Rania Khalek Dispatches from the Underclass
/ October 29, 2021 / Leave a comment

Reckless U.S. Provocations Over Taiwan Risk War with China

As tensions heat up over Taiwan, everything the U.S. does is depicted as defensive while everything China does is framed as menacing, aggressive and authoritarian. But the island’s history has been totally left out of the coverage.

How did Taiwan come to be? Is it part of China? How has the U.S. used Taiwan as a weapon against China both historically and today? Is there a similar situation with Tibet? With Xinjiang? With Hong Kong? Is this really about supporting self-determination and independence or part of a strategy by the U.S. to break up and weaken its greatest adversary?

To discuss this, Rania Khalek was joined by Ken Hammond, Professor of East Asian and Global History at New Mexico State University and an activist with the organization Pivot to Peace.

Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

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China
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/ October 29, 2021 / Leave a comment

Is a Multipolar World the Answer to U.S. Imperialism? w/ Vijay Prashad

Is there a growing resistance to the unipolar imperial order? Is the US an empire in decline? Will the future be a multipolar one? If so, what does that mean ans how should the left in the imperialist core respond? To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Vijay Prashad, Executive Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and author of “Washington Bullets: A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations.”

Uncategorized
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/ October 25, 2021 / Leave a comment

US Kidnapping of Venezuelan Diplomat Alex Saab: Illegal & Dangerous Act of Piracy

Venezuela’s special diplomatic envoy, Alex Saab, was extradited to the U.S. on Oct. 16 after 491 days of detention and imprisonment in Cape Verde. His alleged crime? Helping the Venezuelan government evade crippling US sanctions to procure fuel, medicine and food. His detention sets a dangerous precedent in violation of all diplomatic protocol and kicks off a new, disturbing phase of the US hybrid war on Venezuela.

To break down the significance of Saab’s case, Rania Khalek was joined by Zoe Alexandra, a journalist at Peoples Dispatch, which you can follow here: https://peoplesdispatch.org/

Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

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Latin America, Venezuela
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/ October 25, 2021 / Leave a comment

Why Is Eritrea Demonized By the West?

Eritrea is the most demonized and sanctioned African country. Why? It’s not human rights abuses because there are far worse governments the U.S. supports. Eritrea also has better social indicators of health care and education than its pro-U.S. counterparts. Washington’s real problem with Eritrea is that it’s an independent country that refuses to be a client state that serves Western interests.

To help break it down, Rania Khalek was joined by Eugene Puryear, a journalist for Breakthrough News and host of The Punch Out podcast.

This clip is from a longer interview with Eugene on the conflict in Ethiopia. You can watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/T2deexE3AxU

Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

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Africa
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/ October 16, 2021 / Leave a comment

Crisis In Ethiopia: Breaking Through the Propaganda, w/ Eugene Puryear

The U.S. and EU have accused Ethiopia of every atrocity imaginable and now they’re preparing sanctions. The Ethiopian government insists that it’s legitimately fighting a separatist group, the formerly ruling TPLF, which is attempting to regain power through violence and terrorism.

Who’s telling the truth? What explains the one-sided media coverage? How do Eritrea and Sudan fit into it all? What’s driving Washington’s destabilizing policies in the Horn of Africa, which have alienated a longtime U.S. ally? To help cut through the fog of war, Rania Khalek was joined by Eugene Puryear, a journalist for Breakthrough News and host of The Punch Out podcast.

You can watch an earlier interview with Eugene Puryear on the war in Ethiopia here: https://youtu.be/EDTmNZFaoLU

Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

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Africa
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/ October 16, 2021 / Leave a comment

Lebanon Rocked by Violence as Fascist Christian Militia Guns-Down Protesters

Unarmed protesters affiliated with Hezbollah and Amal were gunned down by the Saudi-backed Lebanese Forces militia in Beirut on Thursday, October 14, provoking a sectarian gun battle that risked igniting a civil war.

Why did this happen? Why are some trying to pin the blame on Hezbollah? And what’s with the media obscuring the fact that it was a fascist group behind the violence, the same group responsible for the 1982 massacre of hundreds of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps?

Rania Khalek, journalist and host of the Breakthrough News program Dispatches, breaks it all down.

Lebanon
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/ October 12, 2021 / Leave a comment

How U.S. Meddling Distorted Russian Politics, w/ Leftist Alexey Sakhnin

In the American mind, Russia is associated with the Soviet Union — the red menace — and long standing Russophobia clearly echoes in the coverage of Putin today. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) officially received 19 percent of the vote, but the KPRF claims their vote totals were suppressed. What explains the recent election results, does Putin remain popular, and how does American interference influence Russian politics?

Rania Khalek was joined by Russian leftist, journalist and activist Alexey Sakhnin, whose work has appeared at Jacobin and New Left Review.

You can listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts. Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW

Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/BreakThroughNews

Russia
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/ October 12, 2021 / Leave a comment

Killing Modernity: How the US & Britain Destroyed the Afghan Left, w/ Vijay Prashad

It’s been 20 years since the US invaded Afghanistan. As the US finally withdrew, Taliban control over Afghanistan has been portrayed as inevitable. But what happened to the other political forces in the country? The war on Afghanistan didn’t really start in 2001. US meddling goes back to the 1970s and British meddling even further.

Most people don’t know that there have been liberal, secular nationalist and communist Afghan forces who tried to transform their country but were prevented from doing so by Western imperial powers who supported religious and tribal conservatives to maintain control.

To make sense of it all and to uncover some of this buried history, Rania Khalek was joined by Vijay Prashad, Executive Director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research and author of the book “Washington Bullets: A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations.”

You can listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts. Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW

Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/BreakThroughNews

Afghanistan
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/ September 29, 2021 / Leave a comment

Voices from the African Left: China vs the US & the New Cold War

Western governments along with their loyal media and think tanks warn that China is colonizing, exploiting, and forcing Africa into a debt trap. Is this true? Or is it Cold War propaganda? What is China’s actual role in Africa and how does it compare with the West’s?

To help us understand what’s really happening, Rania Khalek was joined by two leading African leftists: Mikaela Nhondo Erskog, an educator and researcher with Pan Africanism Today, a researcher at the Tricontinental Institute, and a member of the organizing committee of No Cold War. And Kambale Musavuli, an activist, writer, and analyst with the Center for Research on the Congo.

Read the report Erskog worked on, “Defending Our Sovereignty: US Military Bases in Africa and the Future of African Unity”, here: https://thetricontinental.org/dossier-42-militarisation-africa/https://thetricontinental.org/dossier…

You can listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK

Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW

Africa, China
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/ September 29, 2021 / Leave a comment

Covid’s Capitalist Roots

Anti-scientific conspiracy theories are spreading, not just among the right, but even even among some segments of the left.

To address this issue from a Marxist perspective, Rania Khalek spoke with Rob Wallace, an evolutionary epidemiologist at the Agroecology and Rural Economics Research Corps in St. Paul and author of “Dead Epidemiologists: On the Origins of COVID-19.”

You can listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK

Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW

covid
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