Just World Podcasts

In this second episode of Just World Ed's project "Washington and the World: The New Chapter", JWE president Helena Cobban spoke with Dr. Josh Ruebner, the Policy Director at the IMEU Policy Project. They explored what the U.S. Congress should do to buttress Palestinian rights and end the U.S. war on Iran, and provided some handy guides as to what voters should be pressing for, to affect the policies both of the sitting (lame-duck) Congress and of the much more energetic and principled 120th Congress that will be seated on January 3.You can see the video of the whole 40-minute conversation here. Or you can read a transcript here.Cobban opened by listing three urgent priorities: Ending the war on Iran, Ending the genocide in Gaza, and Preventing Israel's overlordship of the US military. Ruebner agreed with those priorities. Key topics in the discussion that followed included these:The midterms: Ruebner described the incoming freshman class as the largest and boldest ever in its support for Palestinian rights.The war on Iran: He argued the war would end as a major strategic defeat for the United States and urged Congress not to fund it.Gaza: He described worsening conditions, noting that Israeli forces now control about 70% of the territory. He pointed to the UNRWA Restoration Act, Section 620i of the Foreign Assistance Act, and the Block the Bombs Act as concrete steps legislators can take to end Israel's many cruel atrocities in Gaza.The National Defense Authorization Act, NDAA: He explained how Senate Democrats could use their leverage to remove provisions that deepen US-Israel military and intelligence ties.Democratic leadership: They discussed Senator Chris Van Hollen's challenge to Chuck Schumer for Senate Majority Leader.At the end, Ruebner urged viewers:to call their Senators-- if they are Democrats-- to urge support of Van Hollen's leadership bid,to ask their Representatives to sign on as co-sponsors of the Block the Bombs Act (H.R. 3565), andto demand that Senators and Representatives support stripping out the special provisions favoring Israel from the NDAA provisions.Support the show

In the first episode of Washington & the World, a new project from Just World Educational, Helena Cobban spoke with veteran Middle East expert William B. Quandt about what the November 3 midterm elections mean for US policy in West Asia. They discussed what the new Democratic majorities could do about the war on Iran and the crisis in Gaza, before and after Congress changed hands on January 3. Key topics The midterm results. Quandt said the Democrats won a larger Senate majority than expected and an overwhelming House majority. A shift on Israel. They discussed the rise of candidates who questioned US support for Israel and the role of younger voters. Crossing the Red Line. Quandt explained what Akbar Shahid Ahmed's book revealed about Biden's Middle East policy, including the Rafah red line that Israel crossed without consequence. Ending the war on Iran. They discussed public pressure to end the war and the case for a bipartisan deal. Gaza. They examined the humanitarian crisis as Gaza faced its fourth winter and the need for real international aid. US aid to Israel. They discussed the $3.8 billion in annual aid and the National Defence Authorization Act. A plan for Congress. Quandt outlined how Democrats could use funding and oversight once they held both chambers. Money in politics. They discussed AIPAC's declining influence and the limits of big donor spending. Support the show

On June 5, JWE president Helena Cobban sat down with the renowned economist and UN advisor Prof. Jeffrey Sachs to assess the impact of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, and the long-running Israeli genocide in Gaza on global governance and the global economy. In this convo Sachs was forthright in his denunciation of the stupidity of the Trump-Netanyahu decision to launch the war against Iran. He noted that while the war and the naval blockade that Washington set up around Iran's ports was inflicting mounting economic costs on most of the peoples of the world, a few bodies have been making super-profits off the war's continuation, including big U.S. oil companies and military production entities across the U.S. and Israel. He also shared several crucial observations about the currently poor state of the UN's effectiveness and the degree to which the body is hobbled by the actions of the U.S. president (as well as by Israel.)Listen to the whole of this super-informative conversation! It is the latest episode in Just World Ed's continuing series on the Iran Crisis. Find the multimedia records of this episode and all the others in this series at this Online Learning Hub on our website.Support the show

On May 29, JWE president Helena Cobban sat down with the strategic analyst Elijah Magnier to assess the impact of the first 13 weeks of the (still somewhat ongoing) U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.Early on in this Just World Ed project, Magnier had been both the first and the fourth contributor to this this project, both just before and just after the U.S. and Israel launched their assault on Iran on February 28. In this latest convo, he and Ms. Cobban revisited many of the key judgments he had made on those occasions. Magnier also assessed the likelihood of the "framework agreement" that's currently being discussed between Tehran and Washington leading to a real ceasefire-- as well as the impact this war has had so far at both the West Asian regional level and gobally.This dialogue was also the latest episode in Just World Ed's continuing series on the Iran Crisis. Find the multimedia records of this episode and all its others at this Online Learning Hub on our website.Support the show

