By Any Means Necessary

US, EU Governments Treat Crises in Beirut & Belarus as Opportunities

Russia releases 1st COVID-19 vaccine; Opposition protests election results in Belarus; Lebanese gov't steps down after massive explosion
Sputnik

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by international affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda to talk about the news that Russia has produced the world's first coronavirus vaccine, what explains the overwhelming skepticism of the drug among the mainstream media, and the recent re-election of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie continue to be joined by international affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda to discuss protests in Belarus amid opposition claims of electoral fraud, how broader domestic and international political dynamics are impacting the situation on the ground there, and the significance of Hong Kong's detention of anti-government protest sponsor Jimmy Lai.

In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Leith Marouf, award-winning multimedia producer and media policy and law consultant with the Community Media Advocacy Centre, to talk about the resignation of the Lebanese government in the wake of the last week's explosion which leveled the port of Beirut, how the same European powers which colonized Lebanon centuries ago are poised to exploit the tragedy today, and why imperialist attempts to use the crisis to isolate Hezbollah politically may prove more difficult than imagined.

Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Kamau Franklin, Founder and Board President of Community Movement Builders in Atlanta and co-host of the Renegade Culture podcast, to discuss the resurgence of political hip-hop amid the uprising against racist police terror, the resignation of Seattle's police chief in response to a relatively small cut to the police budget, and how attempts to blame the 'culture' for problems in working communities tend to overlook the role of capitalism in perpetuating poverty.

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