Asia Times journalist Pepe Escobar discusses why war and foreign policy aren't issues in this year's presidential election; how Syria has become a battleground in Middle East power politics; the Arab Spring hijacking; US fears about high-level Egypt/Iran talks and improving relations; indications President Obama has ruled out direct US intervention in Syria; how a Greater Kurdistan would balkanize four countries and aid the US/Israel divide and conquer strategy for the region; and the Turkish...
07/20/12 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Pepe Escobar discusses the mysterious killing of top Syrian government officials in Damascus; how a suicide bomber becomes a "martyr" instead of a "terrorist" when Washington approves of the target; the huge influx of potent modern weaponry into Syria that is sure to cause future problems for the countries promoting regime change; and Russia's apparent willingness to cast aside President Assad in a compromise deal with the US.
06/27/12 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses his article “Syria and Turkey’s Phantom War;” Turkey’s violation of Syrian airspace in a purposeful, measured provocation and test of Syria’s defenses; the near-invocation of NATO Article 5 and a wider war (an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all); looking for ways to bypass the UN on Syria, since China and Russia won’t let an interventionist resolution pass the Security Council; grand plans for NATO expansion in the official “Assured...
04/10/12 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses his recent articles at the Asia Times; why the whole world is a mess except for South America; the Iran to Pakistan (and possibly China) pipeline, abhorred by the US, that could be operational in 2014; how Iran sanctions allow Russia’s Gazprom to continue dominating the European energy market; US strategists coming up short in the global “great game;” Syria’s strategic importance to Russia’s navy and NATO’s plans for Mediterranean supremacy;...
03/09/12 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses why the Academy Award winning movie “A Separation” should be required viewing for Americans; how the Western powers will have trouble enforcing sanctions on Iran’s oil exports; the European Union’s weakness on foreign policy; how sanctions hurt the Iranian people much more than the government; and the IAEA’s conversion from impartial observer to political attack dog.
02/27/12 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses “A Separation,” the first Iranian movie to win an Academy Award; the suspiciously-timed announcement of a plot to assassinate Vladimir Putin, just days before Russia’s presidential election; Pepe’s article “What is Iran’s Supreme Leader’s Game;” the Green movement’s exclusion from Iran’s parliamentary elections; why a US/Israeli war with Iran could bring Russia and China into the fray; and how GCC’s support for Syria’s opposition is fomenting a...
02/15/12 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses allegations that Iranian assassins tried to kill Israelis in Bangkok, Thailand; why the amateurish operation, and Israel’s history of frame-ups, leads him to believe it was a false-flag attack; the strange bedfellows uniting behind the Syrian opposition, including the Arab League, US, NATO and Al Qaeda; why Syrian religious minorities and the “business class” still support the Assad government; why Patrick Cockburn is right about Syria’s...
01/20/12 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses his article “Sinking the Petrodollar in the Persian Gulf;” the increasingly divergent US and Israeli “red lines” on Iran’s nuclear program; proposed pipelines that would route oil around the Persian Gulf, marginalizing Iran’s ability to shut the Strait of Hormuz; how sanctions on Iran have lessened the US dollar’s dominance in global oil trading transactions; and the civil strife in Syria, where the opposition is no more credible than the...
12/02/11 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses his article “The shadow war in Syria;” how Turkey is helping NATO and GCC foment a Syrian civil war; why the Muslim Brotherhood is best situated to replace the Assad regime, not the Syrian exiles favored by the US and Europe; Jordan’s susceptibility to an Arab spring revolution (not that King Abdullah II would mind much – he’d rather be in NY City); how the US and NATO are provoking a new Cold War with Russia; and the US backup plan for world...
11/21/11 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses his article “China and the US: The roadmaps;” how the ever-expanding “arc of instability” could get the US into a trade war (or hot war) with China; how South American economies are gathering steam while Goldman Sachs takes over a chaotic and bankrupt Europe; possible covert US support for Muslim Chinese Uighurs; and how the US empire is being crushed by the burden of “full spectrum dominance.”
10/19/11 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Pepe Escobar, journalist and author of Obama Does Globalistan, discusses his article “Obama, the king of Africa” about the US military commitment in Uganda and surrounding countries, supposedly to fight the Lord’s Resistance Army; the terrible human rights record of Uganda’s government (even worse than the LRA); the strange African brew of neo-colonialism, tinpot dictators, pipeline routes and JSOC outposts; the great game of mineral and energy extraction playing out between countries like...
10/03/11 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Pepe Escobar, journalist and author of Obama Does Globalistan, discusses the Syrian rebellion’s near-triumph in Damascus and Aleppo; the large presence of Gulf Cooperation Council members eager to help a like-minded regime come to power should Assad be deposed; what murdered journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad had to say about al Qaeda’s strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan; how the corrupt and incompetent Karzai regime fails to lure ordinary Afghans away from the Taliban’s influence; and the...
09/19/11 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Pepe Escobar, journalist and author of Obama Does Globalistan, discusses his article “Libya: to King Sarkozy, the spoils” about how France helped instigate the uprising in Libya and stands ready to profit from regime change; the lack of a “plan B” for Libya’s conquerors since Gaddafi slipped away (apparently in a hi-tech stealth SUV); why Libya’s (relative) wealth and high living standards may be undermined by a tribalistic and fundamentalist Islamic government; and why Libya may soon get an...
08/26/11 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
This interview was broadcast on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles on August 26th. Pepe Escobar, journalist and author of Obama Does Globalistan, discusses his article “R2P is now Right 2 Plunder” about the great fortunes to be made rebuilding Libya and extracting its natural resources; how al-Qaeda operative Abdelhakim Belhadj led the rebel onslaught on Tripoli; concern in Washington about the outcome of NATO regime change – helping install a Taliban-like regime in N. Africa won’t help Obama’s...
08/24/11 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Pepe Escobar, journalist and author of Obama Does Globalistan, discusses his article “Welcome to Libya’s ‘democracy’” and whether Gadhafi’s apparent defeat is instead a strategic retreat – presaging a guerrilla war; how NATO filters all information from Libya’s National Transitional Council, making it very difficult for outsiders to determine what’s really going on; why eastern Libya may become an emirate ruled by heavily armed Islamists, much to the delight of the Persian Gulf monarchies; how...