On May 20, JWE president Helena Cobban sat down with Dr. Yingnan ("Chris") Yi, a Research Fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University in Beijing, to discuss the role that China has played and can play in finding a speedy, lasting, and equitable end to the U.S.-Iran war. This conversation came just a few days after the end of Pres. Trump's trip to Beijing where he held a notable series of summit-level meetings with Pres. Xi Jinping. This conversation took the distinctive form of an interactive dialogue, in which Dr. Yi. and Ms. Cobban each had the chance to pose some questions to the other. It also ranged broadly over a number of key items on the China-U.S. agenda, in addition to matters related more directly to the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and Israel's assaults against Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank. The two scholars also assessed the broad changes in power dynamics that the world is seeing today.This dialogue was also the latest episode in Just World Ed's continuing series on the Iran Crisis. Find the multimedia records of this episode and all its others at this Online Learning Hub on our website.Support the show

On May 12, JWE president Helena Cobban sat down with Mahdi Mohabirad, a tehran-based scholar of international law and the Director of the Organization for defending Victims of Violence.In this convo, Mohebirad and Cobban discussed (among other topics): The extent of the impact of the United States' long-running sanctions on Iranian people and societyThe ways in which Iran can have recourse to remedies under international lawThe limitations on the effectiveness of existing international institutions, andThe responsibility of citizen organizations to work to reform this situation.This was latest episode in our continuing series on the Iran Crisis. Find the multimedia records of this episode and all its others at this Online Learning Hub on our website.Support the show

On May 9, JWE president Helena Cobban sat down with John Ross, who's a Senior Fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China. That, at a point midway between the May 6 visit of Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi to Beijing and the upcoming visit there by U.S. President Trump, who'll be holding an important summit there with Pres. Xi Jinping on May 13 or 14.In this conversation, Ross emphasized the geopolitical and geo-economic impact of the still-simmering U.S. war on Iran. He assessed that from Beijing's viewpoint, this war is centrally about whether the U.S. can be allowed to continue exerting unilateral control over the entire world economy, given that it is the U.S. military that is currently blockading the Hormuz Strait and preventing a peaceful negotiated end to this war.Listen to John Ross and Helena Cobban discussing this and other issues around China's persistent, though generally quiet, pro-peace diplomacy and the importance of the upcoming summit meeting.This was latest episode in our continuing series on the Iran Crisis. Find the multimedia records of this episode and all its others at this Online Learning Hub on our website.Support the show

On May 7, JWE president Helena Cobban sat down with Maryam Jamshidi, Assistant Professor of Law in the law school at the University of Colorado, and a Non-resident Fellow of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.In this convo, Jamshidi and Cobban discussed (among other topics): The many details of what international maritime law has to say about the rights Iran may enjoy over the Strait of HormuzThe depth of the remaining differences between the U.S. and Iranian positions on how to end the warThe sad history of the UN Security Council's engagement in the question of the U.S.-Israel war on IranThe utility of international law in the present, lawless era.This was latest episode in our continuing series on the Iran Crisis. Find the multimedia records of this episode and all its others at this Online Learning Hub on our website.Support the show

On May 1, JWE president Helena Cobban sat down with the former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, who was one of the founders of the antiwar organization Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS). During his career in the CIA, McGovern was a very expert analyst of Soviet (and Russian) affairs. In the early 1980s he was responsible for giving the U.S. president his daily intel briefing.In this convo, McGovern and Cobban discussed (among other topics): the likelihood of any imminent U.S. resumption of major military actions against Iran; the slowly decreasing influence of Israel in the U.S. Congress;the impact of Iranian FM Araghchi's recent visit to Moscow and the potential role that Russia might play in mediating an end to the war; the Israeli navy's recent acts of piracy against the Global Sumoud Flotilla heading to Gaza (in the context of the increasing recourse to acts of piracy by the U.S. navy, as well); andDavid Swanson's recent book War Is Still A Racket.This was latest episode in our continuing series on the Iran Crisis. Find the multimedia records of this episode and all its others at this Online Learning Hub on our website.Support the show

In this episode of the Iran Crisis series, Helena Cobban sat down with Professor Richard Falk, international law scholar and JWE board member, for a wide-ranging conversation that spanned nearly five decades of history. Recorded on April 29, the discussion moved from a remarkable personal meeting he had with Ayatollah Khomeini in January 1979 to the crisis of international law and the nuclear non-proliferation debate that are both unfolding right now. This was latest episode in our continuing series on the Iran Crisis. Find the multimedia records of this episode and all its others at this Online Learning Hub on our website.Support the show