Tag: democracy

Briefings

Background Briefing: October 8, 2018

On By gram

 

Trump Declares There is a War on Men

We begin with Lynn Stuart Parramore, a Senior Research Analyst at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, a cultural historian who studies and writes on the intersection of culture, gender and economics. She joins us to discuss her article at NBC News, “After the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation battle, should American men be afraid?” and the latest war declared by Donald Trump, the war on men. We will look into the insecurity amongst white men that Trump is exploiting as an historical shift is underway globally which means that in the future, simply being born white will no longer confer privilege. She argues that just as the Lord watched over the peasant and the master feared the slave, those with the most power and privilege who have the most to be afraid of, are the ones determined to keep all the goodies and privileges for themselves. Meanwhile Congress has not passed any laws whatsoever related to sexual harassment in the workplace since the #MeToo movement emerged in spite of the fact that men have a lot to gain from a fairer, more egalitarian world opening up opportunities for mutual trust and respect between men and women leading to better working lives, better politics and even better sex.

 

The Mysterious Disappearance of a Saudi Dissident

Then, with Turkey’s President Erdogan challenging the Saudis today to produce videotape of the missing dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi exiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul which he entered days ago and has not been seen since, we speak with Ali Al-Ahmed, the founder and director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs. A scholar and expert on Saudi political affairs and Saudi-American relations, he joins us to discuss the lame excuse offered to Khashoggi’s employer The Washington Post by Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the U.S., that the video cameras at the consulate were not recording that day and how Saudi Arabia’s new Crown Prince and President Trump’s best friend is conducting a reign of terror in the kingdom.

 

The Global Struggle Between the Forces of Decivilization and Recivilization

Then finally we speak with Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld, a senior associate in the Democracy and Rule of Law Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace about her now book, just out, “A Savage Order: How the World’s Deadliest Countries Can Forge a Path to Security”. With the Saudis appearing to have brazenly killed and possibly dismembered a prominent dissident and journalist on foreign soil and the Chinese arresting the head of Interpol, we will analyze the global struggle between the forces of decivilization and recivilization.