April 11 – How Dictators Co-Opt Democracy; What the Saudis Want in Syria After Assad; “How the 99 Percent Live in the Great Recession”

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Part 1	With the Venezuelan elections underway this Sunday, we begin with an analysis of how elected autocrats like Hugo Chavez and Vladimir Putin are able to use the tools and outward appearance of Democracy to install permanent power and rule. William Dobson, the politics and foreign affairs editor of Slate and the former editor of Foreign Policy joins us to discuss his latest book “The Dictator’s Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy”.
Part 2	Then we examine the duplicity of our Saudi allies who are sending Salfist jihadists to Syria with the intention of toppling the Assad dictatorship and replacing it with a reactionary Islamic theocracy. Dr. Ali Alyami, the founder and director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia joins us to discuss the divergent interests of Saudi Arabia and the U.S. in supporting the Syrian rebels and how our foreign policy establishment have not seemed to notice that the Saudis nurtured the Taliban and Al Qaeda and are radicalizing Pakistan, to the detriment of the United States.
Part 3	Then finally we speak with Barbara Garson, the author of a new book “Down the Up Escalator: How the 99 Percent Live in the Great Recession”. We discuss the resilience of the American people in the face of the shameful fact that in America the rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer, and assess the state of economic justice and social responsibility as more of our citizens lose their homes and jobs to predatory banks and vulture capitalism.