December 20 – Israel’s Assassination of A Notorious Hezbollah Militant; An Analysis of the Democratic Debate and the DNC’s Efforts to Suppress Viewership; Why Is ISIL Dominating Our Political Discourse?

Full Program

Part 1

We begin and go to Beirut, Lebanon and speak with Thanassis Cambanis who writes “The Internationalist” column for the Boston Globe and is the author of “A Privilege to Die: Inside Hezbollah’s Legions and Their Endless War Against Israel”. We discuss Israel’s assassination of a notorious Hezbollah militant by four missiles  that struck a residential building just outside of Damascus in Syria and examine the possible fallout as well as its effect on the outlines of a Syrian peace deal announced by the U.N. Security Council that has the support of both the U.S. and Russia.

Part 2

Then we speak with John Lawrence, a visiting professor at the University of California, Washington Center who worked in the House of Representatives for 38 years and served as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s Chief of Staff. We discuss last night’s Democratic presidential candidates’ debate and try to understand why the DNC is trying to make sure as few Americans as possible watch the Democratic debates while the Republican debates are getting record ratings. And given the nature of what the Republicans are espousing, it would seem like an important moment for the Democrats to offer a counter narrative.

Part 3

Then finally since much of the debate was about the self-declared Islamic State or ISIL and how best to combat it, we speak with Michael Brenner, a Professor of International Affairs at the University of Pittsburg and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. We discuss his latest article at The Huffington Post “Getting Real: An ISIL Strategy” and assess why a few thousand Mad Max-like desert marauders in pickup trucks waving black flags are able to terrify the American people and dominate our political discourse.