https://www.stephensemler.com Topics 0:00 China "threat" claims 0:43 US military spending 1:34 US foreign interventions 2:40 USA is no. 1 arms dealer 3:57 Top weapons exporters 5:08 Growth in arms exports 5:56 Israel's suppliers 6:23 Top weapons importers 7:16 Europe doubles arms imports 8:32 Trump demands more NATO spending 10:47 Replacing welfare with warfare 12:56 Top military spenders 14:39 Real US military budget 15:40 DOGE ignores Pentagon fraud 17:00 Outro

Donald Trump's Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is a self-declared “crusader” who believes the USA is in a “holy war” against China, the left, and Islam. “Communist China will fall”, he vowed in his 2020 book “American Crusade”, promising, “Israel and America will form an even tighter bond, fighting the scourge of Islamism and international leftism that will never fully abate”. Ben Norton reports on his extremist record. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOg-dqGd6Jk Sources and links here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/03/07/us-defense-secretary-hegseth-overthrow-china-crusade/ Topics 0:00 Trump's cabinet of hawks 0:42 Pete Hegseth's "American Crusade" 2:02 Hegseth: "Communist China will fall" 3:26 Make the Crusades Great Again 4:38 Fox News 6:10 (CLIP) US "prepared" for war with China 7:02 Fearmongering about China 7:29 (CLIP) Trump on China "threat" 7:37 Fearmongering about China 8:42 (CLIP) CIA lies, cheats, & steals 8:58 Fearmongering about China 11:31 US military is "most lethal" 12:04 (CLIP) Hegseth: "most lethal" military 12:10 Culture war 13:23 (CLIP) Hegseth on "lethality" 13:28 Conservative identity politics 13:45 (CLIP) Hegseth's "warfighters" 13:59 Media pundit criticizes media 14:20 (CLIP) Hegseth on the media 14:36 (CLIP) Hegseth on Fox News 15:14 Israel 18:17 Hegseth wants war on Iran 18:44 (CLIP) Hegseth calls to bomb Iran 19:55 War with Iran? 20:39 (CLIP) Trump: US will "own" Gaza 20:46 War with Iran? 21:03 Pete Hegseth's elite background 21:41 (CLIP) Hegseth Harvard diploma stunt 22:30 Wall Street 22:55 Neocon 23:35 Guantanamo Bay 24:43 Book "American Crusade" 25:45 Hegseth declares "holy war" 26:33 US Civil War II? 31:05 War on secularism 33:18 (CLIP) Trump on the Bible 33:53 War on secularism 34:16 Hegseth's war on Islam 37:44 Extremist loses friends 38:52 Outro

BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, is buying the ports on both sides of the Panama Canal, after Donald Trump threatened the Latin American country and forced it to pressure a Hong Kong company to sell its stake. Ben Norton discusses how the US government is trying to weaken China -- and strengthen Wall Street oligarchs. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANqHCejgUTM Check out our related video on Trump's attempt to divide Russia and China: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRJIymzuRGU Topics 0:00 Goals of US foreign policy 1:08 BlackRock buys Panama Canal ports 2:08 (CLIP) Trump threatens Panama 2:32 BlackRock 3:26 US empire fears China 4:03 (CLIP) Marco Rubio on China "threat" 4:46 CIA targets China 5:42 (CLIP) CIA director on China 6:34 CIA threats 6:50 Trump attacks China 7:06 (CLIP) Trump on Panama Canal 7:17 BlackRock takeover 7:43 Monroe Doctrine 8:40 Greenland 9:27 Marco Rubio 11:09 (CLIP) Rubio on US "backyard" 11:46 (CLIP) Rubio on "dangerous" China 12:24 (CLIP) Rubio on Taiwan 12:56 New cold war 13:39 Panama Canal geopolitics 14:59 BlackRock buys ports around world 15:54 Biden's infrastructure scheme 16:09 Belt and Road Initiative 16:33 Partnership for Global Infrastructure 17:53 BlackRock, Microsoft, and AI 18:06 Stargate Project with OpenAI 18:26 USA is an oligarchy 19:39 G7 summit starred BlackRock 20:16 (CLIP) CEO Larry Fink at G7 summit 21:11 BlackRock backs both US parties 22:15 Asset managers invest $128 trillion 23:06 Blackstone: Largest US landlord 24:33 USA: best "democracy" money can buy 25:13 Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman 26:45 Elon Musk: biggest US donor 27:51 Trump's trickle-down economics 31:37 Class war 33:24 Trump's Russia strategy 33:51 Outro

Donald Trump's fight with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House reflected how the US treats Ukraine as a colony. Trump is demanding control of the country's rare earths and critical minerals, to weaken China, re-industrialize, and make new technologies. Trump wants to be paid $350 billion, roughly twice Ukraine's GDP. Ben Norton discusses Washington's economic colonialism, and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham's comments that "this war is about money" and the USA will "enrich ourselves with rare earth minerals". VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxxv2IEfU_c Trump wants US to ‘partner' with Russia to weaken China: Divide-and-conquer strategy - https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/02/24/trump-divide-russia-china-us-strategy/ Topics 0:00 (CLIP) Trump fights with Zelensky 0:21 Trump treats Ukraine like a colony 1:07 (CLIP) Trump: Ukraine has no cards 1:51 Throwing Ukraine under the bus 2:14 Economic colonialism 3:36 (CLIP) Trump wants Ukraine's rare earths 4:43 Lindsey Graham says quiet part loud 4:58 (CLIP) Ukraine has trillions in minerals 5:34 US wants minerals 6:03 (CLIP) Graham: "This war is about money" 6:53 Colonialism 7:05 Toxic effects of rare earth elements 8:42 US attacks China in supply chains 9:54 Dividing Russia & China 10:22 (CLIP) Trump: split Russia from China 10:40 Making weapons 11:10 (CLIP) Trump: make tech & weapons 11:43 USA targets China 12:31 Trump's Ukraine mineral demands 14:20 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent 14:48 US-Ukraine fund 16:57 How much will USA be paid? 18:03 Zelensky proposed mineral stake 19:01 US Fed oversees Iraq's oil revenue 20:07 Billionaires run Trump admin 20:36 Kissinger: fatal to be US ally 21:10 What does Ukraine get? 22:32 (CLIP) Trump on military support 23:29 Trump boasts of arming Ukraine 24:20 (CLIP) Trump on Ukraine aid 24:36 False $350 billion aid claim 26:41 Why Zelensky was angry 27:08 JD Vance, Peter Thiel puppet 27:39 (CLIP) JD Vance: thank the US empire 28:06 Ukraine "card game" 28:26 (CLIP) Trump gives orders to Ukraine 28:38 Trump erases US culpability 29:37 (CLIP) Trump: thank US military 29:55 Trump boasts of Javelin missiles 30:27 (CLIP) Trump vs Obama on Ukraine 31:00 NATO fought to the last Ukrainian 31:19 (CLIP) The last Ukrainians 31:30 US hypocrisy 31:56 Lindsey Graham attacks Zelensky 32:37 (CLIP) Graham on Zelensky 33:01 Ukraine as a US "investment" 33:47 (CLIP) US tells Zelensky to resign 33:54 True face of USA 34:07 WWII UK debt with US 35:11 It's fatal to be a US "ally" 36:26 Outro

