To run the US military in his second term, Donald Trump has nominated as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a neoconservative self-declared "crusader" who is eager for a Western civilizational war on China and Iran. Ben Norton reviews the extremely hawkish history of the Fox News host turned likely Pentagon chief. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9WBjcfVhu4 Topics 0:00 Trump's defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth 0:31 An "American Crusade" (against China & Iran) 1:53 Hegseth...

Donald Trump has appointed neoconservative Marco Rubio to oversee US foreign policy as secretary of state. Ben Norton reviews his extremely hawkish record pushing for war on China, Iran, and beyond, as well as the Florida senator's shady support for his drug lord brother-in-law, Orlando Cicilia, who was imprisoned for trafficking $15 million in cocaine. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ncw2VCsJFI Topics 0:00 Intro 0:32 China is threat to US unipolar dominance 1:21 Rubio loves...

Donald Trump has nominated warmongering neoconservatives to run his foreign policy, including Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, Mike Waltz as National Security Advisor, Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary, John Ratcliffe as CIA Director, and Elise Stefanik as UN Ambassador. Ben Norton reports on their extremely hawkish views. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwsrUUkDBWg Topics 0:00 Trump's warmongering cabinet 3:54 Strategy: try to divide Russia & China 5:05 Summary of foreign...

How will the return of Donald Trump as US president affect the world? What will his foreign policy and economic strategy be? Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJQKIwe2BYo Topics 0:00 Intro 0:33 Summary of Trump's foreign policy 10:44 Neocons in Trump's cabinet 14:41 China 18:48 Tariffs & trade with China 24:47 US dollar & re-industrialization 29:39 Protectionism 37:01 Russia & Ukraine 42:23 Israel-Palestine 44:31 Iran 46:36 Middle East (West Asia):...

Donald Trump won the 2024 US presidential election in a landslide. Why did Kamala Harris lose so badly? Ben Norton explains the failure of the billionaire-funded Democratic Party to provide an economic alternative to the billionaire-funded Republicans' pseudo "populism", as working-class people suffer. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSBi0m5xCJs Topics 0:00 Donald Trump wins 2024 presidential election 1:07 Who really is Kamala Harris? Does anyone know? 4:42 DNC strategy: sacrifice...

Billionaire BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said it “really doesn’t matter” who wins the US presidential election, because both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will be good for Wall Street. Ben Norton shows how the United States is not a democracy but rather an oligarchy, in which big corporations buy politicians and lobbyists create policies. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chPfp01rsD0 Topics 0:00 US election season 0:42 BlackRock CEO: it “really doesn’t matter” who wins US elections 2:20...

For the 32nd year, the entire world voted at the UN General Assembly to demand an end to the illegal US embargo against Cuba. The USA and Israel opposed the international community in a vote of 187 to 2. Ben Norton explains why the US empire has waged such a vicious economic war on Cuba for six decades. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTX4zSfCQYM TOPICS 0:00 US economic war on Cuba 1:39 UN General Assembly vote against US blockade 2:06 Map of UN vote against US embargo of Cuba 3:25...

BRICS plans to transform the international monetary and financial system, and discussed policies at the 2024 summit in Kazan, Russia. Can it successfully challenge the dominance of the US dollar? Political economist Radhika Desai is joined by Ben Norton and former central banker Kathleen Tyson, author of the book "Multicurrency Mercantilism". VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ejfZdPboo This is part of the show Geopolitical Economy Hour. You can watch other episodes of the program...

BRICS held a summit in Kazan, Russia in October 2024, where 13 new "partner nations" were accepted. This followed the 2023 meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, where several members were invited to join. Ben Norton analyzes the historic events, and shows how the Global South is building a more multipolar world. BRICS MEMBERSHIP (9 members + 13 partner countries) - 5 original members are Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. - 4 new members officially admitted in January 2024 are...

The US dollar is gradually losing its dominance, and foreign central banks are buying fewer Treasury securities, instead holding more gold in their reserves, warns Mohamed El-Erian, a mainstream American economist. Ben Norton discusses how countries are seeking financial alternatives, especially Global South nations around BRICS. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnMAit5MP-Y BRICS plans ‘multi-currency system’ to challenge US dollar dominance: Understanding Russia’s proposal -...

BRICS plans to challenge US dollar dominance and transform the international monetary and financial system by developing infrastructure for cross-border payments using local currencies. Russia made a detailed proposal for the October Kazan summit. Ben Norton analyzes the report, explaining how the US-dominated financial system benefits rich Western countries at the expense of the Global South -- which is why BRICS is pushing to change it. VIDEO:...

Countries across the Global South are denouncing Israel's Western-backed genocide in Gaza. Nicaragua's Sandinista government cut off diplomatic relations with Israel, condemning it as a "fascist" regime. Ben Norton discusses how Latin America is demonstrating solidarity with the Palestinian people, rebelling against the West's neocolonialism and imperialism. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeB2uuiWe4s Topics 0:00 Nicaragua ends diplomatic relations with Israel 1:56 UN expert: Israel...

