February 1 – The U.N. Security Council Argues While Syria Burns; A Look Inside Syria’s Civil War; An Expert on Romney’s Mormon Church

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Part 1	We begin with an update on deliberations today before the U.N. Security Council, where a majority of the Council led by Secretary of State Clinton have drafted a resolution calling for the Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad to step down from power. Veteran U.N. reporter Ian Williams joins us. He is a Senior Analyst at Foreign Policy in Focus and we discuss if, how and when the U.N. will overcome a veto threat from Russia and China and take action to stop the killing in Syria.
Part 2	Then as civil war in Syria intensifies, a Syrian/American sociologist who is a Professor Emerita of Sociology at Simmons College in Boston, Elaine Hagopian, joins us to provide an analysis of the forces arrayed inside and outside of Syria. We discuss how the Saudis and Qataris are arming and training the Syrian opposition in an effort to shape the outcome of the “Arab Spring” that protects their regional interests and feudal regimes.
Part 3	Then finally the country’s leading non-Mormon expert on the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints joins us to discuss Mitt Romney’s religion and the effect that it and the Mormon Church’s hierarchy might have on a Romney presidency. Jan Shipps a Professor Emerita of History and Religious Studies at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis joins us. Her books include Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition and Sojourner in the Promised Land: Forty Years Among the Mormons.
	MUSIC: Dirty Projectors – No More; Syrian Protesters – Bashar Must Go; Built To Spill – Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss; Helio Sequence – Hallelujah