Meet Trump's Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: a 'crusader' pushing war on China & Iran

The Global South-led organization BRICS continues to expand, adding 9 partner countries in January 2025, after admitting 4 new members in 2024. The group now makes up roughly half of the global population and more than 41% of world GDP (PPP). It's an economic powerhouse, with top producers of key commodities like oil, gas, grains, meat, minerals, and more. Ben Norton analyzes the growing influence of BRICS+. VIDEO with charts and maps here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_shuhJvvBY BRICS MEMBERSHIP (9 members + 9 partner countries) - 5 original members are Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. - 4 new members officially admitted in January 2024 are Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE. (Saudi Arabia has neither accepted nor denied the invitation. Argentina rejected the offer.) - 9 confirmed partner countries are Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan. - 4 invited partner countries have not yet given a response: Algeria, Nigeria, Turkey/Türkiye, Vietnam. Check out our related video on BRICS' plan to transform the global financial system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pHr5yzLEHA BRICS plans ‘multi-currency system’ to challenge US dollar dominance: Understanding Russia’s proposal - https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/10/19/brics-russia-multi-currency-system-us-dollar/ Topics 0:00 History of BRICS expansion 0:45 9 new partner countries 1:38 Map of BRICS membership 3:45 BRICS is an economic powerhouse 5:00 What does partner status mean? 5:39 De-dollarization of international financial system 7:06 1/2 of global population 8:35 BRICS economies are bigger than G7 9:24 41% of world GDP (PPP) 10:20 US GDP is overstated 12:49 Food production 17:32 Oil & gas production 18:32 Renewable energy 19:21 Mineral production 20:43 Building a global alternative 22:07 Outro

Syrian rebel commanders have admitted that the US military helped them overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad. NATO member Turkey and Israel played a key role as well. Ben Norton reviews the evidence. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qicLi6kqt7M Topics 0:00 Intro 0:41 US troops occupy Syria's oil & wheat fields 2:56 US military oversaw Syrian rebel assault 6:22 Turkey backed Syrian rebel operation 6:48 Israel helped Syrian rebels 8:06 US military funded Syrian rebels 10:54 Rebranded Al-Qaeda takes over Syria 12:19 USA & Turkey carve up Syria 13:05 Israel colonizes Syrian land 14:31 Jake Sullivan: "AQ is on our side in Syria" 15:15 CIA armed & trained Syrian rebels 16:18 Jabhat al-Nusra rebrands as HTS 17:20 US diplomats meet with HTS leader al-Jolani 19:12 Western media whitewashes Al-Qaeda 2.0 21:05 Outro

Did Israel and the United States win the Syria war? What about NATO member Turkey? Were Iran and the Axis of Resistance defeated? Political economist Radhika Desai discusses with Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za2HfCFbHt8 This is part of the show Geopolitical Economy Hour. You can watch other episodes of the program here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP

After helping to overthrow leader Bashar al-Assad, Israel destroyed Syria's military capabilities and is seizing territory, annexing the Golan Heights and occupying more land. The Al-Qaeda-linked Salafi-jihadist rebels who now rule Syria, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have allowed Israel to do this. HTS leader (and former Al-Qaeda chief) Abu Mohammad al-Jolani said "We are not looking to engage in a conflict with Israel". Ben Norton reports. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEOiNDVFJ_o Topics 0:00 USA & Israel occupy Syrian territory 2:49 Israel destroys Syria's military capabilities 4:14 Israel expands illegal settlements in occupied Golan Heights 5:26 UN vote demands Israel withdraw from Syrian Golan 6:33 Israel supported Syrian rebels (including Al-Qaeda) 7:52 Netanyahu: "We are changing the face of the Middle East" 8:51 Israel threatens Iran 10:50 HTS leader al-Jolani wants peace with Israel 13:35 (CLIP) HTS refuses to criticize Israel 14:23 The US empire's "Syrian Revolution" 15:08 US State Dep't talks with Al-Qaeda 2.0 16:27 UK sends millions to rebranded Al-Qaeda 17:10 CIA armed & trained Syrian rebels 17:43 Syrian rebels vow neoliberal "free-market" shock therapy 19:08 Uyghur extremists declare war on China 21:34 HTS denies rights to Syrian women 23:00 HTS stoned Syrian women to death 23:30 Outro

