Background Briefing: October 27, 2022

On By gram

 

Far-Right Vigilantes Engaged in Election Intimidation Will Escalate Violence If the Election Does Not Go Their Way

We begin with the same anti-immigrant playbook that has led to the rise of far-right parties in Italy, Sweden, Poland and Hungary being used by the Republicans who are equating Latino immigration with white replacement while blaming immigrants for crime and imaginary voter fraud. Joining us is Thomas Mockaitis, an expert on domestic terrorism, and we discuss the emergence of far-right vigilantes engaged in election intimidation in Arizona, Shasta County California and across the country who are poised for greater violence and even civil war if the November 8 vote does not go their way.  A Professor of History at DePaul University, Tom Mockaitis has taught counter-terrorism courses for the past 13 years at venues around the world as part of the U.S. Department of Defense Counter-terrorism Fellowship Program. He is the author of 6 books including ‘New’ Terrorism: Myths and Reality, Violent Extremists: Understanding the Domestic and International Terrorist Threat and we discuss his article at The Hill, “Populist autocracy is built upon fears of a new demographic order.”

 

How to Stop Escalation and Achieve a Peaceful Solution Without Helping Putin and Selling out the Ukrainians

Then with House progressives in disarray over a letter to Biden that was sent then rescinded the next day, we examine how genuine concerns about the war in Ukraine escalating and the need for a peaceful solution can be achieved without playing into Putin’s hands and selling out the embattled Ukrainians. Joining us is Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is the author of Tomorrow, the World: The Birth of U.S. Global Supremacy in World War II and he had a recent article in Foreign Affairs, “The Crisis in Progressive Foreign Policy: How the Left Can Adapt to an Age of Great-Power Rivalry.”

 

What Should Biden Do in Response to MBS’s Insulting and Hostile Moves?

Then finally we assess what the Biden administration can do to in response to the insulting behavior of the Saudi Crown Prince who is openly siding with Putin and clearly wants to help Trump return to the White House as he and Putin jack up the price of gas in the hope the American people will punish the Democrats in the upcoming elections. Joining us is Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now DAWN who was formerly the executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division, where she oversaw 19 countries, with staff located in 10 countries. She has led dozens of advocacy and investigative missions throughout the region, focusing on issues of armed conflict, accountability, legal reform, migrant workers, and political rights.