The US government's talks with Russia are more about China than Ukraine. Donald Trump admitted he wants to "un-unite" Russia and China, in a reverse of the divide-and-conquer strategy used by Nixon and Kissinger in the 1970s. Can Trump do it? Ben Norton explains why the United States sees China as the main threat to its global imperial dominance. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRJIymzuRGU Topics 0:00 (CLIP) Trump: divide Russia & China 0:18 US-Russia talks 1:01 USA says China is 'greatest threat' 2:11 (CLIP) Trump on Russia & China 3:31 US dollar dominance 4:14 Divide & conquer 5:23 Nixon in China 6:06 Kissinger strategy 6:59 Trump's neocons 7:57 (CLIP) Marco Rubio: partner with Russia 8:20 Ally with Russia against China? 9:37 (CLIP) Tucker Carlson on Russia 11:01 (CLIP) Marco Rubio on Russia 11:42 Marco Rubio on Ukraine & China 12:34 Rubio: China challenges US-led order 13:05 Rubio: China wants to displace USA 13:40 Rubio: China is "greatest challenge" 14:20 China more powerful than Russia 14:40 Population 14:54 Economy 15:31 Manufacturing 15:58 Technology 16:56 Research 17:19 China's alternative 18:08 Competition to Silicon Valley 18:55 Russia's strengths 20:02 Brzezinski's warnings 20:49 BRICS & SCO 22:21 (CLIP) CIA director John Ratcliffe 23:21 CIA on China "threat" 25:07 (CLIP) Blinken on China "challenge" 25:31 Mike Pompeo on China 26:14 US imperialism & Panama Canal 27:15 Monroe Doctrine 27:46 Europe 29:03 JD Vance 30:04 US colonialism in Ukraine 32:41 (CLIP) Trump wants to expand USA 33:10 Imperial expansion 33:44 European right wing 34:45 Can Trump divide Russia & China? 35:09 Putin's rise to power 35:55 (CLIP) Bush on Putin 36:30 Russia tried to join the West 37:31 Russia's fall out with the West 38:07 Ukraine war context 38:39 Russia-China relations 39:41 Sanctions relief? 40:28 Security guarantees? 41:56 Can USA be trusted? 43:25 Is there a possibility? 46:36 Outro

Argentina's President Javier Milei, a self-declared libertarian and "anarcho-capitalist", is promoting crypto scams and overseeing rapid deindustrialization. Manufacturing and construction are collapsing, while the financial sector, mining, and agriculture grow. Donald Trump and Elon Musk praise Milei, as the majority of Argentines live in poverty. The real economy is in crisis, but rich foreign investors rejoice as the stock market booms. Ben Norton explains how Argentina is being turned into a resource colony. VIDEO with charts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3qgYZMYkj0 Topics 0:00 Who is Javier Milei? 0:40 Elon Musk & Donald Trump 1:08 Crypto pump & dump scheme 2:34 Trump & Melania meme coins 3:18 Economic destruction 5:06 BRICS 5:47 Israel 6:27 CIA 6:48 Spanish colonialism 7:11 Ukraine 7:48 Stock market 10:06 Poverty 11:27 12-hour work day 12:46 72% are worse off 13:39 Income distribution 14:38 Extreme austerity 15:28 Government spending 16:47 Colonialism 17:11 Brain drain 18:39 No toilet paper 19:22 Social spending cuts 20:43 Bicicleta financiera scheme 23:04 Cost of living 23:55 Job loss 24:50 Construction collapses 25:17 Housing costs 26:05 Taunting the poor & hungry 28:45 Luis Caputo 31:36 Billionaire sponsors 32:04 Bondholders 32:30 Inflation & debt 39:48 Manufacturing collapses 47:07 Deindustrialization 49:18 Neoliberalism 50:39 Stock index composition 52:09 Privatization 54:13 Plantation economy 56:39 Gold in London 57:56 Financial colonialism 58:19 Outro

It's now widely acknowledged we are in a multipolar world, but the definition of "multipolarity" is not clear. Donald Trump and Marco Rubio think it means a return to great power competition with imperial spheres of influence, whereas China and much of the Global South say "equality among all countries regardless of size". Ben Norton explains the geopolitical divide. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg0Vur0SI-8 Topics 0:00 US unipolar moment 0:35 Multipolarity is here 1:24 Definition of multipolarity 2:39 (CLIP) Marco Rubio on unipolarity 3:14 US imperial sphere of influence 4:32 China's anti-imperialist view 7:37 Marco Rubio interview 8:52 (CLIP) Rubio on multipolar world 9:14 Rubio fearmongers about China 9:42 Greenland 10:55 (CLIP) Rubio on China 11:02 Neoconservativism rebranded 12:11 Trump's imperialism 12:30 (CLIP) Trump calls to "expand" USA 13:01 Chinese socialism vs US capitalism 14:46 Marco Rubio targets China 17:35 Rubio's fake "populism" 20:22 Nicaragua's anti-imperialist view 22:33 Outro

