Rania Khalek Dispatches

The Saudis, backed by the Americans, have been waging a war against Yemen since 2015, causing massive civilian casualties as well as famine and a cholera epidemic. How did Yemen get here? Yemen’s modern history is fascinating and overlooked, and few are aware of the Marxist republic that existed in South Yemen from 1967 to 1990. To help place recent events in their historical context, Rania Khalek was joined by Helen Lackner, a research associate at SOAS, visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and the author of several books, including, “Yemen in Crisis: The Road to War.” And she has a forthcoming book “Yemen: Poverty & Conflict” (Routledge). 

Rania Khalek spoke with writer and conflict mediator Michael Vatikiotis about his latest book exploring the lost history of Europeans fleeing to safety in the Middle East over a century ago. Vatikiotis discusses recent developments in Myanmar, China and Southeast Asia. He is the Asia director at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a leading conflict resolution organization. 

The Game of Thrones politics of Kurdistan is fascinating and neglected, involving family and tribal dictators, international intrigue from the likes of Turkey, Iran and Israel, and the elusive PKK. Rania Khalek spoke with Kamal Chomani, a political analyst from Iraqi Kurdistan. They discussed the nuances of the political parties that make up the leadership in Iraqi Kurdistan, their relationship to the Iraqi government and its neighbors, the plight of the Yazidis, the Kurdish issue in other parts of the Middle East and more.

In February, the Chinese government celebrated the eradication of extreme poverty within its borders. This would be a massive achievement for any country, but for China it’s even more so as it is home to some 1.4 billion people and is considered a developing country. China is credited with lifting over 800 million people out of poverty, which accounts for 70 percent of the world’s total poverty reduction. This is an incredible feat and it’s worth understanding how China did it.   To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Tings Chak, a researcher at the Tricontinental Institute, a member of Dongsheng News collective and lead author of the report “Serve the People: The Eradication of Extreme Poverty in China.” Read the report: https://thetricontinental.org/studies...   Follow Dongsheng News: https://youtube.com/c/DongshengNews  

Rania Khalek was joined by @Daniel Dumbrill , a political commentator on China-related issues who is based in Shenzhen, to speak about his experiences in Hong Kong, his recent trip to Xinjiang and how it relates to America's new Cold War. 

As the situation in Ethiopia continues to escalate, the war over narratives is in full force. Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? Is it even that black and white? Is the TPLF fighting a war for liberation of the Tigrayan people against a cruel government or is it executing a war of aggression to regain power after losing it? And what should we make of recent developments such as the Oromo Liberation Front joining the TPLF in its fight against the state? What does it all mean for the greater Horn region? To help make sense of all of this and place it in its proper historical context, Rania Khalek was joined by Mohamed Hassan, who served as an Ethiopian diplomat in the 1990s before resigning in protest of the TPLF. He was also a member of the Ethiopian student movement in the 1970s. And he just returned from a visit to Ethiopia and Eritrea. 

All eyes are on Afghanistan as the Taliban has rapidly taken over the entire country. Most coverage is focused on what this means for the US. But in reality, the West is removed and distant, Iran, on the other hand, is Afghanistan's neighbor and hosts about 2 million official or unofficial Afghan refugees and will likely absorb even more. Iran had a bad relationship with the Taliban in the 90s, which killed its diplomat. Iran now has to deal with this new reality on its border.To discuss this and other developments in and around Iran, including sanctions, covid, nuclear deal negotiations, and talks with Saudi Arabia, Rania Khalek, was joined by Mohammad Marandi, professor of English literature and orientalism at the University of Tehran.

Rania Khalek was joined by Daniel Bessner, associate professor of international studies at the University of Washington and co-host of the podcast American Prestige, to talk about US foreign policy under Biden. What’s changed? What hasn’t changed? Is the US empire collapsing? And what should a progressive foreign policy look like?

Rania Khalek was joined by Jordan Chariton, journalist and co-founder of Status Coup, to discuss the massive cover-up of the toxic water scandal in Flint, the ongoing eviction crisis in spite of the moratorium, corporate Democrats tanking Nina Turner’s campaign, and the crisis in left media, where censorship and underhanded algorithms suppress content that challenges the corporate media line as the left media ecosystem has descended into a bickering match between personalities. 

It's been one year since the Beirut port exploded, killing over 200 people and wounding thousands. And it's been almost two years since Lebanon's Ponzi scheme economy started crashing.The West often blames the devastation that has befallen Lebanon on government mismanagement, sectarianism, bureaucratic incompetence, internal corruption, and their favorite boogeyman, Hezbollah. But you can't speak honestly about Lebanon's problems without mentioning the constant US, Saudi, and Israeli meddling, western imperialism, the neoliberal dystopia that was imposed on Lebanon, and US sanctions. And you can't isolate Lebanon from destructive US policies in the countries surrounding it, from Syria and Iraq to Iran and Palestine. To discuss how Lebanon got to where it is, Rania Khalek was joined by Jamal Ghosn, a columnist at the leftist Lebanese newspaper, Al Akhbar. Follow Jamal Ghosn on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamalghosn