Month: January 2024

Will Strikes Against the Houthis Scuttle the Saudi Peace Deal to End a War in Yemen MbS Started in 2015?

We begin with continued strikes by the US and UK against Houthi targets in Yemen and assess what impact they will have on the peace talks close to ending the civil war that was started by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2015 as well as whether this escalation will spark a wider war in the Middle East. Joining us is Shireen Al-Adeimi, a professor of education at Michigan State University. Having lived through two civil wars in her country of birth, Yemen, she has played an active role in raising awareness about the U.S.-supported, Saudi-led war on Yemen since 2015. Through her work, she aims to encourage political action among fellow Americans to bring about an end to U.S. intervention in Yemen.

According to China, the War Party Won and the Peace Party Lost in Taiwan’s Election

Then with Taiwan’s pro-sovereignty DPP winning over the KMT in this weekend’s election which mainland China’s government of Xi Jinping has called a choice between war and peace, we speak with Michael Swaine, a senior research fellow and former director of the Quincy Institute’s East Asia program. He is one of the most prominent American scholars of Chinese security studies and previously worked for nearly twenty years as a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace specializing in Chinese defense and foreign policy, U.S.-China relations, and East Asian international relations. He also advises the U.S. government on Asian security issues and his books include Remaining Aligned on the Challenges Facing Taiwan and Conflict and Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region: A Strategic Net Assessment. We discuss his brief at Responsible Statecraft “Paths to Crisis and Conflict Over Taiwan.”

“Christian” Corruption as Mike Johnson Kills Enforcement After the IRS Collected $520 Million From Rich Tax Cheats

Then finally we speak with Edward McCaffery, the Robert C. Packard trustee chair in law and a professor of law, economics and political science at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Fair Not Flat: How to Make the Tax System Better and Simpler and the founder of the People’s Tax Page. We discuss Friday’s announcement from the IRS that they have collected $520 million from rich tax cheats thanks to increased enforcement funding from Biden’s IRA, the extra money Mike Johnson and the House Republicans are now cutting in a deal to keep the government funded in a brazen display of “Christian” corruption.