Why has the price of gold been increasing so fast, breaking records? Economist Michael Hudson explains the politics of the precious metal, and the dynamics of the US dollar system. He is interviewed by Ben Norton. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Bvr2SZm-NM Transcript: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/02/13/politics-gold-price-economist-michael-hudson/ Topics 0:00 Intro 1:49 Highlights 4:14 Interview starts 4:49 US dollar system & Super Imperialism 8:23 Dollar alternatives? 10:56 Why price of gold is rising 15:31 Gold market is political 21:10 Is gold an inflation hedge? 25:19 US military spending 27:33 Budget deficits & MMT 29:41 Gold standard critique 33:29 Politics of money creation 35:39 Commodity markets 38:01 Options trading 39:33 Central banks short selling gold 43:43 Gold leasing 48:01 How much gold is in Fort Knox? 51:03 Is there a run on gold? 1:02:50 Western central bank strategy 1:07:11 Outro

Donald Trump plans to ethnically cleanse Palestinians, saying, "The US will take over the Gaza Strip... We'll own it". His son-in-law Jared Kushner has invested in Israeli companies that profit from expanding illegal settlements. Trump and Kushner floated building luxury real estate in Gaza. Ben Norton reports. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMBwV8kL5NY Topics 0:00 Trump is Israel's "best friend" 1:04 US plans to "take over" Gaza 2:19 Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner 3:04 Rebuilding Gaza 3:45 Gaza's "phenomenal location on the sea" 4:24 Kushner eyes "Gaza's waterfront property" 5:05 Ethnic cleansing 5:52 Kushner's investments in Israel 6:51 Saudi Arabia invests in Kushner's firm 8:29 Israel proposes Saudi land for Palestinians 10:00 Trump pressures Jordan & Egypt 11:07 Plans to expel "all" Gazans 11:38 Gaza death toll 13:08 US-Israel made Gaza "Hell" 14:11 Biden vs Trump 15:01 Palestinians don't want to leave home 15:49 Netanyahu is an American 16:49 Netanyahu: Trump is Israel's "great friend" 18:11 Deportations of pro-Palestine students 19:06 IDF prepares to expel Palestinians 19:44 Gaza is an open-air prison 20:55 Bipartisan US imperialism 22:18 Outro

Donald Trump's tariffs could destabilize the global economy, warns economist Michael Hudson. US protectionist policies could cause financial crises, as many currencies depreciate and countries can't earn the dollars needed to pay their foreign debts. Ben Norton hosts the interview. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFyWatftnIM Transcript: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/02/04/trump-tariffs-global-crisis-economist-michael-hudson/ Here you can read Michael Hudson's article on how Trump's tariffs threaten the global economy: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/01/25/michael-hudson-trump-tariffs-global-economy/ Topics 0:00 Trump's tariff threats 3:10 Highlights of Michael Hudson 5:47 How to pay foreign debt 10:55 Austerity 14:48 Protectionism 17:19 US threats 21:11 Mexico 22:47 Defaulting on debt 25:46 Economic colonialism 28:18 Colombia 29:50 Greenland 30:23 Economic war 31:02 China's win-win approach 32:24 Trump's contradictions 35:20 US dollar & re-industrialization 37:06 Finance capitalism 41:00 Dollar exchange rate & inflation 44:34 Trump proposal at WEF/Davos 45:20 Investing in USA 47:18 US imperialism 49:17 Outro

Tariffs, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, electric cars: there is much to be said about the evolving relationship between China and the United States. While Donald Trump’s recent tariffs on the country are just the latest story, it is only a fraction of the news coming out of China that directly affects the U.S. and the future prospect for business and the government. Joining host Robert Scheer from China on this episode of Scheer Intelligence is Geopolitical Economic Report editor-in-chief and journalist Ben Norton. The two discuss what the incoming Trump administration represents for U.S.-China relations as well as the state of China from the ground. Norton reports on his experiences living there and the local reaction to the U.S. political scene.  

Ben Norton walks us through the impending economic crash.

Big Tech oligarchs in Silicon Valley fear competition from Chinese AI companies like DeepSeek, so they're working with the US government to cut off competitors. Billionaire Donald Trump backer Peter Thiel admits they want monopolies, arguing "competition is for losers". Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jniPAD2uoo Topics 0:00 (CLIP) "Competition is for losers" 0:17 China's DeepSeek AI breakthrough 1:46 US tech billionaire Peter Thiel 2:06 (CLIP) Peter Thiel praises monopolies 2:31 Peter Thiel backs Donald Trump 3:12 US government targets DeepSeek 4:23 US goal: stop Chinese innovation 5:40 China is developing 10 AI models 6:00 Senate hearing on China 7:15 (CLIP) "Let's steal [China's] engineers" 7:30 CIA testimony 8:24 (CLIP) Ban Chinese apps in USA 8:43 Is DeepSeek stealing from OpenAI? 10:40 OpenAI CEO Sam Altman 11:05 (CLIP) Sam Altman & Peter Thiel 11:24 Silicon Valley wants to cut off China 11:49 Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei 12:42 Chip restrictions on China 14:34 Big Tech wants US "unipolar world" 16:41 Who's authoritarian, USA or China? 19:03 US oligarchy 20:20 Capitalism vs competition 21:24 Peter Thiel employed JD Vance 21:54 PayPal Mafia 22:30 Robber barons 23:19 Capitalism creates monopolies 24:56 Chinese socialism vs US capitalism 29:38 Outro

