Geopolitical Economy Report

Donald Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is a self-declared “crusader” who believes the USA is in a “holy war” against China, the left, and Islam. “Communist China will fall”, he vowed in his 2020 book “American Crusade”, promising, “Israel and America will form an even tighter bond, fighting the scourge of Islamism and international leftism that will never fully abate”. Ben Norton reports on his extremist record. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOg-dqGd6Jk Sources and links here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/03/07/us-defense-secretary-hegseth-overthrow-china-crusade/ Topics 0:00 Trump's cabinet of hawks 0:42 Pete Hegseth's "American Crusade" 2:02 Hegseth: "Communist China will fall" 3:26 Make the Crusades Great Again 4:38 Fox News 6:10 (CLIP) US "prepared" for war with China 7:02 Fearmongering about China 7:29 (CLIP) Trump on China "threat" 7:37 Fearmongering about China 8:42 (CLIP) CIA lies, cheats, & steals 8:58 Fearmongering about China 11:31 US military is "most lethal" 12:04 (CLIP) Hegseth: "most lethal" military 12:10 Culture war 13:23 (CLIP) Hegseth on "lethality" 13:28 Conservative identity politics 13:45 (CLIP) Hegseth's "warfighters" 13:59 Media pundit criticizes media 14:20 (CLIP) Hegseth on the media 14:36 (CLIP) Hegseth on Fox News 15:14 Israel 18:17 Hegseth wants war on Iran 18:44 (CLIP) Hegseth calls to bomb Iran 19:55 War with Iran? 20:39 (CLIP) Trump: US will "own" Gaza 20:46 War with Iran? 21:03 Pete Hegseth's elite background 21:41 (CLIP) Hegseth Harvard diploma stunt 22:30 Wall Street 22:55 Neocon 23:35 Guantanamo Bay 24:43 Book "American Crusade" 25:45 Hegseth declares "holy war" 26:33 US Civil War II? 31:05 War on secularism 33:18 (CLIP) Trump on the Bible 33:53 War on secularism 34:16 Hegseth's war on Islam 37:44 Extremist loses friends 38:52 Outro

BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, is buying the ports on both sides of the Panama Canal, after Donald Trump threatened the Latin American country and forced it to pressure a Hong Kong company to sell its stake. Ben Norton discusses how the US government is trying to weaken China -- and strengthen Wall Street oligarchs. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANqHCejgUTM Check out our related video on Trump's attempt to divide Russia and China: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRJIymzuRGU Topics 0:00 Goals of US foreign policy 1:08 BlackRock buys Panama Canal ports 2:08 (CLIP) Trump threatens Panama 2:32 BlackRock 3:26 US empire fears China 4:03 (CLIP) Marco Rubio on China "threat" 4:46 CIA targets China 5:42 (CLIP) CIA director on China 6:34 CIA threats 6:50 Trump attacks China 7:06 (CLIP) Trump on Panama Canal 7:17 BlackRock takeover 7:43 Monroe Doctrine 8:40 Greenland 9:27 Marco Rubio 11:09 (CLIP) Rubio on US "backyard" 11:46 (CLIP) Rubio on "dangerous" China 12:24 (CLIP) Rubio on Taiwan 12:56 New cold war 13:39 Panama Canal geopolitics 14:59 BlackRock buys ports around world 15:54 Biden's infrastructure scheme 16:09 Belt and Road Initiative 16:33 Partnership for Global Infrastructure 17:53 BlackRock, Microsoft, and AI 18:06 Stargate Project with OpenAI 18:26 USA is an oligarchy 19:39 G7 summit starred BlackRock 20:16 (CLIP) CEO Larry Fink at G7 summit 21:11 BlackRock backs both US parties 22:15 Asset managers invest $128 trillion 23:06 Blackstone: Largest US landlord 24:33 USA: best "democracy" money can buy 25:13 Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman 26:45 Elon Musk: biggest US donor 27:51 Trump's trickle-down economics 31:37 Class war 33:24 Trump's Russia strategy 33:51 Outro

