

The Bottom Line
Al Jazeera
A weekly take on US politics and policies and how they affect the world.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 28, 2023 • 24min
Is the US in trouble in the Middle East? | The Bottom Line
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

Oct 21, 2023 • 24min
Why does the US not support a ceasefire in Gaza? | The Bottom Line
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

Oct 12, 2023 • 24min
Stephen Walt: US, Israeli strategy on Palestine has failed | The Bottom Line
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.

Oct 5, 2023 • 24min
Is this the end of large-scale support for the war in Ukraine? | The Bottom Line
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

Sep 28, 2023 • 24min
How worried are Americans about their choices in the 2024 vote? | The Bottom Line
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.

Sep 21, 2023 • 24min
Andrew Yang: Americans are fed up with both Republicans and Democrats | The Bottom Line
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".

Sep 14, 2023 • 24min
The Oslo peace accords: Historic achievement or historic tragedy? | The Bottom Line
The peace treaty signed by Palestinian and Israeli leaders on 13 September 1993 was a game-changer.The Oslo Accords, brokered by Norwegian diplomats, were supposed to be a five-year plan. Palestinians achieved some degree of self-rule in disjointed parts of their historic homeland in return for recognising Israel as a legitimate state.Three decades later, the Oslo plan still governs the relationship between the Palestinians and the Israelis – but a lasting peaceful relationship between the two sides is as unattainable as ever.Host Steve Clemons asks Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti and Israeli politician Yossi Beilin about what went wrong.

Sep 7, 2023 • 24min
Is it time for a ‘reset’ of the US strategy in Africa? | The Bottom Line
The days of Africa's resources being used to benefit Western powers instead of the African people are dwindling, argues the former representative of the African Union to the United States, Arikana Chihombori-Quao.Although a string of recent coups may give the impression that African nations are turning their back on the West, and looking more towards Russia and China, this is an oversimplification, according to the former diplomat.She tells The Bottom Line host Steve Clemons that the US would be wise to decouple its policy from that of France if it wants to regain trust on the continent.

Aug 31, 2023 • 24min
Jaron Lanier: Artificial intelligence is not a threat to humans | The Bottom Line
What if the fears of artificial intelligence are unfounded? Is AI nothing more than a “mashup” of everything available online? And is there zero possibility that machines could one day build other machines, making humans irrelevant?Earlier this month, host Steve Clemons spoke with computer scientist Jaan Tallinn, who argues that AI poses an existential risk to humans.This week, Steve talks with computer scientist Jaron Lanier for a totally different take: Humanity has nothing to fear. Lanier argues that we’ve been conditioned to fear that technology will reach the point of sentient being – fears perpetuated by science fiction.

Aug 25, 2023 • 24min
After the first US Republican debate: Who’s up, who’s down? | The Bottom Line
Eight of the nine Republican candidates vying for their party’s nomination to run for president of the United States next year held their first debate and exposed the divisions inside today’s Republican Party.Most agreed to support former president Donald Trump if he ends up winning the nomination.They all demanded more security at the country’s southern border, and some called for military action inside Mexico to stem the supply of fentanyl amid high US demand.Host Steve Clemons asks Republican former Congressman Rodney Davis and Semafor reporter Shelby Talcott about which candidates have a chance at progressing as Trump holds a commanding lead.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