The Chinese company DeepSeek shocked the West with a groundbreaking open-source artificial intelligence model that beats huge Silicon Valley Big Tech monopolies. The US government is already trying to ban it, using "national security" as an excuse. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hRmK84_K7Q Topics 0:00 China's Sputnik moment 1:05 DeepSeek beats US Big Tech 2:20 Open source R1 model 3:18 US tech stocks crash 5:27 US stock market bubble 6:55 Magnificent 7 8:26 Billionaire oligarchs 10:48 USA bans Chinese competitors 13:34 Data privacy and spying? 15:35 Cyber attacks 16:33 US tech war on China 19:36 China "can't innovate" 22:02 China's rapid tech progress 24:49 Dancing robots in China 25:36 Tech race in new cold war 27:20 Outro

The world is changing rapidly, driven by the necessity of creating alternative institutions to counter US domination and aggression. As the multipolar world rises, it is a critical time for the United States to re-evaluate and change its policies and practices in order to remain an active member of the global community. Clearing the FOG speaks with Ben Norton of Geopolitical Economy about the ways that US policy, the Washington Consensus, have backfired and what the growing US deficit means. Norton outlines what can be done to counter the current path the US is taking. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

Donald Trump threatened Colombia with sanctions and tariffs after it rejected his abuse of immigrants. Colombian President Gustavo Petro hit back against the US attacks, declaring, "We are not a colony!" Ben Norton analyzes Latin America's resistance to meddling by Trump and his neoconservative Secretary of State Marco Rubio. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ8YZEecJgE Topics 0:00 Trump admin's hawkish foreign policy 0:30 Neocon Marco Rubio 1:30 Colombia: from US puppet to target 2:24 Marco Rubio's attacks on Gustavo Petro 3:51 Israel-Palestine 5:21 US attacks on Latin America 5:58 Trump sanctions & tariffs Colombia 7:31 Humiliation of immigrants 9:10 Colombia responds with tariffs on US 10:25 US meddling fuels immigration 12:42 (CLIP) Trump on 'taking over' Venezuela 12:54 Latin America fights back 14:02 Honduras threatens to close US military base 14:40 Illegal US immigration in Colombia 15:22 China's relations with Latin America 16:49 Latin American right bows down to USA 19:30 Ecuador's US puppet president 20:40 Petro's open letter to Trump 32:23 Global South stands up 33:12 (CLIP) Trump wants to 'expand' US empire 33:43 US imperialism 34:24 Outro

At his inauguration, US President Donald Trump promised to "expand our territory", invoked the colonialist "Manifest Destiny", and vowed to forcibly take over the Panama Canal (falsely claiming China runs it). He later threatened BRICS with 100% tariffs. Trump has hinted at use of military force to colonize Greenland as well. Ben Norton reports on Trump's foreign policy. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HKc1uQpUFs Topics 0:00 Donald Trump's inauguration threats 0:56 (CLIP) Trump vows to 'expand our territory' 1:28 Mask off imperialism 1:59 Panama rejects Trump's threats 2:55 (CLIP) Trump hints at military force 3:27 Geopolitics of Panama Canal 4:01 Why Trump wants to colonize Greenland 5:18 Greenland's minerals 6:25 Trump threatens BRICS 7:09 (CLIP) Trump attacks BRICS... and Spain 8:18 Trump wants to make Canada 51st state 9:32 Trump threatens Mexico 10:31 Trump attacks Cuba 11:44 Politically motivated US 'terror' list 14:04 Trump strongly supports Israel 15:19 Marco Rubio, extreme warmonger 17:28 Summary of Trump's foreign policy 18:49 Outro

BRICS added as a new partner Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, with the 6th-biggest population on Earth. BRICS+ now has 10 members and 9 partners, which make up 54.6% of the world population and 42.2% of global GDP (PPP). Ben Norton explains the importance of this expansion. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNNrMP_1E9g Sources and more information here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/01/19/brics-expands-population-nigeria-africa/ Check out our related video on BRICS' plan to challenge US dollar domination by creating a multi-currency financial system: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/10/19/brics-russia-multi-currency-system-us-dollar/ Topics 0:00 BRICS expansion 0:58 BRICS' two main goals 1:52 De-dollarization 3:36 Map of BRICS membership 4:00 Indonesia joined BRICS 5:01 List of members & partners 5:37 BRICS is 54.6% of world population 6:57 Fastest growing countries by population 7:59 Africa's population growth 9:05 BRICS is 42.2% of global GDP (PPP) 9:47 Africa's biggest economies 11:37 Nigeria is Africa's top oil producer 12:05 BRICS+ & OPEC+ 13:04 Shared economic interests 14:27 Outro

India has the world's largest population, but can it be the next global economic superpower? Or will extreme poverty, inequality, unemployment, and lack of industrialization and manufacturing capacities hold it back? Why is the Western media so eager to portray India as a pro-Western alternative to China? Ben Norton is joined by economic historian Jyotishman Mudiar to explore these questions and more. VIDEO with charts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXU42fqJ6g4 Check out Jyotishman's channel India & Global Left: https://www.youtube.com/c/IndiaGlobalLeft Topics 0:00 Intro 4:32 Is India the next economic superpower? 12:37 Technology 16:39 Geopolitics 20:27 Indian stock market 22:37 Quality of life 34:21 Billionaire oligarchs like Adani & Ambani 42:09 China controls its billionaires 44:42 China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) 46:22 Manufacturing in India vs China 49:24 Privatization in India 54:37 India's manufacturing stagnation 56:58 Can services replace manufacturing? 1:08:02 India's dependence on US Big Tech 1:18:43 AI, automation, & population growth 1:29:50 Agriculture in India 1:43:09 Outro

BRICS keeps expanding. As a new full member, it added Indonesia, the 4th most populous country with the 7th largest economy on Earth. BRICS now has 10 members and 8 partners. Together they make up 41.4% of global GDP (PPP) and roughly half the world population. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIDWOWHW-cU Sources and links here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/01/07/brics-adds-indonesia-member-economy/ Check out our related report on BRICS' plan to challenge US dollar domination by creating a multi-currency financial system: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/10/19/brics-russia-multi-currency-system-us-dollar/ Topics 0:00 BRICS expansion 0:51 Map of BRICS membership 1:11 List of BRICS members & partners 1:47 BRICS share of world economy 2:27 BRICS vs G7 3:44 Indonesian economy bigger than UK & France 4:41 Indonesia's BRICS invitation 6:05 Global South cooperation 6:56 China supports Global South 7:29 Non-Aligned Movement & Bandung Conference 8:31 US-backed coup against Sukarno 8:58 CIA-sponsored massacres 9:53 ASEAN prefers China over USA 11:07 Philippines allies with USA 12:08 Indonesia calls China & Russia friends 13:52 China is Indonesia's largest trading partner 14:17 China is ASEAN's largest trading partner 14:39 Nickel production 15:32 Indonesia industrializes with China's help 21:53 BRICS cooperation 23:43 De-dollarization 24:46 Outro

