Foreign Policy in Focus columnist Conn Hallinan returns to the show to discuss his latest article for Foreign Policy in Focus, “The Tortured Politics Behind the Persian Gulf Crisis.” Hallinan details the reasons for the rising tensions between Qatar and their former friends in the Gulf over. According to Hallinan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are angry about Qatar’s largely independent foreign policy, which Qatar has used to develop relationships with Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood. For Saudi Arabia, who’s leading the blockade of Qatar, this is just one of a series of really inept steps that the Saudis have taken, which are destabilizing the country. Donald Trump has been generally supportive of the blockade in spite of the fact that the largest U.S. base in the middle east is in Qatar. All of this makes U.S.-Iranian relations that much more tense. Scott wonders what would happen if the United States broke the Iran Deal, and whether or not a war with Iran might be on the horizon. Scott teases his upcoming book on the never-ending war in Afghanistan. and Hallinan explains why the conflict between India and Pakistan is the most frightening stare down in the world today. Finally the two discuss the rising tide of populism in the United States and Europe.

Discussed on the show:

• Gulf Cooperation Council
• Muslim Brotherhood
• Qatar has highest per-capita income in the world
• King Salman of Saudi Arabia
• “As Yemen War Rages On, Saudi King Elevates the War’s Architect—His Own Son—to Be Crown Prince” (DemocracyNow!)
• “Saudi Arabia has played Donald Trump like a fiddle when it comes to the dispute with Qatar” (The Independent)
• “Qatar hosts largest US military base in Mideast” (CNN)
• “Trump scolds Qatar as Tillerson seeks to ease crisis” (Reuters)
• “Emirati ambassador: US should rethink its air base in Qatar” (Military Times)
• “UAE orchestrated hacking of Qatari government sites, sparking regional upheaval, according to U.S. intelligence officials” (Washington Post)
• “Young Saudis See Cushy Jobs Vanish Along With Nation’s Oil Wealth” (New York Times)
• House of Saud
• Wahhabism
• Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT)
• “Brace Yourselves for Iran Deal Repeal” (Slate)
• “Steve Bannon: ‘We’re going to war in the South China Sea…no doubt'” (The Guardian)
• H.R. McMaster
• “Have Hawks Won a Round on Iraq Escalation?” by Gareth Porter (Antiwar.com)
• Pashtuns
• Kashmir
• “A Global Nuclear Winter: Avoiding the Unthinkable in India and Pakistan,” by Conn Hallinan (FPIF.org)
• “Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich” (The New Yorker)
• “How Jeremy Corbyn managed to bring Ukip voters back to Labour” (The Guardian)
• “Bill Burr Doesn’t Have A Lot Of Sympathy For Hillary Clinton – CONAN” (YouTube)

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