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Joanne Leon

Around the Empire podcast explores the massive apparatus of the American Empire. In-depth interviews, discussions. Hosted by Joanne Leon.

Around The Empire

Dan and Joanne discuss the rebels in Syria that the mainstream media has been promoting as freedom fighters, as well as the different powers waging proxy wars in Syria. They also talk about what might happen after Aleppo falls.

Episode 1: Introduction

On this episode, Dan and Joanne interview independent journalist Rania Khalek about her recent trip to Syria. Rania is one of the few journalists to have done reporting from actually inside Syria and reports what she witnessed observing and talking to Syrians.
 
Part of the discussion also focuses on a US-backed effort through traditional and social media to ignore the role Al Qaeda/Al Nusra is playing in the civil war.
 
Rania explains the "moderate rebels" are, in truth, Al Nusra and those groups ideologically aligned with Al Nusra. If the moderate rebels prevailed, a sectarian bloodbath would shortly commence targeting Alawites, Christians, Shiites, and any other minority not conforming to their Sunni jihadist worldview.
 
Follow Rania on Twitter at @RaniaKhalek

Episode 2: Reporting From Syria Feat. Rania Khalek

If you want to support the show and receive access to bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month.
 
On this episode of Around The Empire, Dan and Joanne interview war reporter Elijah Magnier. Elijah is the chief international and veteran war correspondent for Al Rai media. He has covered wars in Lebanon, the Balkans, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, and Syria.
 
Beyond reporting on wars from the ground, Mr. Magnier also offers expert analysis on terrorism and terrorist organizations. He spoke to us from Brussels about the current Syria peace deal and its wider implications for the region and world.
 
Follow Elijah on Twitter at @EjmAlRai
 Read English versions of his work here.

Episode 3: War Reporter Elijah Magnier On Syria Peace Deal

If you want to support the show and receive access to bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month.
 
On this episode of Around The Empire, Dan and Joanne interview journalist Benjamin Norton on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Ben has been closely monitoring the situation in Yemen for years writing previously in Salon and now for Alternet's Grayzone Project.
 
The discussion focuses on the overall dynamics of the civil war in Yemen, as well as the motives of external actors participating in the war such as Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Iran. The role of the United States in facilitating Saudi Arabia's brutal bombing raids has put the U.S. in jeopardy of being charged with war crimes.
 
Ben explains the horrendous toll the conflict is taking on the people of Yemen, the necessity for a political solution to stop the carnage, and the obstacles such a solution faces from all parties involved.
 
Follow Ben on Twitter @BenjaminNorton

Episode 4: Ben Norton On Humanitarian Crisis In Yemen

If you want to support the show and receive access to bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month.
 
On this episode of Around The Empire, Dan and Joanne interview journalist David Chibo about his recent article on the deep state in the United States for Unz Review.
 
Chibo offers a comprehensive and holistic perspective for understanding the hidden forces influencing the U.S. government by synthesizing theories from seven different intellectuals to finally arrive at a "theory of everything." Using the famous Indian story of the Blind Men and the Elephant, Chibo shows that each intellectual was seeing only one part of the overall picture, but when combined, the full animal comes into view.
 
The discussion includes both an overview of Chibo's article as well as discussion of current events related to what appears to be a power struggle between President-elect Donald Trump and forces within the U.S. intelligence community.
 
Follow Dave on Twitter @DChibo

Episode 5: David Chibo On Trump And The Deep State

On this episode of Around The Empire, Dan and Joanne interview former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou about the ongoing tensions between the CIA and President Donald Trump as well as his recent article about abolishing the CIA.
 
Kiriakou explains how the CIA works in both theory and practice, and that the agency's duties could be better accomplished by the State Department and the Pentagon. The State Department can do the analytical functions of the CIA, while the Defense Department's already existing human intelligence operations can recruit and run spies around the world.
 
The discussion also includes Kiriakou's detailed knowledge of John Brennan and the reforms he made to the CIA under President Barack Obama, and what Trump might do to purge the CIA of Brennan's influence.
 
Follow John on Twitter @JohnKiriakou

Episode 6: Inside The CIA's War With Trump Feat. John Kiriakou

On this episode of Around The Empire, Dan and Joanne interview filmmaker Robbie Martin about the future of the neoconservatives now that the candidate they lined up against, Donald Trump, has become president.