Donald Trump's fight with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House reflected how the US treats Ukraine as a colony. Trump is demanding control of the country's rare earths and critical minerals, to weaken China, re-industrialize, and make new technologies. Trump wants to be paid $350 billion, roughly twice Ukraine's GDP. Ben Norton discusses Washington's economic colonialism, and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham's comments that "this war is about money" and the USA will "enrich ourselves with rare earth minerals". VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxxv2IEfU_c Trump wants US to ‘partner’ with Russia to weaken China: Divide-and-conquer strategy - https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/02/24/trump-divide-russia-china-us-strategy/ Topics 0:00 (CLIP) Trump fights with Zelensky 0:21 Trump treats Ukraine like a colony 1:07 (CLIP) Trump: Ukraine has no cards 1:51 Throwing Ukraine under the bus 2:14 Economic colonialism 3:36 (CLIP) Trump wants Ukraine's rare earths 4:43 Lindsey Graham says quiet part loud 4:58 (CLIP) Ukraine has trillions in minerals 5:34 US wants minerals 6:03 (CLIP) Graham: "This war is about money" 6:53 Colonialism 7:05 Toxic effects of rare earth elements 8:42 US attacks China in supply chains 9:54 Dividing Russia & China 10:22 (CLIP) Trump: split Russia from China 10:40 Making weapons 11:10 (CLIP) Trump: make tech & weapons 11:43 USA targets China 12:31 Trump's Ukraine mineral demands 14:20 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent 14:48 US-Ukraine fund 16:57 How much will USA be paid? 18:03 Zelensky proposed mineral stake 19:01 US Fed oversees Iraq's oil revenue 20:07 Billionaires run Trump admin 20:36 Kissinger: fatal to be US ally 21:10 What does Ukraine get? 22:32 (CLIP) Trump on military support 23:29 Trump boasts of arming Ukraine 24:20 (CLIP) Trump on Ukraine aid 24:36 False $350 billion aid claim 26:41 Why Zelensky was angry 27:08 JD Vance, Peter Thiel puppet 27:39 (CLIP) JD Vance: thank the US empire 28:06 Ukraine "card game" 28:26 (CLIP) Trump gives orders to Ukraine 28:38 Trump erases US culpability 29:37 (CLIP) Trump: thank US military 29:55 Trump boasts of Javelin missiles 30:27 (CLIP) Trump vs Obama on Ukraine 31:00 NATO fought to the last Ukrainian 31:19 (CLIP) The last Ukrainians 31:30 US hypocrisy 31:56 Lindsey Graham attacks Zelensky 32:37 (CLIP) Graham on Zelensky 33:01 Ukraine as a US "investment" 33:47 (CLIP) US tells Zelensky to resign 33:54 True face of USA 34:07 WWII UK debt with US 35:11 It's fatal to be a US "ally" 36:26 Outro

