Stephen M. Walt, professor of international relations at Harvard University, discusses the scheduled high-level meetings between US and Iranian officials at the UN; why "talking to our adversaries should be routine" in US foreign policy; the increasingly discredited "mad mullah" excuse for not negotiating with Iranian leaders; and why John Kerry has no chance for success with Israel-Palestine talks.

Dan Johnson, Founder and President of PANDA (People Against the NDAA), discusses all the Constitution-killing provisions snuck into giant defense appropriations bills; fighting terrorism through civilian criminal trials instead of wars and military tribunals; Obama's weasel-words on whether Americans can be subject to indefinite military detention; and how PANDA is effecting change from the bottom up.

Thomas C. Mountain, an independent journalist based in Eritrea, discusses the history of al-Shabaab and the context of the Nairobi mall siege; why al-Shabaab has become a mercenary army; Kenya's blowback from repeated military incursions in Somalia; the Saudi royal family's financial backing for Wahhabi groups including al-Shabaab; and the lack of news on mass starvation and refugees in the Horn of Africa.

Gareth Porter, an independent investigative journalist and historian, discusses the possibility of an Obama-Rouhani meeting and a diplomatic breakthrough in US-Iran relations; why the Israel lobby's defeat on Syria doesn't mean their hold on Congress has slipped on Iran issues; Iran's use of the Fordo nuclear facility as a reduced-sanctions bargaining chip; profiting from arms sales and continual low-grade war in the Middle East; and why it suddenly seems possible to bring the US war machine...

John Glaser, a writer for Antiwar.com and The Huffington Post, discusses how US obsession with regime change is ruining any chance for a deal on Iran's nuclear program; how US foreign policy became completely disconnected from the national interest; learning from Libya, Iraq and N. Korea that nuclear weapons are indeed deterrents to invasion/regime change; and why Obama needed a terrorism waiver to arm Syrian rebels.

Charles Goyette, author of Red and Blue and Broke All Over, discusses the growing divide between rich and poor in America; why Americans don't know even basic facts about how the Federal Reserve operates; and the wealthy enclaves of government workers/contractors who continue prospering during the recession.

Peter Ludlow, Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University, discusses the unusual evidence prosecutors used to win a gag order against jailed journalist Barrett Brown; the inversion of the rule of law; the true moral compass of young whistleblowers and hacktivists; and why reform is impossible using the traditional chain of command.

Daniel Larison, senior editor at The American Conservative, discusses the progress of the Russian-brokered deal on disarming Syria of chemical weapons; why US interest in Syria is really about threatening Iran and appeasing Israel; the disastrous 2003 Iraq War "strategy;" and the antiwar streak running through the Republican Party.

M.J. Rosenberg, Special Correspondent for The Washington Spectator, discusses the glorious defeat of neoconservative/AIPAC plans for war in Syria; Israel's continuing rightward drift; and why the Republican party rift between hawks and neo-isolationists is overblown.

Muhammad Sahimi, political columnist and professor of chemical engineering, discusses reports that Iran is willing to close the Fordo nuclear facility in exchange for lifted sanctions; President Rouhani's attempts at moderation and diplomatic outreach; and Iran's legal foundation to sue European nations for enforcing crippling sanctions.