Rania Khalek Dispatches

Last April, Pakistan’s Imran Khan was ousted as Prime Minister, which he blamed on an American-backed coup due to his non-aligned foreign policy. His removal has been followed by political instability that continues to roil the country with some of the largest protests in Pakistan’s history, both in support of him but also in opposition to the traditional ruling elites. The current government has responded by cracking down on Khan and his supporters, and preventing new elections. To help us understand what happened and what we can expect, Rania Khalek was joined by Junaid Ahmad – Professor of Religion, Law, and Global Politics and Director of the Center for the Study of Islam and Decoloniality in Islamabad, Pakistan. This is just the first half of this episode. The second half is available for Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content. Junaid’s article discussed in the episode: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/03/15/pakistan-coup-regime-arrest-imran-khan/

Since taking office in 2018, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO, has reasserted more state control over Mexico’s natural resources, nationalizing its lithium reserves, while vocally opposing US interference in Mexico. So it’s no surprise that the corporate media in Washington is following along with the program of labeling him a strongman, an authoritarian, and anti-democratic. while U.S. politicians like Lindsay Graham invoke drugs and violence to threaten military intervention. To discuss what’s really going on, Rania Khalek was joined by Kurt Hackbarth, a journalist who writes on Mexico and Latin America for Jacobin Magazine. This is just the first half of this episode. The second half is available for Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content. 

With Saudi Arabia and Iran making peace as part of a deal brokered by China, much has been made about the absence of the U.S. and what it means for U.S. hegemony. But what about the implications for the region? What might it look like in practice? Who are the potential spoilers? And why did this happen now? Also, what does it mean for the U.S. empire's greatest global partner, Europe? To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Adnan Tabatabai, the co-founder and CEO of the Germany-based think tank CARPO and an Iran analyst who has advised European policymakers and facilitated Saudi-Iran dialogue. This is just the first half of this episode. The second half is available for Breakthrough News Members only. https://www.patreon.com/posts/full-audio-saudi-81865541Become a member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content. 

The historic deal brokered by China for a Saudi-Iran rapprochement reflects not only a changing region, but a shifting world order. While the US focuses on its proxy war in Ukraine, with US officials essentially blocking meaningful peace discussion both there and in Yemen, its “strategic competitor” China now looks like the adult in the room. Its diplomatic initiatives have become a force for stability in the biggest conflict regions, from Yemen to Syria. To better understand what's going on and what we can expect, Rania Khalek was joined by Mohammad Marandi, professor of English literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran, Iran. This is just the first half of this episode with Professor Marandi. The second half is available for Breakthrough News Members only. Become a member at Patreon.com/BreakthroughNews to access the full episode and other exclusive content. 

Rania Khalek of Breakthrough News and Zoe Alexandra of Peoples Dispatch sat down with Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum, the head of government in Mexico City and one of the founders of Morena, the party of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. She is a rising figure in Mexican national politics and a leading contender for the 2024 presidential elections.

Before 2011, Syria was a relatively stable country that had decent electricity, one of the best medical sectors in the region and produced much of its own food and medicine. Today Syria has collapsing infrastructure, dire food insecurity, crippling fuel shortages, severe brain drain and only has control over part of the country’s territory. Mainstream US media places all the blame on President Assad while covering up the role of US sanctions. To discuss the decades-long US war on Syria, Rania Khalek was joined by Greg Shupak, author of the book “The Wrong Story: Palestine, Israel, and the Media” published by OR books. Greg also has a chapter in the book “Sanctions As War: Anti-Imperialist Perspectives on American Geo-Economic Strategy,” which was published by Brill and Haymarket.You can find the book here: https://brill.com/display/title/61285?language=en 

When most people in the West think of the war in Ukraine, they think of February 24, 2022 when Russia launched its invasion. But for 8 years prior, there had been a war raging in the eastern part of the country that received little attention because its reality was inconvenient for mainstream Western narratives.In the Donbas region, an estimated 15,000 people had died following what many there described as a US-backed coup in 2014 that gave rise to an anti-Russia government and helped empower far-right sentiments across Ukraine. To discuss the war in the Donbas, Rania Khalek was joined by Fergie Chambers of Berkshire Communists and a journalist who recently published a piece in Globetrotter about his time in the Donbas, titled “A Donbas Diary: Looking Back at Early Stages of Conflict in Ukraine.”Fergie’s article discussed in this episode: https://www.newsclick.in/donbas-diary-looking-back-early-stages-conflict-ukraine?ampYou can listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW 

To discuss the war on whistleblowers, the U.S. government’s prosecution of Julian Assange and how the case against him poses a threat to journalism everywhere, Rania Khalek spoke to Kevin Gosztola, managing editor of Shadowproof, co-host of the Unauthorized Disclosure podcast and author of the newly published book “Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange.” You can purchase Kevin’s book here: https://www.project-censored.org/shop/p/guilty-of-journalism-the-political-case-against-julian-assange Follow Kevin’s work at Shadowproof: https://shadowproof.com/ You can listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW 

Whatever happened to Ukraine’s foreign fighters? What are the parallels between Syria and Ukraine? And where does the Cold War against China fit into it? To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by investigative journalist Seth Harp, a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and author of the forthcoming book The Delta Force Murders, which will be published by Viking Press.Seth’s articles discussed in the episode:https://theintercept.com/2022/06/30/ukraine-azov-neo-nazi-foreign-fighter/https://harpers.org/archive/2022/07/searching-from-the-ukrainian-foreign-legion/ https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/09/19/putting-ukrainian-battle-successes-into-cold-hard-perspective/ You can listen to all episodes of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW 

Africa’s Sahel region is experiencing historic shifts as anti-colonial sentiment sweeps across the region, with the French military being kicked out of one country after another after failing to rout insurgencies fueled by their own policies. France and its allies have responded by blaming disinformation, authoritarianism, and the west’s favorite boogeyman: Russia. Meanwhile the security situation in the Sahel continues to deteriorate.To help break it all down, Breakthrough News journalist Eugene Puryear joined Rania Khalek on Dispatches.