The US government's talks with Russia are more about China than Ukraine. Donald Trump admitted he wants to "un-unite" Russia and China, in a reverse of the divide-and-conquer strategy used by Nixon and Kissinger in the 1970s. Can Trump do it? Ben Norton explains why the United States sees China as the main threat to its global imperial dominance. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRJIymzuRGU Topics 0:00 (CLIP) Trump: divide Russia & China 0:18 US-Russia talks 1:01 USA says China is 'greatest threat' 2:11 (CLIP) Trump on Russia & China 3:31 US dollar dominance 4:14 Divide & conquer 5:23 Nixon in China 6:06 Kissinger strategy 6:59 Trump's neocons 7:57 (CLIP) Marco Rubio: partner with Russia 8:20 Ally with Russia against China? 9:37 (CLIP) Tucker Carlson on Russia 11:01 (CLIP) Marco Rubio on Russia 11:42 Marco Rubio on Ukraine & China 12:34 Rubio: China challenges US-led order 13:05 Rubio: China wants to displace USA 13:40 Rubio: China is "greatest challenge" 14:20 China more powerful than Russia 14:40 Population 14:54 Economy 15:31 Manufacturing 15:58 Technology 16:56 Research 17:19 China's alternative 18:08 Competition to Silicon Valley 18:55 Russia's strengths 20:02 Brzezinski's warnings 20:49 BRICS & SCO 22:21 (CLIP) CIA director John Ratcliffe 23:21 CIA on China "threat" 25:07 (CLIP) Blinken on China "challenge" 25:31 Mike Pompeo on China 26:14 US imperialism & Panama Canal 27:15 Monroe Doctrine 27:46 Europe 29:03 JD Vance 30:04 US colonialism in Ukraine 32:41 (CLIP) Trump wants to expand USA 33:10 Imperial expansion 33:44 European right wing 34:45 Can Trump divide Russia & China? 35:09 Putin's rise to power 35:55 (CLIP) Bush on Putin 36:30 Russia tried to join the West 37:31 Russia's fall out with the West 38:07 Ukraine war context 38:39 Russia-China relations 39:41 Sanctions relief? 40:28 Security guarantees? 41:56 Can USA be trusted? 43:25 Is there a possibility? 46:36 Outro

Argentina's President Javier Milei, a self-declared libertarian and "anarcho-capitalist", is promoting crypto scams and overseeing rapid deindustrialization. Manufacturing and construction are collapsing, while the financial sector, mining, and agriculture grow. Donald Trump and Elon Musk praise Milei, as the majority of Argentines live in poverty. The real economy is in crisis, but rich foreign investors rejoice as the stock market booms. Ben Norton explains how Argentina is being turned into a resource colony. VIDEO with charts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3qgYZMYkj0 Topics 0:00 Who is Javier Milei? 0:40 Elon Musk & Donald Trump 1:08 Crypto pump & dump scheme 2:34 Trump & Melania meme coins 3:18 Economic destruction 5:06 BRICS 5:47 Israel 6:27 CIA 6:48 Spanish colonialism 7:11 Ukraine 7:48 Stock market 10:06 Poverty 11:27 12-hour work day 12:46 72% are worse off 13:39 Income distribution 14:38 Extreme austerity 15:28 Government spending 16:47 Colonialism 17:11 Brain drain 18:39 No toilet paper 19:22 Social spending cuts 20:43 Bicicleta financiera scheme 23:04 Cost of living 23:55 Job loss 24:50 Construction collapses 25:17 Housing costs 26:05 Taunting the poor & hungry 28:45 Luis Caputo 31:36 Billionaire sponsors 32:04 Bondholders 32:30 Inflation & debt 39:48 Manufacturing collapses 47:07 Deindustrialization 49:18 Neoliberalism 50:39 Stock index composition 52:09 Privatization 54:13 Plantation economy 56:39 Gold in London 57:56 Financial colonialism 58:19 Outro

It's now widely acknowledged we are in a multipolar world, but the definition of "multipolarity" is not clear. Donald Trump and Marco Rubio think it means a return to great power competition with imperial spheres of influence, whereas China and much of the Global South say "equality among all countries regardless of size". Ben Norton explains the geopolitical divide. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg0Vur0SI-8 Topics 0:00 US unipolar moment 0:35 Multipolarity is here 1:24 Definition of multipolarity 2:39 (CLIP) Marco Rubio on unipolarity 3:14 US imperial sphere of influence 4:32 China's anti-imperialist view 7:37 Marco Rubio interview 8:52 (CLIP) Rubio on multipolar world 9:14 Rubio fearmongers about China 9:42 Greenland 10:55 (CLIP) Rubio on China 11:02 Neoconservativism rebranded 12:11 Trump's imperialism 12:30 (CLIP) Trump calls to "expand" USA 13:01 Chinese socialism vs US capitalism 14:46 Marco Rubio targets China 17:35 Rubio's fake "populism" 20:22 Nicaragua's anti-imperialist view 22:33 Outro

