Muhammad Sahimi, professor of chemical engineering at USC, discusses his optimism about the Iranian nuclear framework agreement; healing the US-Iran rift that has persisted since 1979; the complicated sanctions rollback plan; and the Obama administration's struggle against hardliners in Congress.

Ramzy Baroud, a columnist and founder of PalestineChronicle.com, discusses how Palestinians can defeat apartheid in the wake of Benjamin Netanyahu's reelection campaign statement (later retracted) that he opposes Palestinian statehood.

Reese Erlich, author of Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect, discusses why an Iranian nuclear deal would be a win-win proposition for the US and Iran; and the few remaining obstacles that could derail an agreement now and in the future.

Gareth Porter, an independent journalist and historian , discusses why the Obama administration is so reluctant to lift sanctions on Iran, even as negotiations on a nuclear deal seem to be near completion.

Philip Giraldi, a former CIA officer and Executive Director of The Council for the National Interest, discusses why the US should declare independence from Israel and end the "special relationship" that allows Israel to receive all the benefits and make none of the sacrifices.

Sheldon Richman, vice president of The Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses why we don't really need government to protect our lives and property.

Retired USAF Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski discusses her firsthand observation in 2002-03 of the Bush administration's Office of Special Plans - a propaganda mill staffed by neoconservatives who were determined to start a war in Iraq by any means necessary.

Major Todd E. Pierce, a former JAG defense attorney at Guantanamo, discusses how the neoconservative philosophy of American and Israeli "exceptionalism" resembles pre-Nazi German fascism/authoritarianism.