Professor Isa Blumi joins me for part 2 of our series on Yemen. We pick up in the late 90’s after Ali Abdullah Saleh has come to power in a unified Yemen. Isa discusses Saleh’s strategy of sowing chaos all over the country in order to maintain absolute power. Isa talks about Saleh’s use of extreme violence, and his reliance on US power. We then explore how the so called Arab Spring played out in Yemen. We discuss the orchestrated nature of the movement, and how is sought to control the very real desires of the Yemeni public. Isa touches on people like Tawakkol Karman and her role as a US proxy during the Arab Spring. Isa brings us all the way to Saleh’s assassination and the current state of Yemen.
Later we talk about the role that Al Qaeda plays on Yemen as a bogey man. We discuss how the US used Yemen as playground for their eventual global drone program. We address the fight going on between Saudi Arabia and the UAE in Yemen. Isa also explains the political history of Ansar Allah (Houthis) and how they are not an Iranian proxy force.
For my Boxing Day Special I am joined by goof friend Tom Secker. We have a lengthy discussion about the year 2017, our ups and down’s, and some of our favorite and least favorite news stories of the year. We begin by discussing our favorite news stories of the year. Next Tom and I move onto what we felt was the most important news story of the year. We discuss why the War in Yemen and the defeat of ISIS constitute this title. Tom and I also discuss the significance of the #MeToo movement, and some of the problems we have with the way in which the media is covering it. We then move one the most over blown stories of the year, focusing mainly on Russiagate and Pizzagate. Next we talk about our favorite films and TV shows of the year. I of course picked anime for mine. Lastly we talk about our favorite Trump moments of 2017. We finish off by talking about the sort of year we have had and why Tom and I are quite proud of what we have accomplished.
This is a laid back if slightly zanier episode. So sit back, relax, and enjoy our Boxing Day end of the year special.
JP Sottile of NewsVandal.com joins me in the first hour to discuss the decline of the US empire. We begin by discussing the continued decline of the US media. JP and I touch on the the ways in which the US media (particularly TV) has become ever more enamored with the cult of celebrity. We discuss the ways in which the TV talking heads will obsess over a single tweet by Trump while actual real news is happening all around us. JP and I speculate over the reasons for this trend, and why the media loves to distract us with “news items” about presidential tweets. We also touch on the lighting speed with which the news cycle now runs at. Later JP and I talk about the decline of US dominance globally and how this may explain why we are seeing so many violent conflicts erupting across the globe. JP focuses on the numerous crises in the Middle East, and how they are being exploited in order to stave of the eventual death of both the US and Saudi Arabia.
I begin the second hour by briefly touching on the arrest and escape of former Georgian President JP Saakashvili. I then turn my attention to the recent murder of former president of Yemen Ali Abduallah Saleh. I give a brief look at the recent history of modern Yemen and how it has continually been used by regional and world powers. I also talk about the Arab Spring which ousted Saleh and his return to power in 2015 with the Houthi movement. I then explore the Houthi’s and attempt to explain some of the complexities surrounding their political movement. The issue of Iranian support for them is also explored. I finish off by discussing my displeasure with some of the political rhetoric from left which appears to be supporting war against Saudi Arabia. I talk about the problems with choosing sides in any war and Yemen in particular. I also talk about how this still fits into the US/Saudi narrative of their being a “good” and “bad” side in this war.
Today I am joined by friend of the show Caram Kapp. Caram was last on episode 42 The Homeland Hackers, and returns to discuss the Egyptian uprising six years later. We start off by discussing the basics of the uprising and some of the behind the scenes actors. Caram explains his own experiences as an Egyptian, and as someone who was there on the ground around this time. We touch on the rumors of Western manipulation and how some of these allegations have overshadowed the real life grievances of the Egyptian populace and their reasons for wanting to get rid of Mubarak. Caram and I then move onto the two most important actors of the revolution (The Muslim Brotherhood and the Army) and how they became the ultimate arbiters of the revolution. Caram talks about his time in Cairo just after Brotherhood leader Muhammad Morsi was elected. Caram describes the parallels between Morsi and his brief tenure as president to that of Donald Trump. We talk about similarities in both personality and demeanor, as well as the ways in which Morsi represented “change” and ran on a campaign of making “Egypt Great Again.” Caram and I also discuss the notion that Morsi or those around him were well aware of the realities and influence of the Egyptian military, and understood that they may have been used as a stopgap to put the military back in place.
We expand on this more in the second hour exploring other parallels between Trump, Morsi, and current Egyptian President al-Sisi. Caram and I look at the ways in which al-Sisi and Trump have managed to normalize the military and the police, even when engaging in extreme behavior. Later Caram and I look at some of the recent geopolitical developments in Egypt and how they mirror actions here in the US. We look at the escalating tensions between Sudan and Egypt over the contested Halayeb Triangle and how this mimics Trump’s rhetoric against Mexico. Caram and I also discuss the current state of Egyptian media which like the revolution has returned right back to where it started. Caram and I finish off by looking at where Egypt may be headed and why it has lost influence within the Arab world, and has become one of the forgotten aspects of the Arab Spring.
Porkins Policy Review 