The US stock market is in "the mother of all bubbles", with the market capitalization of publicly traded companies at 206% of GDP. This is higher than the dot-com bubble of 2000, and even the peak of the crash of 1929. Meanwhile, just 25 companies make up over half of the weight of the S&P 500, and the Magnificent 7 Big Tech monopolies are 35% of the market cap of the index. However, the US economy was built upon this financial house of cards, and politicians are profiting from it. Ben Norton explains the dangers. VIDEO with charts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rguHublkxCQ Topics 0:00 American exceptionalism 0:53 US stock market is over 60% of world 1:16 USA is 74% of MSCI World Index 2:10 Top 25 companies in world 3:29 Exorbitant privilege of US dollar 4:59 S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices 6:07 Magnificent 7 6:50 Just 25 companies make up 50.3% of S&P 500 8:26 Tesla is insanely overvalued 12:03 Big US companies are really financial firms 13:11 How to measure a bubble 14:15 Buffett Indicator (market cap to GDP) 15:57 Public & private equities to GDP 17:00 How the US government inflated the bubble 21:10 Richest 10% of Americans own 93% of stocks 22:23 Warren Buffett's warnings 23:56 Berkshire Hathaway dumps stocks 26:32 Jeff Bezos sells Amazon shares 27:22 Mark Zuckerberg sells Meta stocks 27:40 Elon Musk sold Tesla shares 28:08 The "greatest bubble in human history" 30:27 Alan Greenspan and "irrational exuberance" 31:16 Fears of "pent-up exuberance" 32:19 P/E ratios 33:41 Irrational investing 34:54 Donald Trump's tax cuts help the rich 37:54 Trump and Ronald Reagan 39:04 Trickle-down economics 41:16 Wall Street fills Trump's cabinet 42:02 Financialization of US economy 43:44 Will Trump reverse de-industrialization? 45:38 Real estate & homelessness 46:38 US dollar 47:34 Wall Street vs Main Street 49:06 Outro

The United States spent decades trying to overthrow the Syrian government, before succeeding in 2024. A declassified CIA document from 1986 outlined US plans for regime change. The blueprint was almost exactly what happened in the proxy war that started in 2011. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKXxKCm1psU How the US military supported the Syrian rebel offensive that toppled the Assad government: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/12/23/us-military-syria-rebels-assad/ Topics 0:00 Overthrow of Syrian government 0:38 CIA document from 1986 2:25 CIA exploited religious sectarianism 3:58 Installing a pro-Israel regime 5:17 Arab nationalist government had "grudging respect" 5:57 Syria's state-led economic model 7:11 Rebels pledge neoliberal shock therapy 8:09 Muslim Brotherhood 9:45 US wanted "business-oriented" regime 10:43 Proxy war on Syria 12:15 Outro

While Donald Trump's supporters falsely claim he is an "isolationist", he is threatening to colonize the Panama Canal, annex Canada, and seize Greenland (and its rare earth elements). The Trump team also plans to invade Mexico, bomb Iran, and wage proxy war on China. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG_UzMTh82w Topics 0:00 Trump's warmongering foreign-policy record 1:35 Trump threatens Panama, Greenland, Canada 2:59 Colonial Christmas threat 3:49 Trump followers revive Manifest Destiny 4:41 Top Pentagon official invokes Monroe Doctrine 5:42 US interventions are not jokes 6:32 Seizing the Panama Canal 8:45 Elon Musk backs colonialism in Latin America 10:29 China defends Panama's sovereignty 11:44 US colonial Monroe Doctrine 13:29 History of US imperialism in Panama 16:07 Panamanian revolutionary Omar Torrijos 18:03 CIA and Manuel Noriega 19:10 US invasion of Panama in 1989 20:20 Trump wants Greenland's rare-earth minerals 22:37 Annexing Canada 23:51 Pro-Trump influencers promote colonialism 26:08 Plans to invade Mexico 27:56 Bombing Iran 28:50 Cold war on China 30:30 DOGE will cut social programs, not military 31:51 Cabinet full of billionaire oligarchs 32:27 Bipartisan imperialism 34:19 Outro

The Global South-led organization BRICS continues to expand, adding 9 partner countries in January 2025, after admitting 4 new members in 2024. The group now makes up roughly half of the global population and more than 41% of world GDP (PPP). It's an economic powerhouse, with top producers of key commodities like oil, gas, grains, meat, minerals, and more. Ben Norton analyzes the growing influence of BRICS+. VIDEO with charts and maps here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_shuhJvvBY BRICS MEMBERSHIP (9 members + 9 partner countries) - 5 original members are Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. - 4 new members officially admitted in January 2024 are Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE. (Saudi Arabia has neither accepted nor denied the invitation. Argentina rejected the offer.) - 9 confirmed partner countries are Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan. - 4 invited partner countries have not yet given a response: Algeria, Nigeria, Turkey/Türkiye, Vietnam. Check out our related video on BRICS' plan to transform the global financial system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pHr5yzLEHA BRICS plans ‘multi-currency system' to challenge US dollar dominance: Understanding Russia's proposal - https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/10/19/brics-russia-multi-currency-system-us-dollar/ Topics 0:00 History of BRICS expansion 0:45 9 new partner countries 1:38 Map of BRICS membership 3:45 BRICS is an economic powerhouse 5:00 What does partner status mean? 5:39 De-dollarization of international financial system 7:06 1/2 of global population 8:35 BRICS economies are bigger than G7 9:24 41% of world GDP (PPP) 10:20 US GDP is overstated 12:49 Food production 17:32 Oil & gas production 18:32 Renewable energy 19:21 Mineral production 20:43 Building a global alternative 22:07 Outro

