Guest: Isa Blumi. We talk about the ceasefire in Yemen, the circumstances and the reasons why it happened. We also talk about energy development, the Hodeidah blockade, the situation in Aden, the ousting of Hadi and creation of a new Presidential Council and we continue our discussion from previous episodes about the war within wars in Yemen and the Gulf states. In a bonus segment we talk about Sweden and Finland changing their neutral status and joining NATO. When we recorded this, Turkey was still holding up the approval but yesterday at the NATO summit that block was cleared and it was announced that they would be joining NATO.
Guest: Isa Blumi. We talk about the ceasefire in Yemen, the circumstances and the reasons why it happened. We also talk about energy development, the Hodeidah blockade, the situation in Aden, the ousting of Hadi and creation of a new Presidential Council and we continue our discussion from previous episodes about the war within wars in Yemen and the Gulf states. In a bonus segment we talk about Sweden and Finland changing their neutral status and joining NATO. When we recorded this, Turkey was still holding up the approval but yesterday at the NATO summit that block was cleared and it was announced that they would be joining NATO.
Guest: Dr. Isa Blumi. A wide ranging discussion where we discuss the various wars within wars in Yemen and other areas. We talk about the turmoil in Lebanon, competition between the Gulf states, Europe’s gas supply and the gas fields in Eastern Mediterranean and more.
Guest: Dr. Isa Blumi. This is a wide-ranging discussion about the political realignments in the Gulf states, new partnerships in the Middle East and Africa, Qatar’s involvement in the withdrawal from Afghanistan, developments in Yemen, quiet military repurposing of strategic island of Socotra, the long and complicated exploitation of East Africa, the Red Sea region and Horn of Africa, the mass of military bases in Djbouti, the Turkey-Russia relationship and more.
For those listening to the audio version of this podcast, we have added many maps and other visual enhancements to the video version that you might find helpful during some of this discussion so if you are interested you can find those versions on Youtube and Rokfin right now and other video platforms in the not too distant future.
Guest: Elijah Magnier. We talk about the the three attacks in one week on US bases in Iraq following an announcement that the US will escalate the operation in Iraq. US and NATO troops will no longer be withdrawn from Iraq but instead there will be a NATO escalation in Iraq and a substantial expansion of the mission. We also talk about Syria, the axis of resistance and the broader region. When we recorded this interview a few days ago the media was reporting that the Biden administration is taking a calm approach, investigating the source of the attacks and not overreacting. All of that changed just a couple of days later when Biden launched an retaliatory attack on “infrastructure utilized by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria.” Reports on the multiple-target attack are still varying at the moment but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that 22 people were killed. The strikes happened in al Bukamal near the border with Iraq and the “Iranian-backed militant groups” that the Pentagon spokesman referred to are Iraqi Popular Mobilization Force (PMF) fighters. The PMF is sponsored by the Iraqi government and was reorganized around 2014 to fight against ISIS, something that Elijah has explained in previous interviews on this podcast. No evidence from the alleged investigation that the media claimed the Biden administration was conducting before any response has been reported. The Pentagon frames it as a defensive strike and also claims that this was an attempt to “de-escalate the overall situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq.”
There is also a bonus question for patrons about US support for Saudi operations in Yemen and an increase in deployment of US troops in Saudi Arabia and why the American people don’t elect leaders who can end the forever wars.
Guest: Elijah Magnier. We talk about the the three attacks in one week on US bases in Iraq following an announcement that the US will escalate the operation in Iraq. US and NATO troops will no longer be withdrawn from Iraq but instead the escalate and expand the mission substantially. We also talk about Syria, the axis of resistance and the broader region. When we recorded this interview a few days ago the media was reporting that the Biden administration is taking a calm approach, investigating the source of the attacks and not overreacting. All of that changed just a couple of days later when Biden launched an retaliatory attack on “infrastructure utilized by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria.” Reports on the multiple-target attack are still varying at the moment but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that 22 people were killed. The strikes happened in al Bukamal near the border with Iraq and the “Iranian-backed militant groups” that the Pentagon spokesman referred to are Iraqi Popular Mobilization Force (PMF) fighters. The PMF is sponsored by the Iraqi government and was reorganized around 2014 to fight against ISIS, something that Elijah has explained in previous interviews on this podcast. No evidence from the alleged investigation that the media claimed the Biden administration was conducting before any response has been reported. The Pentagon frames it as a defensive strike and also claims that this was an attempt to “de-escalate the overall situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq.”
