Trita Parsi comes back on the show to recap the Quincy Institute’s recent conference in Washington D.C., which put pro-restraint and pro-interventionist figures on panels together to debate the merits of America’s foreign policy status quo. Some from the antiwar movement have been critical of Parsi’s organization for not being radical enough, but Parsi reiterates that an “inside game” is going to look different from an “outside game”, and that while the absolutely pure antiwar position is...

Danny Sjursen discusses the recent deal to withdraw most of the U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He begins by describing the reactions of his military friends to the idea that this deal represents “surrender” to the Taliban, which some on the right would have you believe. On the contrary, says Sjursen, most veterans, including all of his friends, support ending the war, and many say that we should do so as soon as possible. If anything, Sjursen is critical of this deal because it doesn’t go far...

Scott talks to Baltimore lawyer Steven Silverman about a 2009 case involving the alleged illegal cavity search of his client by Baltimore police. Silverman’s client claimed that Officer Shakil Moss stopped him without cause and conducted the cavity search in public in the middle of the day, which was later confirmed through DNA analysis by the department’s internal affairs unit. It was later discovered that a group of officers conducted many such unconstitutional stops, and some of them have...

Scott talks to Peter Van Buren about the resurgence of the narrative that Russia is interfering in American elections, this time in the form of apparent support both for Trump’s reelection and for Bernie Sanders to get the Democratic nomination. Van Buren notes that fortunately voters don’t seem to be buying it this time around—both Trump and Sanders’ approval ratings improved in the days following the stories about supposed Russian interference. But he warns that we should always be wary of...

Scott has Bob Murphy on the show to explain the Austrian School’s view of the boom and bust cycle in the American economy. Murphy explains why the Keynesians are wrong to assert that booms and busts are simply an inherent feature of capitalism. In fact, it is intervention in the free market by central banks—in particular the fact that they control the interest rate, which should be the free-floating price of borrowing money—that contribute to years of misallocation of resources. Eventually,...

Marjorie Cohn discusses the attempted extradition of Julian Assange from Britain to the United States so that he can stand trial for alleged violations of America’s Espionage Act. Cohn outlines the two main grounds on which she believes the British judge should refuse to go along with the extradition: that Assange is being charged with a political crime, and that he is likely to face torture at the hands of the American authorities, much like he has been facing for years now in the form of...

Scott interviews Nasser Arrabyee about the latest on the war in Yemen. The humanitarian situation there is still desperate, with the UN finally updating its estimates to over 200,000 dead—many of these women and young children. But Arrabyee sees reasons for hope. For one thing, the war is very unpopular, both among Americans and for Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, so neither country looks very good for their participation. Arrabyee says that airports may also start to be opened to humanitarian aid...

Scott interviews Matthew Hoh about Joe Biden’s history pushing for the war in Iraq and his subsequent attempt to whitewash this record. When Hillary Clinton faced Barack Obama in the 2008 primary, Hillary’s record in support of the war was a major factor in Obama’s victory—Hoh wishes that this time around the other Democrats would make more out of Biden’s pro-war history instead of mostly letting foreign policy go undiscussed. Even Sanders, who has been sound in his opposition to the war in...

Scott talks to Dave DeCamp about the OPCW’s efforts to discredit a pair of whistleblowers, both of whom are former employees who claim their findings were expunged from the organization’s official reports on the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma in 2018. The OPCW concluded that there was clear evidence of the Assad government attacking its own civilians with chemical weapons, which was used as justification for the U.S. to launch a retaliatory strike. But these two former employees are...

Sheldon Richman discusses what he calls “the nonintervention principle,” a corollary of libertarianism’s nonaggression principle. Richman says that in the face of those who advocate foreign intervention and regime change, libertarians have a tendency to deny the claims that are being used to justify the intervention, rather than categorically opposing intervention qua intervention, no matter how bad the situation is. He acknowledges that many of these arguments are sound, so far as they go—for...

Grant Smith joins the show to promote his upcoming conference, Transcending The Israel Lobby At Home And Abroad, to be held in Washington D.C. this May. The conference, as with most of Smith’s work, is focused on exposing the power the Israel Lobby wields in America to control the narrative on both Israel-Palestine, and American relations with Israel. Smith laments the fact that any opposition to the policies of the Israeli government is so easily depicted as mere anti-semitism. He is...

Daniel Lazare discusses the problems facing Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who is dealing with a troubled economy, declining political popularity at home, and failing military excursions abroad. Lazare and Scott also talk about the failure of President Trump to deliver on his foreign policy promises, instead allowing himself to be bought by zionist donors like Sheldon Adelson, just like any other Republican. Trump's presidency has been characterized by the same pro-Israel, pro-Saudi,...

Scott talks to Trita Parsi about an event being hosted next week by Parsi’s organization, the Quincy Institute, which will pit advocates of a restrained foreign policy against war hawks in a series of panel discussions. The event is Wednesday, February 26 in Washington D.C. Parsi says that although much of the American populace favors a restrained foreign policy, the beltway is dominated by pro-war neoconservatives. Valuable as it is to have outsider writers and activists calling for...

Gareth Porter comes on the show to promote his new book, The CIA Insider’s Guide to the Iran Crisis: From CIA Coup to the Brink of War, cowritten with John Kiriakou. Porter and Scott recap the entire modern history of U.S. relations with Iran, focusing on the inflated threat of their nuclear program. Discussed on the show: The CIA Insider’s Guide to the Iran Crisis: From CIA Coup to the Brink of WarDevil’s Game1953 Iranian coup d’étatIran Hostage CrisisIran-Contra Affair“When the...

Cliff Maloney of Young Americans for Liberty joins the show to talk about the “Defend the Guard” movement popping up in state legislatures around the country. The legislation on which the movement is based calls for an end to the calling up of states’ national guard troops to federal service without an explicit declaration by congress. These “Defend the Guard Acts” are one avenue by which Maloney’s organization hopes to reduce the scope of the federal government’s abusive overreach and help...