Syrian rebel commanders have admitted that the US military helped them overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad. NATO member Turkey and Israel played a key role as well. Ben Norton reviews the evidence. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qicLi6kqt7M Topics 0:00 Intro 0:41 US troops occupy Syria's oil & wheat fields 2:56 US military oversaw Syrian rebel assault 6:22 Turkey backed Syrian rebel operation 6:48 Israel helped Syrian rebels 8:06 US military funded Syrian rebels 10:54 Rebranded Al-Qaeda takes over Syria 12:19 USA & Turkey carve up Syria 13:05 Israel colonizes Syrian land 14:31 Jake Sullivan: "AQ is on our side in Syria" 15:15 CIA armed & trained Syrian rebels 16:18 Jabhat al-Nusra rebrands as HTS 17:20 US diplomats meet with HTS leader al-Jolani 19:12 Western media whitewashes Al-Qaeda 2.0 21:05 Outro

After helping to overthrow leader Bashar al-Assad, Israel destroyed Syria's military capabilities and is seizing territory, annexing the Golan Heights and occupying more land. The Al-Qaeda-linked Salafi-jihadist rebels who now rule Syria, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have allowed Israel to do this. HTS leader (and former Al-Qaeda chief) Abu Mohammad al-Jolani said "We are not looking to engage in a conflict with Israel". Ben Norton reports. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEOiNDVFJ_o Topics 0:00 USA & Israel occupy Syrian territory 2:49 Israel destroys Syria's military capabilities 4:14 Israel expands illegal settlements in occupied Golan Heights 5:26 UN vote demands Israel withdraw from Syrian Golan 6:33 Israel supported Syrian rebels (including Al-Qaeda) 7:52 Netanyahu: "We are changing the face of the Middle East" 8:51 Israel threatens Iran 10:50 HTS leader al-Jolani wants peace with Israel 13:35 (CLIP) HTS refuses to criticize Israel 14:23 The US empire's "Syrian Revolution" 15:08 US State Dep't talks with Al-Qaeda 2.0 16:27 UK sends millions to rebranded Al-Qaeda 17:10 CIA armed & trained Syrian rebels 17:43 Syrian rebels vow neoliberal "free-market" shock therapy 19:08 Uyghur extremists declare war on China 21:34 HTS denies rights to Syrian women 23:00 HTS stoned Syrian women to death 23:30 Outro

South Korea's US-backed President Yoon Suk Yeol launched a coup attempt, but failed. He tried to provoke war with North Korea by attacking with drones, hoping to justify imposing martial law, but the DPRK showed restraint. Ben Norton analyzes the geopolitics of the crisis, addressing NATO, China, Japan, and more. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGXKAkieFkY Topics 0:00 Intro 1:10 Yoon Suk Yeol, DC darling 2:11 Authoritarianism in South Korea & Japan 3:07 Washington's anti-China alliance 3:46 Yoon plotted war with North Korea 6:15 Yoon ordered military to assault lawmakers 7:51 South Korean opposition 9:00 Crazy coup plot 10:55 Coup planned in advance 11:39 Opposition warned of martial law 12:11 Yoon's corruption & unpopularity 14:01 Class war 15:02 Chaebols: corporate oligopolies 17:21 US military bases 18:49 South Korea: a US "client" 19:54 (CLIP) Yoon's speech to US Congress 22:23 Yoon blames "Chinese spies" 23:04 US cultivates anti-China assets 23:54 Lee Jae-myung opposes conflict with China 26:20 Japan 29:32 NATO 30:30 USA targets "Axis of Adversaries" 31:14 US nuclear threats 33:12 NYPD spends more than DPRK military 34:06 Korean War 34:43 USA killed 20% of North Korea's population 36:56 UK plans for world war 38:00 Outro

The Syrian government was overthrown, and Salafi-jihadist rebels led by a rebranded version of Al-Qaeda called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took power in Damascus. US President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu boasted of helping topple Bashar al-Assad. NATO member Turkey played a key role as well. Ben Norton explains how the West dealt a major blow to the Axis of Resistance and Iran. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8pZgwOdIuA Al-Qaeda-linked ‘rebels' in Syria say they ‘love Israel'. USA gave them billions in weapons & support: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/12/06/al-qaeda-rebels-syria-israel-usa/ US troops are occupying Syria's oil fields. Congress refuses to withdraw them: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/12/12/us-troops-occupy-syria-oil-congress-withdraw/ Topics 0:00 Syrian government is overthrown 3:17 Al-Qaeda leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani 4:39 AQ rebrands: Jabhat al-Nusra to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham to HTS 6:16 Western media whitewashed Osama bin Laden 7:53 Jake Sullivan: "AQ is on our side in Syria" 8:49 CIA spends billions arming Salafi-jihadists 10:06 Diplomat says HTS is US "asset" 11:33 HTS' medieval rule in Syria 12:44 Libya: where NATO brought back slavery 15:40 (CLIP) Biden takes credit for overthrowing Assad 16:58 Syrian Al-Qaeda got US weapons 17:24 Turkey backed Syrian assault 17:50 Ukraine's role in Syria 18:30 Israel boasts of Syria regime change 19:12 (CLIP) Netanyahu: Israel helped topple Assad 19:26 Israel supported Syrian rebels 20:38 Syrian rebels say they "love Israel" 22:09 Israel seizes more Syrian territory 23:15 Axis of Resistance is weakened 25:15 Syria's territorial integrity 26:41 US military occupies Syria's oil fields 27:19 (CLIP) Trump boasts: I took Syria's oil 27:46 Congress backs US military occupation of Syria 28:33 US starved Syria of oil revenue 29:43 Western sanctions suffocated Syria's economy 32:42 Inflation in Syria 33:35 This is not about "authoritarianism" 36:08 US strategy to collapse Syrian state 37:30 (CLIP) US official outlines Syria regime-change plan 39:46 Will Syria's borders be changed? 41:41 Iran: the ultimate US target 42:45 (CLIP) Wesley Clark: US planned to topple 7 governments 43:38 US collapsed 6 of 7 states on regime-change list 44:34 Will US war on Iran be next? 46:24 Outro

