Ep 235EXTRA Foreign Policy Blob of Idiots

Panelists: Kyle Anzalone, Kelley Lane, Joanne Leon, Dan Wright. A panel discussion about the war in Afghanistan and the evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans, most of whom will be settling in the United States. This is a bonus “After Hours” segment where we let loose on the foreign policy establishment “Blob” of idiots, the profiteering, the pivot to China and more. 

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Ep 235 Afghans Come to America

Panelists: Kyle Anzalone, Kelley Lane, Joanne Leon, Dan Wright. Afghans come to America: A panel discussion about the war in Afghanistan and the evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans, most of whom will be settling in the United States. There is a bonus “After Hours” segment where we let loose on the foreign policy establishment “Blob” of idiots, the profiteering, the pivot to China and more. 

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Ep 234EXTRA Afghanistan Opium Trade feat Matthew Hoh

Ep 234EXTRA Afghanistan Opium Trade feat Matthew Hoh

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Guest: Matthew Hoh. Hosts: Joanne Leon and Dan Wright. A wide ranging discussion about the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the response to losing the war, the media coverage over the past 20 years and the bad actors we were allied with throughout the war but now upon leaving, the outrage and sudden concern for the Afghan people. Over the years, so many lies were told that the whole war seems like a big lie. We also talk about why the evacuation went so badly, the national security council, the British freak out and more. In a bonus segment we talk about the Afghanistan opium trade and the Taliban pledge to shut it down.

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Ep 234 Afghanistan War: The Big Lie feat Matthew Hoh

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Guest: Matthew Hoh. Hosts: Joanne Leon and Dan Wright. A wide ranging discussion about the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the response to losing the war, the media coverage over the past 20 years and the bad actors we were allied with throughout the war but now upon leaving, the outrage and sudden concern for the Afghan people. Over the years, so many lies were told that the whole war seems like a big lie. We also talk about why the evacuation went so badly, the national security council, the British freak out and more. In a bonus segment we talk about the opium trade in Afghanistan and the Taliban pledge to shut it down.

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Ep 233 Hold the Generals Accountable This Time feat Ray McGovern

Guest: Ray McGovern. Hosts: Joanne Leon and Kelley Lane. We talk about Ray’s recent article “Hold the Generals Accountable This Time,’ calling for military generals to be held accountable for this 20-year March of Folly, the war in Afghanistan. If they are not held accountable, there will be still worse to come.  In a bonus episode, we talk about Biden’s battle with the media, the intelligence complex and the whole “MICIMATT” (an acronym that Ray has coined for the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence-Media-Academia-Think-Tank complex, the same complex that worked so hard to put him in the White House. 

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Ep 232EXTRA Fall of Saigon Moment in Afghanistan feat Connor Freeman

Ep 232EXTRA Fall of Saigon Moment in Afghanistan feat Connor Freeman

Guest: Connor Freeman. In this long bonus episode we talk about the fall of Saigon moment in Afghanistan, playing out right now. We recorded this episode less than 48 hours ago but things are changing so rapidly that I added an update at the end of the bonus episode. 

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Ep 232 The Escalation Ladder With China feat Connor Freeman

Guest: Connor Freeman. We talk about the escalation ladder of hostilities with China and how it developed under the last four presidents and how we seem to climb further up that ladder every day. 

In a long bonus episode we talk about the fall of Saigon moment in Afghanistan, playing out right now. We recorded this episode less than 48 hours ago but things are changing so rapidly that I added an update at the end of the bonus episode. 

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Ep 228EXTRA Destabilization of Central Asia After Afghanistan Withdrawal? feat Scott Horton

Ep 228EXTRA Destabilization of Central Asia After Afghanistan Withdrawal? feat Scott Horton

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Guest: Scott Horton. We talk about the war in Afghanistan, a landlocked country with rough terrain and the diverse groups of people who live there. We talk about the reasons why we lost that war and have to withdraw. We also discuss the news and footage from the withdrawal in progress and the reactions to the various factions who support and oppose that, and the dishonesty and hypocrisy that happen when people try to justify long wars and occupations like this one. In this bonus episode, we discuss the possibility for destabilization of Central Asia after NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan, the impact and involvement of China, Russia and Iran, and how things are likely to play out. 

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Ep 228 Leaving Afghanistan feat Scott Horton

Ep 228 Leaving Afghanistan feat Scott Horton

Guest: Scott Horton. We talk about the war in Afghanistan, a landlocked country with rough terrain and the diverse groups of people who live there. We talk about the reasons why we lost and are leaving Afghanistan. We also discuss the news and footage from the withdrawal in progress and the reactions to the various factions who support and oppose that, and the dishonesty and hypocrisy that happen when people try to justify long wars and occupations like this one. In a bonus episode, we discuss the possibility for destabilization of the entire region around Afghanistan, the impact and involvement of China, Russia and Iran, and how things are likely to play out. 

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Ep 224 Swapcast with Geopolitics and Empire

Ep 224 Swapcast with Geopolitics and Empire

Joanne from Around the Empire and Hrvoje from Geopolitics and Empire get together for a wide ranging discussion about the Great Game, the Great Reset, the pandemic lockdowns and other responses, the ramping up of hostilities with Russia and China, withdrawal from Afghanistan and the sudden permission to speak about the lab leak theory. 

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Ep 206 New Boss Same As the Old Boss? (Swapcast)

Ep 206 New Boss Same As the Old Boss? (Swapcast)

Swapcast: Kyle Anzalone from Conflicts of Interest and Joanne Leon from Around the Empire. Is the new boss the same as the old boss? We compare the Biden foreign policy to the Trump, Obama and Bush administrations, analyze press conference and announcements from NATO’s Jen Stoltenberg about expanding the number of troops and area of operation in Iraq and freezing any withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and more. 

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Ep 197EXTRA Why Can’t We Leave Afghanistan? feat Gunar Olsen

Ep 197 Why Can’t We Leave Afghanistan?

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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. This is a bonus question on why there was so much push back and resistance to Trump’s last ditch effort to leave Afghanistan and the real reasons behind it. 

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

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

Guest: Gunar Olsen. Gunar recently published a response to an historian’s analysis of the Soviet-Afghan war 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. 

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Ep 154 Afghanistan Papers and the Culture of Lying feat Matthew Hoh

Ep 154 Afghanistan Papers feat Matthew Hoh

Guest: Matthew Hoh. We talk about the Afghanistan Papers that were published in the Washington Post at the end of 2019 and the media treatment of these issues. We discuss Matthew’s experience in the military and in foreign service, the war in Afghanistan during the Bush and Obama administrations, and the culture of lying that has developed in the military. Matthew resigned in protest in 2009 over the war in Afghanistan. 

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Ep 130 Kashmir and Modi feat Ahsan Butt

ep130 Kashmir and Modi feat Ahsan Butt

Guest: Ahsan Butt. We discuss the history of Kashmir and the current situation after India stripped the Jammu & Kashmir regions of their limited autonomy status to bring it under the direct control of the Indian government. Also we talked about Prime Minister Modi’s history and his relationship with American officials and politicians and why India is considered an important geopolitical balance to China. We discuss Tulsi Gabbard’s support for Modi and lastly about the obstacles to ending the war in Afghanistan. 

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