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Scott is joined by Joseph Solis-Mullen to talk about China. They start with two articles Solis-Mullen published recently that examine the state of the economic war Washington is trying and failing to wage on Beijing along with the march towards a very real conventional war. They also take a step back and look at the precarious global situation we’re in, drawing connections to the outbreak of World War I and insights from libertarian theory.

Discussed on the show:

• “Washington Takes Another ‘L’ in China Policy” (Libertarian Institute)
• “Washington is Sprinting (Not Sleepwalking) Into War With China” (Libertarian Institute)
• “The Outbreak of World War I: A Libertarian Realist Rebuttal” (Mises.org)
• Wilson’s War by Jim Powell

Joseph Solis-Mullen is a political scientist and author of The Fake China Threat and Its Very Real Danger. Follow all his work at his website. 

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Roberts and Robers Brokerage Incorporated; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; Libertas Bella; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

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Daniel Lazare joins Scott to talk about his recent article in for the American Conservative Magazine about the war on drugs. He explains many of the practical reasons to end the war, demonstrated by America’s own history. For instance, alcohol prohibition tended to replace beer with stronger, more dangerous options that were easier to smuggle, like homemade gin. Just so with cocaine replacing marijuana and fentanyl supplanting heroin. Drug prohibition also tends to make violence a requirement of doing business, since parties to the exchange can’t rely on police or the justice system if things go wrong. This endemic violence is a leading cause of the mass migration from areas of Central America to the United States. Despite some good rhetoric in President Trump’s past, Lazare is unhopeful that he will make any progress on this issue.

Discussed on the show:

• “Mexico Must Stand Up to America’s Drug War” (The American Conservative)
• Mérida Initiative
• Los Zetas
• Sinaloa Cartel
• Andrés Manuel López Obrador
• “Hillary Clinton Said Children Of Illegal Immigrants Should Be Sent Back In 2014 CNN Interview” (Newsweek)

Daniel Lazare is the author of The Frozen Republic: How the constitution is Paralyzing Democracy and a regular contributor at Consortium News. Find all of his work at his website and follow him on Twitter @dhlazare.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Asa Winstanley from The Electronic Infitada is interviewed on a documentary produced by Al Jazeera about the Israel Lobby. Al Jazeera managed to send two undercover reporters into the Israel lobby in the UK and in the US. The documentary was ultimately censored by the government of Qatar, owners of Al Jazeera, and now articles are leaking out about the content of the documentary. You can read some details in his article with Ali Abunimah “Censored film reveals The Israel Project’s secret Facebook campaign”

Asa Winstanley is an investigative journalist living in London who writes about Palestine and the Middle East. He has been visiting Palestine since 2004. He writes for  Palestinian news site The Electronic Intifada where he is an associate editor. He also writes a regular column for the Middle East Monitor.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Joe Lauria is interviewed on the New York Times article “The Plot to Subvert an Election“, the New York Times’ 10,000 work expose on the supposed Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and his response in “The New York Times as Judge and Jury“. The embarrassing article from the Times is detailed and debunked, and the role of the media in public discourse is discussed at length.

Joe Lauria is the editor at Consortium News. He is a former UN correspondent and wrote at the Boston Globe and Wall Street Journal. You can follow him on Twitter @unjoe.

Today’s show is sponsored by: NoDev, NoOps, NotIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; 3tediting.com; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Sheldon Richman discusses an unusual topic for the show: the life and philosophy of Baruch Spinoza. Richman’s latest installment of TGIF looks at Spinoza’s thought and encourages us to apply his teachings to today’s politics.

Discussed on the show:

• “TGIF: Spinoza – A Man for Our Troubled Times” (Libertarian Institute)
• Benedict de Spinoza
• Tractatus Theologico-Politicus
• Leviathan
• Two Treatises of Government
• Thirty Years’ War
• The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict

Sheldon Richman is the executive editor of the Libertarian Institute and the author of America’s Counter-Revolution: The Constitution Revisited. Follow him on Twitter @SheldonRichman.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Trita Parsi gives his opinion on the recent Ahvaz attack, which he believes was not coordinated by ISIS, even though they have claimed responsibility. Instead, it has the trappings of a coordinated political ploy, possibly by Saudi Arabia or the UAE. Parsi and Scott also lament President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement.

Discussed on the show:

• Iran nuclear deal framework
• President Trump’s UN conference
• “The Ahvaz terror attack in Iran may drag the US into a larger war” (Middle East Eye)
• People’s Mujahedin of Iran

Trita Parsi is the president of the National Iranian American Council and the author of Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy. Parsi is the recipient of the 2010 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. Follow him on Twitter @tparsi.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Jason Ditz is on the show to review the status of the Syrian conflict. The potential offensive in Idlib is discussed, as well as the deal struck between Syria, Russia and Turkey on the status of Idlib and the pause of hostilities there. Ditz gives an overview of the recent developments and the background to the events unfolding.

Jason Ditz is the news editor of Antiwar.com. Read all of his work at news.antiwar.comand follow him on Twitter @jasonditz.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Rajan Menon, Professor of iInternational Relations at CCNY and Senior Research Fellow Saltzman Institute for War and Peace Studies at Columbia University and author of “The Conceit of Humanitarian Intervention“, is on the show to talk about the Yemeni War. Menon talks about how the Yemeni war wouldn’t be possible without US assistance, and why the Yemenis call this war their war with America.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Phil Giraldi comes back on the show to discuss the recent shooting down of a Russian plane over Syria and his article on the matter, The Path to World War III. He and Scott also discuss the state of the Middle East generally and United States military involvement there.

Discussed on the show:

• “The Path to World War III” (unz.com)
• Tulsi Gabbard
• “Tulsi Gabbard on the Administration’s Push for War in Syria” (The Nation)
• “The Redirection” (The New Yorker)

Phil Giraldi is a former CIA Case Officer and Army Intelligence Officer who spent twenty years overseas in Europe and the Middle East working terrorism cases. He is the executive director for the Council for the National Interest and writes regularly for The American Conservative Magazine and Antiwar.com.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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