Month: January 2024

America’s Industry and Banking Leaders at Davos Are Quite Okay With Trump Winning the Presidency

We begin with insight into the attitudes of corporate leaders and billionaires expressed in softball interviews at Davos towards the possibility of Trump being reelected with Jamie Dimon saying Trump is “kinda right about NATO, immigration, the economy and China” while opining that “negative talk about MAGA is going to hurt Biden’s electoral chances.” Joining us to discuss how American industry and banking leaders at Davos are quite OK with Trump winning the presidency is Michael Hiltzik, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and columnist at Los Angeles Times. He received the Pulitzer Prize for articles exposing corruption in the entertainment industry. Currently he writes a twice-weekly column covering business and economic issues relevant to life in California. His books include The New Deal: A Modern History and Iron Empires: Robber Barons, Railroads, and the Making of Modern America. We discuss his latest article at the LA Times, “Davos, where the rich and powerful go to show off their ignorance.”

Missile Strikes From Iran Into Pakistan and Pakistan Into Iran

Then we focus on the Baluchestan region of Pakistan and its border with Iran which has seen missile and drone strikes first by Iran into Pakistan, then retaliation from Pakistan with strikes into Iran. Joining us is Dr. Daniel Markey, a senior advisor on South Asia at the United States Institute of Peace and a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies Foreign Policy Institute. From 2003 to 2007, Dr. Markey was a member of the U.S. State Department’s Policy Planning Staff where his work focused on U.S. strategy in South Asia, especially Pakistan and India. His books include China’s Western Horizon: Beijing and the New Geopolitics of Eurasia and No Exit from Pakistan: America’s Tortured Relationship with Islamabad.

Will the Exchange of Missiles Escalate Regional Conflicts Involving Iran’s “Axis of Resistance?”

Then finally we broaden the discussion to assess whether the exchange of missiles between Iran and Pakistan will contribute to the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East involving Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Joining us is Adam Weinstein, a Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. A former Marine officer deployed to Afghanistan, he previously worked as a senior law and policy analyst at the National Iranian American Council.