South Korea's US-backed President Yoon Suk Yeol launched a coup attempt, but failed. He tried to provoke war with North Korea by attacking with drones, hoping to justify imposing martial law, but the DPRK showed restraint. Ben Norton analyzes the geopolitics of the crisis, addressing NATO, China, Japan, and more. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGXKAkieFkY Topics 0:00 Intro 1:10 Yoon Suk Yeol, DC darling 2:11 Authoritarianism in South Korea & Japan 3:07 Washington's anti-China alliance 3:46 Yoon plotted war with North Korea 6:15 Yoon ordered military to assault lawmakers 7:51 South Korean opposition 9:00 Crazy coup plot 10:55 Coup planned in advance 11:39 Opposition warned of martial law 12:11 Yoon's corruption & unpopularity 14:01 Class war 15:02 Chaebols: corporate oligopolies 17:21 US military bases 18:49 South Korea: a US "client" 19:54 (CLIP) Yoon's speech to US Congress 22:23 Yoon blames "Chinese spies" 23:04 US cultivates anti-China assets 23:54 Lee Jae-myung opposes conflict with China 26:20 Japan 29:32 NATO 30:30 USA targets "Axis of Adversaries" 31:14 US nuclear threats 33:12 NYPD spends more than DPRK military 34:06 Korean War 34:43 USA killed 20% of North Korea's population 36:56 UK plans for world war 38:00 Outro

The Syrian government was overthrown, and Salafi-jihadist rebels led by a rebranded version of Al-Qaeda called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took power in Damascus. US President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu boasted of helping topple Bashar al-Assad. NATO member Turkey played a key role as well. Ben Norton explains how the West dealt a major blow to the Axis of Resistance and Iran. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8pZgwOdIuA Al-Qaeda-linked ‘rebels’ in Syria say they ‘love Israel’. USA gave them billions in weapons & support: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/12/06/al-qaeda-rebels-syria-israel-usa/ US troops are occupying Syria’s oil fields. Congress refuses to withdraw them: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/12/12/us-troops-occupy-syria-oil-congress-withdraw/ Topics 0:00 Syrian government is overthrown 3:17 Al-Qaeda leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani 4:39 AQ rebrands: Jabhat al-Nusra to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham to HTS 6:16 Western media whitewashed Osama bin Laden 7:53 Jake Sullivan: "AQ is on our side in Syria" 8:49 CIA spends billions arming Salafi-jihadists 10:06 Diplomat says HTS is US "asset" 11:33 HTS' medieval rule in Syria 12:44 Libya: where NATO brought back slavery 15:40 (CLIP) Biden takes credit for overthrowing Assad 16:58 Syrian Al-Qaeda got US weapons 17:24 Turkey backed Syrian assault 17:50 Ukraine's role in Syria 18:30 Israel boasts of Syria regime change 19:12 (CLIP) Netanyahu: Israel helped topple Assad 19:26 Israel supported Syrian rebels 20:38 Syrian rebels say they "love Israel" 22:09 Israel seizes more Syrian territory 23:15 Axis of Resistance is weakened 25:15 Syria's territorial integrity 26:41 US military occupies Syria's oil fields 27:19 (CLIP) Trump boasts: I took Syria's oil 27:46 Congress backs US military occupation of Syria 28:33 US starved Syria of oil revenue 29:43 Western sanctions suffocated Syria's economy 32:42 Inflation in Syria 33:35 This is not about "authoritarianism" 36:08 US strategy to collapse Syrian state 37:30 (CLIP) US official outlines Syria regime-change plan 39:46 Will Syria's borders be changed? 41:41 Iran: the ultimate US target 42:45 (CLIP) Wesley Clark: US planned to topple 7 governments 43:38 US collapsed 6 of 7 states on regime-change list 44:34 Will US war on Iran be next? 46:24 Outro

While the United States provokes conflicts across the world, China has promoted economic development, lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, building infrastructure, and encouraging win-win cooperation. Political economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson are joined by Beijing-based scholar Mick Dunford to discuss the significance of the 75th anniversary of the Chinese revolution. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuKG___qK-8 This is part of the show Geopolitical Economy Hour. You can watch other episodes of the program here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP

