Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, discusses what a responsible North Korea policy would look like after successive US administrations have failed to gain anything from isolating the regime and eschewing diplomacy; and why we should look to Europe for clues about Russia’s so-called threatening intentions – if France and Germany aren’t furiously expanding their military budgets, why should the US?

Raeford Davis, a speaker for Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP) and a former North Charleston police officer, discusses how drug prohibition and gun control laws create both dangerous criminals and corrupt cops, like the seven Baltimore “high-profile gun unit” officers, who all stand to profit from government-created black markets.

Daniel McCarthy, editor-at-large of The American Conservative, discusses the poor showing of libertarian politicians in 2016, despite Ron and Rand Paul’s national prominence and two strongly disliked presidential candidates in Clinton and Trump; and how “virtue libertarianism” can revive the American commitment to liberty, keep the left and right more intellectually honest, and provide a means to punish vice and reward virtue without getting the government involved.

Brian McGlinchey, the director of 28Pages.org, discusses how American veterans were used as unwitting pawns in a Saudi-sponsored lobbying campaign to weaken the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), a law allowing 9/11 victims’ families to pursue civil lawsuits against Saudi Arabia’s government.

Gareth Porter, an independent investigative journalist, discusses how the US media and intelligence community are attempting to portray Trump as a Russian stooge, in an effort to keep the pressure on Russia, the New Cold War brewing, and the money flowing to the military/industrial complex. Porter dissects the 25-page assessment from the CIA, FBI and NSA claiming Russia tried to help Trump win the election; as well as the leaked phone conversation between former National Security Adviser...

James Carden, a contributing writer at The Nation and the executive editor for the American Committee for East-West Accord, discusses John McCain and Lindsey Graham’s visit to the front lines in Ukraine, where they offered support for Ukrainian soldiers against the rebels, seriously undermining the 2015 Minsk cease-fire agreement. Meanwhile, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard returned from Syria, claimed “there are no moderate rebels,” and questioned why the US is supporting the same terrorist...

Conn Hallinan, a writer for Foreign Policy in Focus, discusses Trump’s bombastic rhetoric and ever-changing policy pronouncements on Iran, Yemen, and North Korea; and how he could blunder into war with China if he follows through on threats to blockade China from islands it controls in the South China Sea.

Gareth Porter, an independent investigative journalist and author of Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare, discusses why Trump’s anti-Iran talk is not much different than that of the last several administrations’ before his, going back to Bill Clinton’s presidency; and why actual US policy on Iran is controlled less by the president than the interests of the permanent national security state, which is hostile to Iran yet risk-averse and fond of the status...

Grant F. Smith, director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, discusses the $254 billion in inflation-adjusted US aid to Israel since 1949; the pro-Israel think tanks that try to hide Israel’s large share of foreign aid by comparing it to US expenditures and troop deployments in Japan, Germany and South Korea; and why Israel has no real common interests with the US and hasn’t reciprocated like an allied country should.

Jon Schwarz, a writer for The Intercept, discusses President Trump’s executive order restricting immigration and why most Americans are understandably confused about why “Muslims hate us,” since politicians and the media completely avoid making any link between decades of US invasion, occupation, and sanction of the Middle East and the unavoidable terrorism blowback such a foreign policy generates.

Mark Perry, author of Talking to Terrorists: Why America Must Engage with its Enemies, discusses the military philosophy of new national security adviser Lt. General H.R. McMaster, who, as smart and qualified as he is, might not be the best man for the job; and the growing anti-Russia tilt within President Trump’s cabinet that runs counter to his campaign promises to improve relations between the world’s preeminent nuclear powers.

Brad Hoff, a US Marine veteran and writer on Middle East affairs, discusses the newly declassified CIA document from 1986 entitled “Syria: Scenarios of Dramatic Political Change,” that spells out a regime change policy remarkably similar to today’s anti-Assad rhetoric coming out of Washington; and why nobody bothers to consider that the successor to an overthrown secular autocratic state could be even worse – a radical Islamic State, for example.

George Joseph, an editorial fellow at CityLab, discusses the widespread use of powerful cell phone interception and extraction equipment by police departments, and their collection of phone location data and even the content of texts and calls with devices like “Stingrays” and “Dirtboxes” that vacuum up private information and don’t discriminate between suspected criminals and ordinary people.

Rick Sterling, an investigative journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area, discusses the many flaws in Amnesty International’s report accusing the Syrian government of executing thousands of political prisoners in mass hangings. This is AI’s contribution to the West’s propaganda machine that is trying to escalate the war in Syria and push for Assad’s ouster. AI has previously backed up false accusations (the infamous incubator babies) against Iraq in the lead up to the Gulf War and...

Greg Thielmann, a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, discusses the Trump administration’s overblown protestations of Iran’s ballistic missile testing; the US government’s tendency to corrupt intelligence reports and exaggerate threats to start conflicts – like the 2003 Iraq War; and why the Iranian nuclear deal is a great diplomatic achievement by both sides and a victory for nuclear non-proliferation advocates.