Episode 8: The Neocons In The Trump Era Feat. Robbie Martin

If you want to support the show and receive access to bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month.
 
On this episode of Around The Empire, Dan and Joanne interview journalist Kenneth Lipp about the sprawling national security and incarceration state President Donald Trump inherited when he took office.
 
Lipp has written extensively on the role that private firms play in assisting government surveillance programs and broke news on Project Hemisphere—a service offered by AT&T that allows law enforcement to access the communications giant's massive database for theoretically lawful investigations.
 
Part of the agreement for law enforcement to use Hemisphere is non-disclosure, which arguably necessitates the need for parallel construction, or using illegal information to investigate a target, then using that information to construct a legal way that information could have been obtained.
 
If that sounds like a great tool for an authoritarian regime to destroy political dissidents with, that's because it is.
 
Follow Ken on Twitter @KennethLipp

Episode 9: The Surveillance State Trump Inherited Feat. Ken Lipp

If you want to support the show and receive access to bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month.
 
On this episode of Around The Empire, Dan and Joanne interview journalist Antony Loewenstein about his new book and upcoming film Disaster Capitalism. Loewenstein has traveled to the U.S., Britain, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Haiti, Papua New Guinea and Australia to research how multinational corporations exploit disasters for profit.
 
The discussion starts with a focus on recent decisions by the Trump Administration to increase use of private prisons and detention centers. Loewenstein details how companies profit from this approach both in the United States and around the world, and the role such companies play in expanding the surveillance and incarceration state.
 
Loewenstein also explains the complicated role of non-government organizations (NGOs) in international development and disaster capitalism. Using the failures of NGOs in Haiti as a starting point, he explains the conflicting incentives NGOs have that often lead to them failing to make a positive impact despite ample resources.
 
Follow Antony on Twitter @antloewenstein

Episode 10: Disaster Capitalism And The Empire Feat. Antony Loewenstein

If you want to support the show and receive access to bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month.
 
On this episode of Around The Empire, Dan and Joanne interview Syria expert Professor Joshua Landis on the battle for the Syrian city of Raqqa and the various competing forces in the Syrian Civil War.
 
Professor Landis discusses the difficulty the United States has in deciding who to work with once ISIS is driven out of its claimed capital of Raqqa. While, in theory, the Assad government is the only government recognized under international law, it appears unlikely that the U.S. will assist that government in reasserting jurisdiction.
 
Other factions in the Syrian Civil War on better terms with the U.S., such as Turkey and the Kurds, have their own designs for the city.
 
Such complexities mirror the larger struggle on how to govern Syria itself. Landis details a current plan to break up Syria into five statelets including; a Kurdish state (Rojava), Idlib state (currently run by Al Qaeda), Assad governed state, a southern state run by Jordanian militias backed by Israel, and a Euphrates valley state of Sunni Arab tribes.
 
Opposed to this structure are both the Kurds and the Assad government, who do not want a Sunni state backed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the other gulf states within Syria.
 
Landis believes Assad, backed by Iran and Russia, will ultimately prevail with a carve-out for the Kurds, who will continue to have U.S. backing.
 
Follow Josh on Twitter @Joshua_Landis

Episode 12: The Battle For Raqqa And Future Of Syria Feat. Joshua Landis

Guest: Gunar Olsen. Gunar recently published a response to an historian’s analysis of the Soviet Afghan invasion and the question of whether or not Zbigniew Brzezinski’s goal (under the Carter administration) in assisting the mujahedin was really about provoking the Soviet military intervention. There is also a bonus question on why there was so much push back and resistance to Trump’s last ditch effort to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and what the real reasons behind it. 
 
Gunar Olsen is an independent scholar, writer and journalist who covers the politics of U.S. imperialism. His articles have been published in The New Republic, The Nation, Jacobin, The Grayzone, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting and other publications. He also provides research for the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
 
FOLLOW @GunarOlsen. Find him and his work at his website gunarolsen.com
 
Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. 
 
SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.
 
Music by Fluorescent Grey.
 
Reference Links:
 
 “We Don’t Need a Smoking Gun”: U.S. Provocations and the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, Gunar Olsen

Ep 197 Brzezinski and the Soviet-Afghan War feat Gunar Olsen

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