The United States spent billions over years arming and training militants in Syria, many linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIS. The extremist "rebels" who took over Aleppo (and rule Idlib) said they "love Israel". Ben Norton documents the Western dirty war on Syria, and how Washington is trying to divide and conquer the anti-colonial Axis of Resistance in West Asia (the Middle East). VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl-vX1RBapo Sources and links here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/12/06/al-qaeda-rebels-syria-israel-usa/ Topics 0:00 CIA armed & trained "rebels" in Syria 2:14 Rebranded Al-Qaeda (HTS) takes over Aleppo 4:54 Jake Sullivan: "AQ is on our side in Syria" 6:04 Syrian Al-Qaeda (Nusra Front) got US weapons 6:50 Israel supported Salafi-jihadist "rebels" in Syria 7:52 Syrian "rebels" say they "love Israel" 11:47 US demands Syria cut ties with Iran & Hezbollah 13:14 Israel violated Lebanon "ceasefire" 100 times in 1 week 14:09 USA tries to divide Axis of Resistance 15:31 Geopolitics of West Asia (Middle East) 16:23 Israel is US empire's unsinkable aircraft carrier 17:46 (CLIP) Biden: If Israel didn't exist, US would have to create it 18:11 USA uses Israel to crush anti-colonial resistance 19:59 ISIS got US weapons 22:05 (CLIP) Biden: US allies supported ISIS & Al-Qaeda in Syria 24:10 DIA memo shows Pentagon knew ISIS & AQ led Syrian opposition 29:21 NATO-backed Israeli think tank said ISIS was "useful tool" 31:30 US-led war on Syria continues 32:15 Outro

As the NATO-Russia proxy war in Ukraine escalates, the US Army is funding research on "the impacts of nuclear weapons on farm systems" in Eastern Europe. Numerous scientific studies warn that this would cause a nuclear winter that would starve billions and kill off the majority of the human population. Ben Norton discusses the extreme dangers. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV8rCGchY-k 94% of Americans want to end Ukraine war, but US rejects China peace deal, opposes talks with Russia: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/06/08/end-ukraine-war-us-china-peace-deal-russia/ Topics 0:00 Intro 0:27 Doomsday Clock is 90 seconds to midnight 2:09 US Army studies effects of nuclear weapons on agriculture 3:47 Scientists say nuclear war would kill billions 5:46 Nuclear winter 6:47 Escalation of Ukraine proxy war 7:48 Ukraine (and NATO) is losing 8:58 Most Americans want to end Ukraine war 10:03 US nuclear war strategy 11:37 USA spends trillions on nuclear weapons 14:39 Donald Trump tore up Russia arms treaties 17:37 Trump gave Ukraine lethal weapons 18:23 (CLIP) Trump boasts of Ukraine arms shipments 18:40 Trump is not anti-war 19:11 Bipartisan US war drive 20:19 Outro

To defend their colonialism in Gaza, the United States and Israel have attacked every single legal institution upholding international law, including the UN, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Criminal Court (ICC), and more. Ben Norton explains how the imperial war on Palestine is a neocolonial assault on multilateralism and multipolarity. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EAAytPjQzc Check out our related video - US threatens ICC & allies over Netanyahu arrest warrant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqBtZxSYwaU Topics 0:00 Intro 0:40 US vetoes Gaza ceasefire in UN Security Council 2:24 Israel uses food as weapon in Gaza 4:19 Israel violates ICJ rulings 5:26 US attacks ICC over Netanyahu arrest warrant 6:36 Washington Post: ICC is for Global South & Russia 7:59 Billionaire oligarch Jeff Bezos owns Washington Post 9:20 ICC was "built for Africa" & Russia 10:26 (CLIP) ICC prosecutor on Western pressure 10:51 Rules-Based International Order 12:47 UN Security Council 14:27 Wolfowitz Doctrine 15:35 US unipolarity 17:02 Western colonialism 18:23 Israeli colonialism 19:25 Israel is ethnically cleansing Gaza 20:45 Israeli minister Smotrich vows to annex West Bank 21:52 Israel attacks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres 23:42 Trump's UN ambassador pick Elise Stefanik 24:26 Trump withdrew US from UN Human Rights Council 25:15 Biden-Harris administration 25:54 UN experts warn Gaza war destroys international law 27:42 Outro