In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by journalist and author Daniel Lazare to discuss a recent helicopter accident involving US troops in northeast Syria and what this reveals about the US presence in parts of Syria, how the recent resurgence of Syria on the regional political stage is affecting the US hold on the country and its influence in the Middle East, and how US presence in Syria might shift as China’s influence in the Middle East continues to grow.
In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Dr. Seyed Mohammad Marandi, Professor of English Literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran, who was part of the Iranian delegation that helped to negotiate the 2015 nuclear deal, to discuss how the US is using the International Atomic Energy Agency to delay a new nuclear deal, the recent history of negotiations over a replacement of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and why the US is responsible for impeding that deal, the ongoing visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba and how this visit advances solidarity between the countries amid a growing shift in the global political dynamic.
In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Tunde Osazua, the Coordinator of the U.S. Out of Africa Network, a project of the Black Alliance for Peace to discuss the recent Second Session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent and the involvement of civil society groups in the forum, why some participants felt a disconnection between the forum and the struggles being waged by people of African descent, and why the structure of the forum often leaves out grassroots movements without connections to states or the UN.
Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie discuss the Southern Baptist Convention voting to expel two churches over having women pastors, how this decision reflects the politics of religion in the US, how these politics and the conservative social culture of many churches facilitates abuse, and how scandals involving prominent Christian churches demonstrate how capitalism can warp faith.
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