Daniel Lazare comes back on the show to talk about Saudi Arabia, Trump, and the future Middle East politics. He explains an extremely common pattern in kingdoms and empires where after about three generations of family rule, massive upheaval or incompetence forces a total political collapse. Saudi Arabia is perched on this precipice, and their third-generation Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, seems unstable enough to provide the spark. Scott and Lazare talk about what this will mean for the...

Scott interviews Patrick Martin on his new article series, “The CIA Democrats,” in which he outlines the disturbing trend of dozens of former military commanders, State Department war planners, and outright CIA, FBI, and Military Intelligence agents seeking nomination from the Democratic Party in congressional elections. Their victories would create a strong pro-war faction within the party, since by Martin’s reckoning, only a single one of these candidates has come out with an anti-war...

Tim Shorrock comes back on the show to discuss his latest article at The Nation, “Moon and Kim Stage an Exuberant Summit in Pyongyang“. The two leaders met again recently, he explains, and in a ground-breaking move agreed to begin reducing military tensions between the North and South, including the removal of land mines. As usual, the American media has portrayed the meeting as theater and seems unwilling to support the promising moves toward peace. Tim Shorrock is the author of Spies For...

Jim Bovard is interviewed on his syndicated article “The Unending Bush Torture Scandal“. Jim Comey’s role in saving the torture regime while a Justice Department official and colleague of John Yoo. The mainstream media’s current sainthood of Comey and how it helps to whitewash his participation in the torture program is discussed as well. Comey’s insistence that waterboarding is not torture is also referenced, as well as numerous items from Comey’s memoirs. Jim Bovard is a columnist for USA...

Haitham El-Sabri, Palestinian activist and writer based in Texas, talks about the letter he wrote to the Beto O’Rourke campaign asking him about his position for on Israel and Palestine. The responsive he received was boilerplate support for Israel. El-Zabri talks about how this should be disappointing to everyone, and especially progressives who support O’Rourke. You can see the contents of the letter here. This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles...

Gareth Porter is interviewed on his article for Truthdig, “Can Trump Take Down the American Empire?” Porter talks about revelations in the Bob Woodward book “Fear”, about the Trump presidency, and how they may pertain to the American Empire. Porter also talks about the Trump presidency, North Korea, and Iran. Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist on the national security state, and author of Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare. Follow him on...

Major Danny Sjursen comes back on the show to talk about the blowback from America’s many wars in the Middle East. He explains a process with which listeners of this show will no doubt be familiar, by which the U.S. sets itself up for future wars by arming and training a generation of young rebels to help fight the current wars. All too often, the veterans on America’s side of the war then become either extremists or a part of the next brutal regime that takes the place of the old...

Filmmaker Dan Cohen comes back on the show to discuss his latest project, “The Syria Deception,” a short documentary exposing the propaganda campaign in Hollywood and the media to rehabilitate Al-Qaeda in the eyes of the American public. Cohen and Scott discuss America’s role in instigating the war in Syria and how, more broadly, U.S. intervention triggers ever worse violence by inciting blowback from Middle Eastern civilians bent on vengeance. Discussed on the show: Killing Gaza Grayzone...

William Hartung joins the show to give his views on President Trump’s proposed Space Force. He explains that American satellites are in fact vulnerable to attack by foreign powers, but that a space force is a highly impracticable approach to protecting them, and one that is more likely to provoke attack than to prevent it. The idea of a Space Force is popular, however, because the arms contractors know it will mean more money for them, the existing efforts at space warfare within the Air Force...

Daniel Lazare joins Scott to talk about his recent article in for the American Conservative Magazine about the war on drugs. He explains many of the practical reasons to end the war, demonstrated by America’s own history. For instance, alcohol prohibition tended to replace beer with stronger, more dangerous options that were easier to smuggle, like homemade gin. Just so with cocaine replacing marijuana and fentanyl supplanting heroin. Drug prohibition also tends to make violence a requirement...

Asa Winstanley from The Electronic Infitada is interviewed on a documentary produced by Al Jazeera about the Israel Lobby. Al Jazeera managed to send two undercover reporters into the Israel lobby in the UK and in the US. The documentary was ultimately censored by the government of Qatar, owners of Al Jazeera, and now articles are leaking out about the content of the documentary. You can read some details in his article with Ali Abunimah "Censored film reveals The Israel Project's secret...

Joe Lauria is interviewed on the New York Times article “The Plot to Subvert an Election“, the New York Times’ 10,000 work expose on the supposed Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and his response in “The New York Times as Judge and Jury“. The embarrassing article from the Times is detailed and debunked, and the role of the media in public discourse is discussed at length. Joe Lauria is the editor at Consortium News. He is a former UN correspondent and wrote at the Boston...

Sheldon Richman discusses an unusual topic for the show: the life and philosophy of Baruch Spinoza. Richman's latest installment of TGIF looks at Spinoza's thought and encourages us to apply his teachings to today's politics. Discussed on the show: "TGIF: Spinoza – A Man for Our Troubled Times" (Libertarian Institute) Benedict de Spinoza Tractatus Theologico-Politicus Leviathan Two Treatises of Government Thirty Years' War The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of...

Trita Parsi gives his opinion on the recent Ahvaz attack, which he believes was not coordinated by ISIS, even though they have claimed responsibility. Instead, it has the trappings of a coordinated political ploy, possibly by Saudi Arabia or the UAE. Parsi and Scott also lament President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement. Discussed on the show: Iran nuclear deal framework President Trump’s UN conference “The Ahvaz terror attack in Iran may drag the US into a larger war”...

Jason Ditz is on the show to review the status of the Syrian conflict. The potential offensive in Idlib is discussed, as well as the deal struck between Syria, Russia and Turkey on the status of Idlib and the pause of hostilities there. Ditz gives an overview of the recent developments and the background to the events unfolding. Jason Ditz is the news editor of Antiwar.com. Read all of his work at news.antiwar.comand follow him on Twitter @jasonditz. This episode of the Scott Horton Show is...