Download Episode.

James Carden is back on the show to discuss Washington’s dangerous maneuvers in Eastern Europe. They start with a piece he co-wrote with Katrina Vanden Heuvel in The Nation highlighting the risk of escalation brought about by the recent Ukraine aid package. At the end, Carden draws attention to what Washington is doing in the Caucasus, outside the purview of the headlines.

Discussed on the show:

• “The Ukraine Aid Package Heightens the Risk of Escalation” (The Nation)
• Lindsey Graham’s floor speech on the foreign aid package
• “How John McCain Turned His Clichés Into Meaning” (New York Times Magazine)
• “The US secretly sent long-range ATACMS to Ukraine — and Kyiv used them” (Politico)
• “How Far Trump Would Go” (Time)
• “Georgia’s ‘Foreign Influence’ Law Is Reasonable” (The American Conservative)
• “Leading Armenia Down the Primrose Path” (The American Conservative)

James Carden is a columnist and senior advisor to the American Committee for US-Russia Accord (ACURA) and a former adviser on Russia policy at the US State Department. His articles and essays have appeared in a wide variety of publications including The Nation, The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, The Spectator, UnHerd, The National Interest, Quartz, The Los Angeles Times, and American Affairs.

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

Get Scott’s interviews before anyone else! Subscribe to the Substack.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjY

Doug Bandow returns to the show to discuss his latest article for the National Interest, “I was in Pyongyang When Otto Warmbier Was Released.” Bandow discusses how Pyongyang has changed since he was last there 25 years ago, why North Korea won’t give up their nuclear weapons, and why military engagement would have massive implications for Seoul, which is located just 30 miles from the DMZ. Bandow suggests that the solution is Trump stepping outside the box and reasserting his unconventional approach to US foreign policy. Scott wonders whether the American troops stationed in South Korea aren’t deterrence from American politicians starting a war, which would lead to significant American casualties and whether we could ever live in a world without nuclear weapons.

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a regular contributor at Forbes Magazine, the National Interest, and elsewhere. He’s on Twitter @Doug_Bandow.

Discussed on the show:

• Lindsey Graham: “If there’s a war between us and North Korea now it will be over there not here.“
• Seoul proximity to the DMZ makes it vulnerable to heavy shelling.
• “U.S. Nuclear War Planning for a Hundred Holocausts,” Daniel Ellsberg
• “Rodman ‘trying to open door’ in North Korea“
• “Kim Jong Eun inherited an eccentric obsession with basketball from father Kim Jong Il“
• “Trump Says He’d Meet With Kim Jung Un Under Right Circumstances“

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Bob Logan joins the show to discuss his article for Antiwar.com: “Understanding ISIS in the Philippines.” Logan explains the recent uptick in violence in the Philippines and how it’s connected to the history of oppression of Muslims in the Philippines both by colonialist powers and also by the Filipino state. The government has not lived up to its peace agreement with moderate separatists—predicated largely on who controls local natural resources—which has inspired a more radical, violent group of fighters who have aligned themselves with ISIS. Logan details the demands of the Southern separatists and the devastation being carried out by the government—aided by American forces—in its attempt to suppress the opposition.

Robert Logan has a PhD in economics and is a contributing author at antiwar.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Robert Murphy returns to the show to discuss how the new GOP healthcare bill compares to Obamacare, why pre-2007 healthcare was far from a free market, and how the Democrats are misleading people when they claim repealing Obamacare will literally kill people. Murphy also explains why he expects the next financial crisis to happen in Europe, how the Fed is raising rates in an unusual way, and why price stability may be an indicator of a bubble. And, of course, how the Fed helps finance America’s wars.

Murphy holds a Ph.D. in economics from New York University, and is a Research Assistant Professor with the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University and a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute. He is the author of many books, including Choice: Cooperation, Enterprise, and Human Action.

Discussed on the show:

Austrian Business Cycle Theory

“The Economics of ObamaCare,” by Robert Murphy

“No, Obamacare Has Not Saved Lives,” by Oren Cass

“The Effects of Medicaid Expansion Under the ACA,” Kaiser Family Foundation Study

“Why Government Doesn’t Work,” by Harry Browne

“For A New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto,” by Murray N. Rothbard

“How the Fed Helped Pay for World War I,” by John Paul Koning

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Gareth Porter returns to discuss his important new article, “How the US Armed Terrorists in Syria,” the evidence, former-CIA Director Petraeus pushed the scheme to arm rebels in Syria, leading to the rise of Islamic State and the current war there.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Ray McGovern, former chief of the CIA’s Soviet analysts division, explains why he is far from impressed by CIA/Washington Post‘s latest claims about the Trump-Russia election interference/collusion story.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Adam Johnson from FAIR discusses his recent articles about biased media coverage of the anniversary of the 1967 war and its aftermath for the Palestinians, as well as feigned media amnesia of previous intervention every time the U.S. attacks national or allied forces in Syria.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, the new Managing Editor of The American Conservative magazine, discusses her great new job and the terrible ongoing war in Afghanistan.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Historian and journalist Gareth Porter, author of Manufactured Crisis, discusses Trump, Mattis and McMaster’s coming escalation of the Afghan war and why it cannot be won.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download