Episode 3495: The US Destruction Spiral with Vincent Bevins

“Those who long for peace. Must declare for war. Must PREPARE for war!”

So Pete Hegseth said last night in the latest example of the clear communication that has characterised the President of Peace’s latest Special Military Operation.

Vincent Bevins (of North South Notes) joins us to talk about how the recent run of Venezuela-Iran-maybe Cuba fits into the long historic context of US foreign interventions.

The US National Security Strategy says that for America to get its grand strategy right, people “need to know what, exactly, it is we are trying to do and why.” So… what is it they are trying to do, and why? Is this the same old imperial power politics in Pete Hegseth packaging, or a real departure from how the US has acted in the past?

We talk about how Hegseth and the White House memes are proving Jean Baudrillard’s point, nearly three decades after a baffled young Ken first failed to understand the point of his confusing Gulf War book.

Where is this all going next? As the economic effects from the closure of the straits cascade unpredictably through the world economy, might Trump have declared victory and called off the attack by the time this podcast is posted? Only the next few hours can tell.

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