Category: Briefings

Briefings

Background Briefing: September 15, 2024

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Is Putin Using Psychological Warfare to Stop Ukraine From Striking Deep Into Russia or Is He Not Bluffing When He Says Doing So Will Mean Russia Is “At War” With NATO?

We begin with the critical decision President Biden and UK Prime Minister Starmer are about to make to allow NATO weapons to strike deep into Russia, a move which Putin, using psychological warfare, threatens would have Russia at war with NATO. However there are no guarantees that Putin is not bluffing and we will discuss this precarious moment with George Beebe, the Director of Grand Strategy at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He served in government for nearly twenty-five years, including as director of Russia analysis at CIA and as a White House adviser on Russia matters for Vice President Dick Cheney. His latest book is The Russia Trap: How Our Shadow War with Russia Could Spiral into Nuclear Catastrophe and we will discuss his article at Responsible Statecraft, “Not enough long range missiles to make a difference for Ukraine: But letting Kyiv strike deep into Russia could lead us right into war.”

 

The Reason Haitians Are in Ohio Is That US Foreign Policy Has Made Haiti Unlivable

Then we explore the reason why Haitian refugees are in Ohio with a temporary legal status because their country is largely unlivable due to gang violence and decades of dysfunction which is mostly a result of bone-headed US foreign policy that denies Haitians their democratic choices because of a fear the island nation could become another Cuba. Joining us now is Amy Wilentz, an award-winning writer whose books include The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier and Farewell Fred Voodoo: A Letter From Haiti.  Awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in general nonfiction in 2020, she is the former Jerusalem correspondent for The New Yorker, a long-time contributing editor at The Nation and teaches in the Literary Journalism program at the University of California at Irvine. She is the author of Martyrs’ Crossing, a novel about the Oslo peace process in Jerusalem, and we discuss her article at The Nation, “JD Vance’s Slanders Are Far From the Worst Thing the US Has Done to Haitians.”

 

Rather Than Race-Bait Harris Head On, Trump and Vance Are Using Racism as the Main Driver of Their Campaign

Then finally we look into the deliberate stoking of racism which is the main driver of the Trump/Vance campaign as they avoid race-baiting Kamala Harris head on by going after Haitians and alleged hordes of brown people from prison and insane asylums “poisoning the blood of the country.” Joining us to discuss how disgusting racist lies cooked up by the Nazi group “Blood Tide” are spread by Trump, Vance, Musk, Cruz and Laura Loomer, is Joe Conason, the editor-in-chief of The National Memo, a daily political newsletter, and a senior fellow at Type Media Center. His articles have appeared in many publications around the world, including The New Republic, The Nation, The Guardian, Salon, and The American Prospect. He was executive editor of The New York Observer and a staff writer at The Village Voice. He is the author of The Hunting of the President and Big Lies, and his latest book, just out, is The Longest Con: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism.