Download Episode.

Scott interviews Peter Van Buren to talk through the risk of a nuclear detonation related to the war in Ukraine. Both Scott and Van Buren think the use of nuclear weapons is unlikely, but they dig into the differences in their views of the situation. They also explore how a conventional escalation could play out. Lastly, they turn to North Korea where Van Buren sees the greatest chance of nuclear disaster originating. 

Discussed on the show:

• “Nuclear Chicken Is Overrated” (The American Conservative)
• “Inside the U.S. Effort to Arm Ukraine” (The New Yorker)
• “NATO Expansion: What Gorbachev Heard” (National Security Archive)
• Fail Safe (1964)
• “What Jefferson’s Critics Miss” (The American Conservative)
• “Who is Winning the War in Ukraine?” (The American Conservative)

Peter Van Buren worked for 24 years at the Department of State including a year in Iraq. He is the author of We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People and the novel Hooper’s War. He is now a contributing editor at The American Conservative magazine.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and Thc Hemp Spot.

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: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

Investigative journalist Roger G. Charles is the coauthor of Oklahoma City: What the Investigation Missed–and Why It Still Matters. In this 2+ hour interview, Roger Charles discusses his book and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in detail. This interview is a must-listen for those who have only heard the government’s version of the story.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Journalist James North discusses his article “Washington’s Role in the Renewed Violence in DR Congo;” the five million deaths attributable to war in the DRC since 1998; US-sponsored Rwanda’s role in Congo’s so-called civil war; how big banks and the IMF help corrupt African dictators loot their countries; and why UN peacekeepers are essentially worthless.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Thomas Hedges from the Center for Study of Responsive Law discusses the three whistleblowers (John Kiriakou, Kirk Wiebe and William Binney) who were persecuted by the Obama administration for outing torture, waste and corruption at the NSA and CIA.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

David Enders, a Special Correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers, discusses the al Qaeda-linked group Jabhat al Nusra’s critical role in the Syrian rebellion’s military successes; the composition of Syria’s rebel fighters and what they are fighting for; why the Assad government might be on its last legs; and talk of a “war after the war” in which rebel factions fight each other for control of the country.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Eric Margolis, journalist and author of American Raj, discusses Palestine’s overwhelming victory in its bid for non-member observer state status at the UN (with the US in lonely opposition); how influential pro-Israel lobbies have paralyzed US Mideast policy; Canada’s own religious right movement; the Israeli government’s fear of Palestine’s new-found access to the International Criminal Court; the double standard on terrorist/freedom-fighter bombers in Kabul and Damascus, respectively; and whether Egypt’s President Morsi is eliminating the remnants of Mubarak’s dictatorship – or establishing his own.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Jeff Paterson of Courage to Resist discusses Bradley Manning’s conditional guilty plea and testimony in his own defense; the bogus justification for Manning’s extended “suicide watch” detention at Quantico; how Manning’s sentence (if the judge finds him guilty) will show if the military is accountable for torturing its own soldiers or not; and Julian Assange’s retrospective on Manning and Cablegate.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Alan Boswell, Africa correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers, discusses how the current rebellion in northern Mali got started after Gaddafi’s fall in Libya; whether the rebels are al-Qaeda, “gangster Jihadis,” or some combination thereof; the long delay in getting boots on the ground in Mali (and these will be African proxy forces, not US military); how US policy is tending toward “let Africa solve it’s own problems;” and why the media is suddenly interested in Congo’s decades-long war.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Scott McConnell, co-founder of The American Conservative, discusses his article “Why Americans Don’t Understand Palestine;” the mainstream media’s “journalistic malpractice” on Israel/Gaza issues; the UN General Assembly’s overwhelming support for Palestine’s observer state status; why Israel will choose between apartheid and ethnic cleansing when two-state solution talks finally end; and how new American immigrants could turn the tide against empire and militarism.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download