Tuesday night’s elections were good for Democrats. They already occupied the offices of governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general in Virginia, and now they control both houses of its legislature, seemingly solidifying the state’s transition to “blue” status. Democrats picked up the Kentucky governor’s mansion and kept the Mississippi governor’s race to within around 6 points. Will we look back a year from now and see Tuesday as a bellwether, a harbinger or an outlying data point?
US President Donald Trump was really clear last week while announcing Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s demise: “We are leaving soldiers to secure the oil. And we may have to fight for the oil. It’s OK. Maybe somebody else wants the oil, in which case they have a hell of a fight. But there’s massive amounts of oil … And we’re securing it for a couple of reasons. Number one, it stops ISIS [Daesh], because ISIS got tremendous wealth from that oil. We have taken it. It’s secured. Number two – and again, somebody else may claim it, but either we’ll negotiate a deal with whoever is claiming it, if we think it’s fair, or we will militarily stop them very quickly.” Dana Stroul, a longtime US diplomat who oversaw a congressionally mandated study of Syria, outlined a four-pronged plan for what she called the “new phase” of the war in Syria. What is this four-pronged plan?
French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping have announced fresh trade contracts worth $15 billion amid the ongoing trade war between the US and China. Macron and Xi also agreed to double down on combating climate change. What do the French know that the US does not?
Iran is going to begin injecting uranium gas into 1,044 centrifuges. It's the latest step away from 2015 nuclear deal, and it piles pressure on EU signatories of the pact to counteract crippling US sanctions against Tehran. In journalist Caleb Maupin's new piece, entitled "Confronting the Islamic Republic: Trump vs. Rhodes' Round Table" he writes, "There seem to be solid disagreements among the circles of power about how much to escalate tensions with Iran." The basis for these differences, and what they represent, are worth examining carefully.
GUESTS:
Joia Jefferson Nuri — Communications specialist for In The Public Eye Communications.
Ben Norton — Journalist with the Grayzone Project and co-host of the Moderate Rebels podcast.
Dr. Jack Rasmus — Professor of economics and politics at St. Mary’s College in California.
Caleb Maupin — Journalist and political analyst who focuses his coverage on US foreign policy and the global system of monopoly capitalism and imperialism.
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