The United States spent billions over years arming and training militants in Syria, many linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIS. The extremist "rebels" who took over Aleppo (and rule Idlib) said they "love Israel". Ben Norton documents the Western dirty war on Syria, and how Washington is trying to divide and conquer the anti-colonial Axis of Resistance in West Asia (the Middle East). VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl-vX1RBapo Topics 0:00 CIA armed & trained "rebels" in Syria 2:14 Rebranded Al-Qaeda (HTS) takes over Aleppo 4:54 Jake Sullivan: "AQ is on our side in Syria" 6:04 Syrian Al-Qaeda (Nusra Front) got US weapons 6:50 Israel supported Salafi-jihadist "rebels" in Syria 7:52 Syrian "rebels" say they "love Israel" 11:47 US demands Syria cut ties with Iran & Hezbollah 13:14 Israel violated Lebanon "ceasefire" 100 times in 1 week 14:09 USA tries to divide Axis of Resistance 15:31 Geopolitics of West Asia (Middle East) 16:23 Israel is US empire's unsinkable aircraft carrier 17:46 (CLIP) Biden: If Israel didn't exist, US would have to create it 18:11 USA uses Israel to crush anti-colonial resistance 19:59 ISIS got US weapons 22:05 (CLIP) Biden: US allies supported ISIS & Al-Qaeda in Syria 24:10 DIA memo shows Pentagon knew ISIS & AQ led Syrian opposition 29:21 NATO-backed Israeli think tank said ISIS was "useful tool" 31:30 US-led war on Syria continues 32:15 Outro

As the NATO-Russia proxy war in Ukraine escalates, the US Army is funding research on "the impacts of nuclear weapons on farm systems" in Eastern Europe. Numerous scientific studies warn that this would cause a nuclear winter that would starve billions and kill off the majority of the human population. Ben Norton discusses the extreme dangers. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV8rCGchY-k 94% of Americans want to end Ukraine war, but US rejects China peace deal, opposes talks with Russia: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/06/08/end-ukraine-war-us-china-peace-deal-russia/ Topics 0:00 Intro 0:27 Doomsday Clock is 90 seconds to midnight 2:09 US Army studies effects of nuclear weapons on agriculture 3:47 Scientists say nuclear war would kill billions 5:46 Nuclear winter 6:47 Escalation of Ukraine proxy war 7:48 Ukraine (and NATO) is losing 8:58 Most Americans want to end Ukraine war 10:03 US nuclear war strategy 11:37 USA spends trillions on nuclear weapons 14:39 Donald Trump tore up Russia arms treaties 17:37 Trump gave Ukraine lethal weapons 18:23 (CLIP) Trump boasts of Ukraine arms shipments 18:40 Trump is not anti-war 19:11 Bipartisan US war drive 20:19 Outro

To defend their colonialism in Gaza, the United States and Israel have attacked every single legal institution upholding international law, including the UN, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Criminal Court (ICC), and more. Ben Norton explains how the imperial war on Palestine is a neocolonial assault on multilateralism and multipolarity. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EAAytPjQzc Check out our related video - US threatens ICC & allies over Netanyahu arrest warrant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqBtZxSYwaU Topics 0:00 Intro 0:40 US vetoes Gaza ceasefire in UN Security Council 2:24 Israel uses food as weapon in Gaza 4:19 Israel violates ICJ rulings 5:26 US attacks ICC over Netanyahu arrest warrant 6:36 Washington Post: ICC is for Global South & Russia 7:59 Billionaire oligarch Jeff Bezos owns Washington Post 9:20 ICC was "built for Africa" & Russia 10:26 (CLIP) ICC prosecutor on Western pressure 10:51 Rules-Based International Order 12:47 UN Security Council 14:27 Wolfowitz Doctrine 15:35 US unipolarity 17:02 Western colonialism 18:23 Israeli colonialism 19:25 Israel is ethnically cleansing Gaza 20:45 Israeli minister Smotrich vows to annex West Bank 21:52 Israel attacks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres 23:42 Trump's UN ambassador pick Elise Stefanik 24:26 Trump withdrew US from UN Human Rights Council 25:15 Biden-Harris administration 25:54 UN experts warn Gaza war destroys international law 27:42 Outro

The Western alliance is divided over Israel, after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, charging him with crimes against humanity in Gaza. The United States is threatening sanctions. Ben Norton discusses the severe political crisis in the "rules-based order". VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqBtZxSYwaU Here you can see the September 2024 UN vote demanding an end to Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/09/19/end-israel-occupation-palestine-un-vote/ Topics 0:00 ICC issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu 0:25 West divides over Israel 0:57 US politicians threaten allies 1:35 UN accuses Israel of g-cide 3:03 Israel is ethnically cleansing Gaza 3:41 ICC tries to save its reputation 4:36 ICC delayed arrest warrants for 6 months 5:01 US sent Israel $18 billion in military aid in 1 year 5:25 US pressure on ICC 6:20 (CLIP) US Senator Lindsey Graham warns: "We're next!" 6:44 Biden attacks ICC 7:27 The "rules-based international order" 7:55 Senator Tom Cotton wants to invade the Hague 8:25 Hague Invasion Act 9:27 Trump officials threaten ICC 10:07 Trump sanctioned ICC personnel 11:23 House of Representatives calls to sanction ICC 12:14 Australia, Canada, UK support ICC 13:54 Senator Lindsey Graham threatens US allies 14:31 (CLIP) Lindsey Graham calls to sanction US allies 14:53 US threatens Western allies 15:27 EU backs ICC arrest warrants 16:32 France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland back ICC 16:51 UN vote on Israel-Palestine 17:33 Viktor Orbán's Hungary supports Israel, attacks ICC 18:24 Javier Milei's Argentina backs Netanyahu 19:17 Germany refuses to honor ICC warrant 19:48 West is split on Israel 20:49 Outro