Israel enjoys bipartisan support from both the Democratic and Republican Parties in Washington, as it brutally bombs Gaza, invades Lebanon, and attacks Iran, Syria, and Yemen. Ben Norton shows how Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, JD Vance, Tim Walz, and other US politicians facilitate Israel's war crimes, which are being investigated by the International Court of Justice. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAHrPkRum-Q Topics 0:00 Intro 2:08 USA & Israel wage war across Middle...

The United States and Israel are waging war across West Asia (the Middle East), attacking Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, Yemen -- all at once. Ben Norton analyzes the imperialist interests driving the violent chaos in the region. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO1UHJUCSCI You can find a back-up of our videos at https://rumble.com/GeopoliticalEconomy Subscribe to our newsletter at https://geopoliticaleconomy.substack.com Topics 0:00 Intro 0:42 Censorship & channel back-ups 2:08...

The Western powers in NATO are desperately delusional on Russia, and getting more so on China, argue political economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson. They are joined by scholar Glenn Diesen to discuss the war in Ukraine, disaster in Europe, and farewell speech by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkTAw4u5qN4 This is part of the show Geopolitical Economy Hour. You can watch other episodes of the program here:...

Israel has killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who defended Lebanon's sovereignty, helped to defeat ISIS and Al-Qaeda, protected Christians, and fought against Israeli colonialism and military occupation. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxYAn-Ci4jE Topics 0:00 Israeli colonialism in Lebanon & Palestine 1:10 Diplomats walk out of UN to protest Netanyahu speech 1:35 Few countries claim Hezbollah is "terrorist" org 2:07 Hezbollah's political arm is in...

Israel is bombing Lebanon, with staunch US support. An Israeli minister vowed that "Lebanon will be annihilated". Ben Norton analyzes the colonial war, explains the origins of Hezbollah, and provides historical context. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoyuwuXFG2c Topics 0:00 Israel is waging war on Lebanon 1:19 ICC accuses Israeli officials of crimes against humanity 2:41 USA facilitates Israel's crimes 4:16 Israeli education minister vows "Lebanon as we know it will not exist" 4:35...

Israel killed many people in Lebanon by putting explosives in pagers and walkie-talkies, in what was condemned internationally as a terrorist attack. This is already backfiring, hurting Western technology companies. Ben Norton discusses how this act of war will fragment supply chains, as Global South markets no longer trust tech made by the US and its allies. China's manufactured goods will increasingly be seen as a safer alternative. VIDEO:...

Cold War Two fervor is reaching fever pitch in Washington. In "China Week", the US House of Representatives approved 25 anti-Chinese laws, in bipartisan votes, including $1.6 billion in funding for anti-China propaganda worldwide. Ben Norton discusses how both the Republican and Democratic Parties are targeting China with information war, sanctions, tech restrictions, tariffs, even threats of military force. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tix5L5qDaNw Sources and more information...

The vast majority of the world voted at the UN General Assembly to demand an end to Israel's unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory within 12 months, with 124 countries (64%) in favor, 14 (7%) against, and 43 (22%) abstentions. Ben Norton analyzes the geopolitics of the vote, and how the US and most of the West is violating international law. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK9dmK8p0n0 Sources and more information here:...

Ukraine is "sitting on a trillion dollars worth of minerals that could be good to our economy", said US Senator Lindsey Graham as he stood next to Zelensky in Kiev. Ben Norton discusses how Western politicians and corporations want to exploit Ukrainian natural resources, to profit and to weaken the role of China and Russia in critical supply chains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XuJLV2kfcc Sources and more information here:...

Donald Trump has threatened that, if he comes back as US president, he will impose 100% tariffs on countries that drop the dollar, trying to cut off their trade. Ben Norton discusses how this will accelerate the global dedollarization movement, incentivizing more nations to join China, Russia, and BRICS in seeking financial alternatives. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sYacRjSND4 Check out our related video "De-dollarization: China drops US Treasury bonds, instead buys gold, oil,...

What are central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and why are banks on Wall Street lobbying against them? Could they be an alternative for average people, or would they create even more problems than they solve? Political economist Radhika Desai is joined by legal scholar Robert C. Hockett to discuss CBDCs, central banks, the Federal Reserve, and the banking system. This is part of Radhika's show Geopolitical Economy Hour. You can watch other episodes of the program here:...

The same week France arrested Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, the "President of the Rich" Emmanuel Macron stole the 2024 election, refusing to allow the left-wing New Popular Front that won to form a new government, instead appointing a new prime minister from a right-wing party that got 6% of the vote. Ben Norton discusses how Western "democracies" are actually oligarchies. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbx43-U1h1o Topics 0:00 Western "democracy" is oligarchy 3:39 Emmanuel Macron: the...