Stephen M. Walt, professor of international relations at Harvard University, discusses the scheduled high-level meetings between US and Iranian officials at the UN; why "talking to our adversaries should be routine" in US foreign policy; the increasingly discredited "mad mullah" excuse for not negotiating with Iranian leaders; and why John Kerry has no chance for success with Israel-Palestine talks.

Dan Johnson, Founder and President of PANDA (People Against the NDAA), discusses all the Constitution-killing provisions snuck into giant defense appropriations bills; fighting terrorism through civilian criminal trials instead of wars and military tribunals; Obama's weasel-words on whether Americans can be subject to indefinite military detention; and how PANDA is effecting change from the bottom up.

Thomas C. Mountain, an independent journalist based in Eritrea, discusses the history of al-Shabaab and the context of the Nairobi mall siege; why al-Shabaab has become a mercenary army; Kenya's blowback from repeated military incursions in Somalia; the Saudi royal family's financial backing for Wahhabi groups including al-Shabaab; and the lack of news on mass starvation and refugees in the Horn of Africa.

Gareth Porter, an independent investigative journalist and historian, discusses the possibility of an Obama-Rouhani meeting and a diplomatic breakthrough in US-Iran relations; why the Israel lobby's defeat on Syria doesn't mean their hold on Congress has slipped on Iran issues; Iran's use of the Fordo nuclear facility as a reduced-sanctions bargaining chip; profiting from arms sales and continual low-grade war in the Middle East; and why it suddenly seems possible to bring the US war machine...

John Glaser, a writer for Antiwar.com and The Huffington Post, discusses how US obsession with regime change is ruining any chance for a deal on Iran's nuclear program; how US foreign policy became completely disconnected from the national interest; learning from Libya, Iraq and N. Korea that nuclear weapons are indeed deterrents to invasion/regime change; and why Obama needed a terrorism waiver to arm Syrian rebels.

Charles Goyette, author of Red and Blue and Broke All Over, discusses the growing divide between rich and poor in America; why Americans don't know even basic facts about how the Federal Reserve operates; and the wealthy enclaves of government workers/contractors who continue prospering during the recession.

Peter Ludlow, Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University, discusses the unusual evidence prosecutors used to win a gag order against jailed journalist Barrett Brown; the inversion of the rule of law; the true moral compass of young whistleblowers and hacktivists; and why reform is impossible using the traditional chain of command.

Daniel Larison, senior editor at The American Conservative, discusses the progress of the Russian-brokered deal on disarming Syria of chemical weapons; why US interest in Syria is really about threatening Iran and appeasing Israel; the disastrous 2003 Iraq War "strategy;" and the antiwar streak running through the Republican Party.

Muhammad Sahimi, political columnist and professor of chemical engineering, discusses reports that Iran is willing to close the Fordo nuclear facility in exchange for lifted sanctions; President Rouhani's attempts at moderation and diplomatic outreach; and Iran's legal foundation to sue European nations for enforcing crippling sanctions.

IPS News journalist Adam Morrow discusses Egypt's counterrevolution; the Muslim Brotherhood officials in jail or in hiding; how Iran's secular progressives have discredited themselves by backing the antidemocratic military coup; and Israel's long-held desire to repossess the Sinai Peninsula.

M.J. Rosenberg, Special Correspondent for The Washington Spectator, discusses the glorious defeat of neoconservative/AIPAC plans for war in Syria; Israel's continuing rightward drift; and why the Republican party rift between hawks and neo-isolationists is overblown.

Retired CIA analyst Ray McGovern discusses how John Kerry's press conference gaffe gave Syrian peace a chance; Obama's assurance to Israel that Iran strikes are still on the table; the "American exceptionalism" debate; why Obama won't release the audio recording "proving" Assad was behind the chemical weapons attack; Gen. Martin Dempsey's hardheaded realism on war; and why Israel is perfectly happy with perpetual war in Syria.

Attorney Jesse Trentadue discusses his lawsuit to force the FBI to hand over surveillance tapes of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing; evidence that the FBI had foreknowledge of the bombing and failed (deliberately or not) to stop it; the FBI's "Sensitive Informant" program that has thoroughly infiltrated government and the media with spies; and Attorney General Eric Holder's connection to Oklahoma City and Kenneth Trentadue's murder coverup.

Blogger Marcy Wheeler discusses the Russian-brokered deal on removing Syria's chemical weapons; the lack of democratic leaders within Syria's disparate rebel factions; the historic popular revolt against US entry into the Syrian conflict; and more revelations about the extent of NSA spying on Americans.

Gareth Porter, an independent investigative journalist and historian, discusses his evidence that the Obama administration passed off its own intelligence assessment of the Syria gas attack as a CIA analysis; the CIA's observation that no materials have been deployed from Syria's chemical weapons facilities; why the attack doesn't bear the hallmarks of sarin gas; and why the White House pushes toward war despite the large percentage of Americans against military action in Syria. Update: Porter...