US politicians and media outlets complain about China's growing global influence, but offer no alternatives to help countries develop. China has the world's largest economy, produces inexpensive manufactured goods everyone wants, invests trillions in infrastructure, and doesn't interfere in internal affairs of foreign nations. Ben Norton compares what Washington and Beijing have done in Latin America, especially Peru and Nicaragua. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRpe7W4vxHY Topics 0:00 US politicians fearmonger about China 1:32 Non-interventionist foreign policy vs US wars 2:21 China: world's largest economy & manufacturer 3:49 China: biggest trading partner of most countries 4:36 Latin America 6:48 Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) 9:19 US alternative: tariffs & privatized infrastructure 11:42 BlackRock plans to buy up infrastructure 12:39 BlackRock CEO Larry Fink at G7 summit 13:49 China builds Peru's Chancay mega-port 15:56 USA threatens Latin America over Chinese-built port 18:09 US-backed coup in Peru 19:47 USA sells Peru old trains from 1980s 21:31 What US offers vs what China offers 23:40 Nicaragua canal plans 25:04 US attacks on Nicaragua's Sandinista Revolution 26:10 Why China is winning influence 29:02 Outro

To run the US military in his second term, Donald Trump has nominated as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a neoconservative self-declared "crusader" who is eager for a Western civilizational war on China and Iran. Ben Norton reviews the extremely hawkish history of the Fox News host turned likely Pentagon chief. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9WBjcfVhu4 Topics 0:00 Trump's defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth 0:31 An "American Crusade" (against China & Iran) 1:53 Hegseth called on Trump to bomb Iran 4:44 Trying to divide China & Russia 5:39 Fearmongering about BRICS & de-dollarization 7:48 "Axis of Evil": neocon ideology 8:26 Neocolonialism in Latin America 9:47 Preparing for war with China 11:33 Outro

Donald Trump has appointed neoconservative Marco Rubio to oversee US foreign policy as secretary of state. Ben Norton reviews his extremely hawkish record pushing for war on China, Iran, and beyond, as well as the Florida senator's shady support for his drug lord brother-in-law, Orlando Cicilia, who was imprisoned for trafficking $15 million in cocaine. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ncw2VCsJFI Topics 0:00 Intro 0:32 China is threat to US unipolar dominance 1:21 Rubio loves Israel 1:55 Rubio wants "disproportionate" attack on Iran 2:25 Religious fundamentalism 3:47 China is "far more dangerous than the cold war" 4:33 Neocolonialism in Latin America 6:03 Rubio wants USA to invade Venezuela 6:25 Monroe Doctrine 7:42 China and Latin America 8:39 Scapegoating China 9:28 Chinagate: the new McCarthyism 10:55 Censorship 11:41 Rubio wants to censor "disinformation" 12:08 Threatening Mexico 13:05 Rubio's shady links to drug lord brother-in-law 14:02 Outro

Donald Trump has nominated warmongering neoconservatives to run his foreign policy, including Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, Mike Waltz as National Security Advisor, Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary, John Ratcliffe as CIA Director, and Elise Stefanik as UN Ambassador. Ben Norton reports on their extremely hawkish views. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwsrUUkDBWg Topics 0:00 Trump's warmongering cabinet 3:54 Strategy: try to divide Russia & China 5:05 Summary of foreign policy of Trump's 1st term 8:31 Mike Waltz, National Security Advisor 12:49 Pete Hegseth, Defense Secretary 19:52 Neocolonialism in Latin America 23:00 Marco Rubio, Secretary of State 29:20 John Ratcliffe, CIA Director 32:07 Elise Stefanik, UN Ambassador 34:53 Outro

How will the return of Donald Trump as US president affect the world? What will his foreign policy and economic strategy be? Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJQKIwe2BYo Topics 0:00 Intro 0:33 Summary of Trump's foreign policy 10:44 Neocons in Trump's cabinet 14:41 China 18:48 Tariffs & trade with China 24:47 US dollar & re-industrialization 29:39 Protectionism 37:01 Russia & Ukraine 42:23 Israel-Palestine 44:31 Iran 46:36 Middle East (West Asia): Yemen, Iraq, Syria 49:41 Latin America: Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia 53:17 Africa 54:32 Europe 56:11 Japan & South Korea 57:53 Outro

Donald Trump won the 2024 US presidential election in a landslide. Why did Kamala Harris lose so badly? Ben Norton explains the failure of the billionaire-funded Democratic Party to provide an economic alternative to the billionaire-funded Republicans' pseudo "populism", as working-class people suffer. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSBi0m5xCJs Topics 0:00 Donald Trump wins 2024 presidential election 1:07 Who really is Kamala Harris? Does anyone know? 4:42 DNC strategy: sacrifice workers for moderate Republicans in suburbs 5:48 Harris campaigns with neoconservative Cheney family 6:56 Harris had no democratic mandate 7:42 Out-trumping Trump on immigration? Really? 8:04 Hillary Clinton 2.0 10:05 Low Democrat turnout 11:12 The status quo loses 12:34 Dems' extreme pro-Israel stance lost swing state voters 16:01 Rashida Tlaib & Ilhan Omar won; Harris lost 17:37 "Never Trump Republicans" barely exist 18:30 It's the economy, stupid 20:09 US GDP growth is not benefiting workers 21:39 Wealth inequality 22:32 Poverty & hunger increased under Biden-Harris 23:33 Trump scapegoats 24:09 (CLIP) Trump vows: "We are going to take other countries' jobs" 24:58 Trump's false promises 25:27 Deindustrialization 26:22 Immigration 28:40 Trump's tax cuts help rich elites, hurt workers 31:12 Billionaires Elon Musk & Stephen Schwarzman funded Trump 32:11 Inflation, debt, deficits 35:11 Tariffs 35:40 Conclusion