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Scott interviews Bill Buppert about two potential conflicts that some groups within the Trump administration appear to be pushing for. They start with the reported interest shown in carrying out direct military operations against the Mexican cartels. Scott and Buppert discuss why this would be a terrible idea and that it would likely not stay contained in Northern Mexico. They then take a look at the prospects for a war with Iran and draw similar conclusions. 

Discussed on the show:

• Sicario (IMDb)
• Chasing Ghosts Podcast
• WarNotes Podcast

Bill Buppert is the Smedley D. Butler Fellow for Military Affairs at the Libertarian Institute and host of Chasing Ghosts: An Irregular Warfare Podcast. He served in the military for nearly a quarter century and was a combat tourist in a number of neo-imperialist shit-pits planet-wide. He can be found on Twitter at @wbuppert and reached via email at cgpodcast@pm.me.

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

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Scott interviews political analyst Gilbert Doctorow about the tensions in Eastern Europe. Doctorow points to the strong state of the Russian economy as sufficient evidence that they won’t want to start a new conflict, much less a massive land war. They also discuss the frustrations some Europeans are expressing with all the war hype, which is hurting parts of the European economy.   

Discussed on the show:

• “The pro-detente position of Willy Brandt’s ‘Ostpolitik” still is alive and finding its voice in Germany today” (GilbertDoctorow.com)

Gilbert Doctorow is an independent political analyst and was the European Coordinator of The American Committee for East-West Accord. He writes regularly for Consortium News. His latest book is Does the United States Have a Future?

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; EasyShip; Free Range Feeder; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Darren Beattie of Revolver News returns to the show. Beattie’s journalism has raised questions about the inconsistency of the Government’s investigation and prosecution of people who helped breach the Capitol last year. Since he was last on the show, these questions have really begun to make their mark on the national conversation. Beattie and Scott discuss recent developments including Stewart Rhodes’ indictment. And Beattie responds to some of the critiques Buzzfeed’s Ken Bensinger had of Beattie’s work on a recent episode of the Scott Horton Show. 

Discussed on the show:

• Scott’s interview with Ken Bensinger
• “Meet Ray Epps” (Revolver)
• “Meet Ray Epps, Part 2” (Revolver)

Darren J. Beattie is a former White House official and the founder and editor of Revolver. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenJBeattie

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; EasyShip; Free Range Feeder; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott is joined by Annelle Sheline of the Quincy Institute to discuss Yemen. Sheline wrote an article recently about the shifting balance of the war. One year after Biden announced an end to U.S. support for offensive Saudi operations, the bombing campaign remains as brutal as ever. Sheline argues that, while all sides have committed atrocities, the scale of the Saudi coalition’s brutality has outshone all others. Further, the war can only happen with continued U.S. support, which puts it on Americans themselves to stop this tragedy.  

Discussed on the show:

• “Did Biden help the Saudis turn the tide in their favor in Yemen?” (Responsible Statecraft)
• “In Strategic Shift, U.S. Draws Closer to Yemeni Rebels” (Wall Street Journal) 

Annelle Sheline is a Research Fellow in the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute and an expert on religious and political authority in the Middle East and North Africa. Follow her on Twitter @AnnelleSheline.

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; EasyShip; Free Range Feeder; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott interviews Richard Hanania of Defense Priorities. They discuss the reality of how the American military’s presence impacts global events. Hanania argues that, if it were true that the U.S. was out there defending its allies, you’d expect those countries to want U.S. troops present more than the U.S. wants to have troops stationed there. But in reality, we often find the opposite. Hanania also gives the reasons he thinks China is all but certain to become the dominant power in East Asia but that right-wing fears over a global Chinese takeover are overblown. 

Discussed on the show:

• “Phantom Empire” (Defense Priorities)
• “The Inevitable Rise Of China” (Defense Priorities)
• “Nord Stream II Sanctions Are Not About Security” (The American Conservative)
• Public Choice Theory and the Illusion of Grand Strategy by Richard Hanania
• “China has been a failure at hegemony, so let’s just chill” (Responsible Statecraft)

Richard Hanania is a research fellow at Defense Priorities and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University. His work focuses on political psychology, the causes of civil war, and the effects of interest groups on U.S. foreign policy. Follow him on Twitter @RichardHanania

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; EasyShip; Free Range Feeder; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott is joined by Clint Ehrlich who recently went viral after his appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show struck the nerve of a handful of foreign policy “experts.” So Scott invited him on the show to dive deeper into his arguments. They discuss why Ehrlich is nervous about the situation in Eastern Europe and how it came to this. He also gives his take on what happened in Kazakhstan.

Discussed on the show:

• “A Stark Nuclear Warning” (New York Review of Books)
• “The US Must Prepare for War Against Russia Over Ukraine” (Defense One)

Clint Ehrlich is a foreign-policy analyst, lawyer and former visiting researcher at MGIMO University. Follow him on Twitter @ClintEhrlich.

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; EasyShip; Free Range Feeder; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott interviews Zaher Wahab of the Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education about the economic catastrophe taking place in Afghanistan. Although the U.S. Government claimed it was working to develop Afghanistan, Wahab explains that what it really did was prop the country’s economy up until it left. Now, in the midst of the collapse, the people of Afghanistan are starving. And the American hawks and pundits, who only four months ago were screaming about the wellbeing of Afghan civilians, now don’t seem to have a care in the world for them. Wahab fills us in on this situation, its causes and what needs to change. 

Discussed on the show:

• “The Afghanistan Papers” (Washington Post)

Zaher Wahab is a Professor Emeritus at Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education. He was a senior advisor to the education ministry in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2006. He then taught at the American University of Afghanistan until 2019. 

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; EasyShip; Free Range Feeder; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Ken Bensinger of Buzzfeed News returns to the show to follow up about the 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Although the plot made national headlines when 14 militia members were arrested, Bensinger and fellow journalists dug deeper to find a large presence of FBI agents and informants involved than had gone reported. Further, some informants had apparently played a role in instigating the entire scheme. Bensinger explains the details and developments in that case, and he gives his thoughts and observations about the riot at the National Capitol on January 6th.

Discussed on the show:

• The Terror Factory by Trevor Aaronson
• Ken Bensinger’s latest reporting on both cases

Ken Bensinger is an investigative reporter for BuzzFeed News and the author of Red Card: How the U.S. Blew the Whistle on the World’s Biggest Sports Scandal. Follow him on Twitter @kenbensinger.

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; EasyShip; Free Range Feeder; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Ray McGovern is back to discuss the recent talks between Putin and the Biden Administration. McGovern observes that the talks, framed as a tense battle over Ukrainian sovereignty, appear to have actually steered towards a discussion about arms control in the region. A discussion that’s grown in necessity since the Trump Administration abruptly left a nuclear treaty with Russia. Scott and McGovern also talk about the collapsing narrative that the Russians are set to invade Ukraine any day now. 

Discussed on the show:

• “Peeking Past the Pall Put Over Arms Talks With Russia” (Antiwar.com)

Ray McGovern is the co-creator of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity and the former chief of the CIA’s Soviet analysts division. Read all of his work at his website: raymcgovern.com.

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; EasyShip; Free Range Feeder; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download