Why has the price of gold been increasing so fast, breaking records? Economist Michael Hudson explains the politics of the precious metal, and the dynamics of the US dollar system. He is interviewed by Ben Norton. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Bvr2SZm-NM Transcript: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/02/13/politics-gold-price-economist-michael-hudson/ Topics 0:00 Intro 1:49 Highlights 4:14 Interview starts 4:49 US dollar system & Super Imperialism 8:23 Dollar alternatives? 10:56 Why price of gold is rising 15:31 Gold market is political 21:10 Is gold an inflation hedge? 25:19 US military spending 27:33 Budget deficits & MMT 29:41 Gold standard critique 33:29 Politics of money creation 35:39 Commodity markets 38:01 Options trading 39:33 Central banks short selling gold 43:43 Gold leasing 48:01 How much gold is in Fort Knox? 51:03 Is there a run on gold? 1:02:50 Western central bank strategy 1:07:11 Outro

Donald Trump's tariffs will likely backfire and hurt the United States, accelerating the decline of US dominance. To discuss, host Radhika Desai is joined by economist Michael Hudson and China-based scholar Mick Dunford. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wpJZh-gDA8 This is part of the program Geopolitical Economy Hour. You can watch other episodes of the show here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP

Donald Trump plans to ethnically cleanse Palestinians, saying, "The US will take over the Gaza Strip... We'll own it". His son-in-law Jared Kushner has invested in Israeli companies that profit from expanding illegal settlements. Trump and Kushner floated building luxury real estate in Gaza. Ben Norton reports. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMBwV8kL5NY Topics 0:00 Trump is Israel's "best friend" 1:04 US plans to "take over" Gaza 2:19 Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner 3:04 Rebuilding Gaza 3:45 Gaza's "phenomenal location on the sea" 4:24 Kushner eyes "Gaza's waterfront property" 5:05 Ethnic cleansing 5:52 Kushner's investments in Israel 6:51 Saudi Arabia invests in Kushner's firm 8:29 Israel proposes Saudi land for Palestinians 10:00 Trump pressures Jordan & Egypt 11:07 Plans to expel "all" Gazans 11:38 Gaza death toll 13:08 US-Israel made Gaza "Hell" 14:11 Biden vs Trump 15:01 Palestinians don't want to leave home 15:49 Netanyahu is an American 16:49 Netanyahu: Trump is Israel's "great friend" 18:11 Deportations of pro-Palestine students 19:06 IDF prepares to expel Palestinians 19:44 Gaza is an open-air prison 20:55 Bipartisan US imperialism 22:18 Outro

Donald Trump’s tariffs could destabilize the global economy, warns economist Michael Hudson. US protectionist policies could cause financial crises, as many currencies depreciate and countries can't earn the dollars needed to pay their foreign debts. Ben Norton hosts the interview. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFyWatftnIM Transcript: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/02/04/trump-tariffs-global-crisis-economist-michael-hudson/ Here you can read Michael Hudson's article on how Trump’s tariffs threaten the global economy: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/01/25/michael-hudson-trump-tariffs-global-economy/ Topics 0:00 Trump's tariff threats 3:10 Highlights of Michael Hudson 5:47 How to pay foreign debt 10:55 Austerity 14:48 Protectionism 17:19 US threats 21:11 Mexico 22:47 Defaulting on debt 25:46 Economic colonialism 28:18 Colombia 29:50 Greenland 30:23 Economic war 31:02 China's win-win approach 32:24 Trump's contradictions 35:20 US dollar & re-industrialization 37:06 Finance capitalism 41:00 Dollar exchange rate & inflation 44:34 Trump proposal at WEF/Davos 45:20 Investing in USA 47:18 US imperialism 49:17 Outro