Joost Hiltermann, program director for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Crisis Group, discusses the Trump administration’s mistaken view that the Houthis in Yemen are an Iranian proxy-militia like Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hiltermann also debunks claims that Iran is allied with Al-Qaeda, and examines the clan-based divisions in Yemen, the country’s unique religious makeup, and what kind of political solution could end the war.

Andrew Cockburn, the Washington editor of Harper’s Magazine and the author of Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins, discusses the history of Yemen’s (sort of) civil war, the different factions and foreign backers, and why President Trump is escalating US support for Saudi Arabia and its Al-Qaeda allies (yet fighting them at the same time).

Jason Ditz, news editor for Antiwar.com, discusses why a few thousand more US troops in Afghanistan won’t stop the steady loss of ground to the Taliban; President Trump’s deployment of troops all over the Middle East/North Africa to fight ISIS; and the official understatement of civilian casualties from US air strikes in Iraq and Syria.

Zaid Jilani, a writer for The Intercept, discusses President Trump’s apparent concessions to critics accusing him of being soft on Russia, including his selection of Richard Grennell (who is in favor of arming Ukraine and leaving direct military confrontation with Russia “on the table”) for NATO ambassador, H.R. McMaster for national security adviser, and Nikki Haley for UN Ambassador.

Blogger Marcy Wheeler discusses WikiLeaks’s exposure of the CIA’s powerful hacking toolkit, what devices are most vulnerable to being exploited, and why this leak might be a Russian operation using WikiLeaks as a cutout to release sensitive documents.

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.