BRICS grows, adding Indonesia as member: world's 4th most populous country, 7th biggest economy

India has the world's largest population, but can it be the next global economic superpower? Or will extreme poverty, inequality, unemployment, and lack of industrialization and manufacturing capacities hold it back? Why is the Western media so eager to portray India as a pro-Western alternative to China? Ben Norton is joined by economic historian Jyotishman Mudiar to explore these questions and more. VIDEO with charts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXU42fqJ6g4 Check out Jyotishman's channel India & Global Left: https://www.youtube.com/c/IndiaGlobalLeft Topics 0:00 Intro 4:32 Is India the next economic superpower? 12:37 Technology 16:39 Geopolitics 20:27 Indian stock market 22:37 Quality of life 34:21 Billionaire oligarchs like Adani & Ambani 42:09 China controls its billionaires 44:42 China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) 46:22 Manufacturing in India vs China 49:24 Privatization in India 54:37 India's manufacturing stagnation 56:58 Can services replace manufacturing? 1:08:02 India's dependence on US Big Tech 1:18:43 AI, automation, & population growth 1:29:50 Agriculture in India 1:43:09 Outro

What will Donald Trump's second term as US president mean for the NATO-Russia proxy war in Ukraine and Israel's war on Gaza? How will his tariffs affect the economy? To discuss, political economist Radhika Desai is joined by Anatol Lieven, director of the Eurasia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNQztns8C9U This is part of the show Geopolitical Economy Hour. You can watch other episodes of the program here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP

BRICS keeps expanding. As a new full member, it added Indonesia, the 4th most populous country with the 7th largest economy on Earth. BRICS now has 10 members and 8 partners. Together they make up 41.4% of global GDP (PPP) and roughly half the world population. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIDWOWHW-cU Sources and links here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/01/07/brics-adds-indonesia-member-economy/ Check out our related report on BRICS' plan to challenge US dollar domination by creating a multi-currency financial system: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/10/19/brics-russia-multi-currency-system-us-dollar/ Topics 0:00 BRICS expansion 0:51 Map of BRICS membership 1:11 List of BRICS members & partners 1:47 BRICS share of world economy 2:27 BRICS vs G7 3:44 Indonesian economy bigger than UK & France 4:41 Indonesia's BRICS invitation 6:05 Global South cooperation 6:56 China supports Global South 7:29 Non-Aligned Movement & Bandung Conference 8:31 US-backed coup against Sukarno 8:58 CIA-sponsored massacres 9:53 ASEAN prefers China over USA 11:07 Philippines allies with USA 12:08 Indonesia calls China & Russia friends 13:52 China is Indonesia's largest trading partner 14:17 China is ASEAN's largest trading partner 14:39 Nickel production 15:32 Indonesia industrializes with China's help 21:53 BRICS cooperation 23:43 De-dollarization 24:46 Outro

The US stock market is in "the mother of all bubbles", with the market capitalization of publicly traded companies at 206% of GDP. This is higher than the dot-com bubble of 2000, and even the peak of the crash of 1929. Meanwhile, just 25 companies make up over half of the weight of the S&P 500, and the Magnificent 7 Big Tech monopolies are 35% of the market cap of the index. However, the US economy was built upon this financial house of cards, and politicians are profiting from it. Ben Norton explains the dangers. VIDEO with charts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rguHublkxCQ Topics 0:00 American exceptionalism 0:53 US stock market is over 60% of world 1:16 USA is 74% of MSCI World Index 2:10 Top 25 companies in world 3:29 Exorbitant privilege of US dollar 4:59 S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices 6:07 Magnificent 7 6:50 Just 25 companies make up 50.3% of S&P 500 8:26 Tesla is insanely overvalued 12:03 Big US companies are really financial firms 13:11 How to measure a bubble 14:15 Buffett Indicator (market cap to GDP) 15:57 Public & private equities to GDP 17:00 How the US government inflated the bubble 21:10 Richest 10% of Americans own 93% of stocks 22:23 Warren Buffett's warnings 23:56 Berkshire Hathaway dumps stocks 26:32 Jeff Bezos sells Amazon shares 27:22 Mark Zuckerberg sells Meta stocks 27:40 Elon Musk sold Tesla shares 28:08 The "greatest bubble in human history" 30:27 Alan Greenspan and "irrational exuberance" 31:16 Fears of "pent-up exuberance" 32:19 P/E ratios 33:41 Irrational investing 34:54 Donald Trump's tax cuts help the rich 37:54 Trump and Ronald Reagan 39:04 Trickle-down economics 41:16 Wall Street fills Trump's cabinet 42:02 Financialization of US economy 43:44 Will Trump reverse de-industrialization? 45:38 Real estate & homelessness 46:38 US dollar 47:34 Wall Street vs Main Street 49:06 Outro

The United States spent decades trying to overthrow the Syrian government, before succeeding in 2024. A declassified CIA document from 1986 outlined US plans for regime change. The blueprint was almost exactly what happened in the proxy war that started in 2011. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKXxKCm1psU How the US military supported the Syrian rebel offensive that toppled the Assad government: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/12/23/us-military-syria-rebels-assad/ Topics 0:00 Overthrow of Syrian government 0:38 CIA document from 1986 2:25 CIA exploited religious sectarianism 3:58 Installing a pro-Israel regime 5:17 Arab nationalist government had "grudging respect" 5:57 Syria's state-led economic model 7:11 Rebels pledge neoliberal shock therapy 8:09 Muslim Brotherhood 9:45 US wanted "business-oriented" regime 10:43 Proxy war on Syria 12:15 Outro

While Donald Trump's supporters falsely claim he is an "isolationist", he is threatening to colonize the Panama Canal, annex Canada, and seize Greenland (and its rare earth elements). The Trump team also plans to invade Mexico, bomb Iran, and wage proxy war on China. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG_UzMTh82w Topics 0:00 Trump's warmongering foreign-policy record 1:35 Trump threatens Panama, Greenland, Canada 2:59 Colonial Christmas threat 3:49 Trump followers revive Manifest Destiny 4:41 Top Pentagon official invokes Monroe Doctrine 5:42 US interventions are not jokes 6:32 Seizing the Panama Canal 8:45 Elon Musk backs colonialism in Latin America 10:29 China defends Panama's sovereignty 11:44 US colonial Monroe Doctrine 13:29 History of US imperialism in Panama 16:07 Panamanian revolutionary Omar Torrijos 18:03 CIA and Manuel Noriega 19:10 US invasion of Panama in 1989 20:20 Trump wants Greenland's rare-earth minerals 22:37 Annexing Canada 23:51 Pro-Trump influencers promote colonialism 26:08 Plans to invade Mexico 27:56 Bombing Iran 28:50 Cold war on China 30:30 DOGE will cut social programs, not military 31:51 Cabinet full of billionaire oligarchs 32:27 Bipartisan imperialism 34:19 Outro

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