This is a bonus episode for patrons about US support for Saudi operations in Yemen and an increase in deployment of US troops in Saudi Arabia and why the American people don’t elect leaders who can end the forever wars.
Guest: Isa Blumi. We talk about the current state of affairs in the gulf states and the region during the economic crisis and lockdowns for Covid19, the UAE-Israel deal, the evolution of situation in the Middle East, the war Yemen and the rivalry between Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Turkey. We discuss the increasing influence of China in the region and we also talk about media coverage and how it is heavily influenced by various sources of funding. This is a bonus question for patrons at the end of the interview on China’s increasing influence in the Middle East and whether they will be a savior for the Global South. Episode 180EXTRA Will China be the Savior of the Global South?
On this Foreign Policy Focus and Around the Empire swapcast, Kyle and Joanne discuss the five year anniversary of the US/Saudi/UAE war on Yemen. The anniversary has received almost no media coverage in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak. It’s the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and makes Yemen extremely vulnerable to the coronavirus crisis. The US/Saudi/UAE/UK bombing campaign has intentionally targeted the civilian infrastructure of Yemen. 24 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and millions of children are at risk of starvation. Yemen must be remembered and the war must end.
Guest: Shireen Al-Adeimi. We discussed the recent attacks on Saudi oil facilities and the battle in Najran, near the Saudi-Yemen border. Shireen then lays out some history on the wars in recent decades in Yemen, both civil wars and foreign interventions, and offers important insights on how the Saudi-United Arab Emirates coalition backed by the US and other western powers, does not even have a coherent objective anymore. Further, the Saudis and Emiratis are fighting against each other in a proxy war. Lastly we talk about Samantha Power’s new memoir in which she omits any mention of the war in Yemen or her role in the Obama administration’s decision to support and sustain it.
Yemeni journalist and filmmaker Nasser Arrabyee speaks to us from Sanaa about the war in Yemen. In 2015, a CENTCOM commander told a US Senator that he did not know Saudi Arabia’s goals and objectives in its war on Yemen and therefore could not assess the chances of success. More than three years later, Nasser Arrabyee helps us explore the answers to those questions. We talk about the US-backed Saudi and UAE coalition’s mission in Yemen, the Yemeni Resistance and Iran’s involvement. Arrabyee updates us on the situation in Hodeidah and we discuss the recent AP report on the Saudi/UAE cooperation with al Qaeda.
Arrabyee has produced four documentaries about the war in Yemen and has been published by numerous media outlets including the New York Times, Bloomberg and Foreign Policy. FOLLOW @narrabyee on Twitter and find his work at his website yemen-now.com.
We continue our discussion with Dr. Isa Blumi, speaking to us from Sweden, about the war in Yemen including the battle for Hodeidah, the development of Horn of Africa and Red Sea coast and the bigger picture this war reveals. We discuss the underlying existential battles between Gulf States, the political factions in the United States they’re aligned with, and the western imperial and corporate powers at work in the region. Dr. Blumi expertly analyzes and advises on how to read the western media coverage and propaganda on Yemen and the old “divide and rule” exploitation tactics that are employed.
Joanne interviews Dr. Isa Blumi, an historian, an author and an Associate Professor at Stockholm University. His recent book Destroying Yemen: What Chaos in Arabia Tells Us about the World tells the story of the wars in Yemen but also “ultimately tells an even larger story of today’s political economy of global capitalism, development, and the war on terror as disparate actors intersect in Arabia.”
