Episodes
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What is the US strategy in its war against Iran? Is the Trump administration seriously committed to negotiations to make a deal? JD Vance accidentally exposed the USA's plan, to use the talks to buy time to refill oil reserves and stabilize the economy. Ben Norton explains.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_BojBCeM6o
Topics
0:00 US negotiations with Iran
0:56 Trump considers restarting war
1:46 Strait of Hormuz
3:37 Israel and Lebanon
5:02 JD Vance exposes US strategy
6:27 (CLIP) JD Vance on Iran
7:31 Oil market
8:22 Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)
10:24 (CLIP) Trump on oil reserves
10:52 US strategy
11:56 Iran's strategy
13:12 USA violates agreements
14:18 Iran's economic nuclear weapon
15:24 Oil price
16:14 Parallels to Ukraine war
21:41 New Iranian government
25:55 USA lost. The war backfired
28:00 Outro -
The US-based right-wing Chinese billionaire Miles Guo (Guo Wengui), who worked closely with Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for committing $1 billion of fraud. Ben Norton explains how Western governments and media outlets support "dissidents" from countries they don't like, who are often corrupt grifters and con artists; and how fake "experts" make money by spreading absurd disinformation about China, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, etc.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSVBsyDz1ks
Topics
0:00 Billionaire fraudster Miles Guo
1:03 Links to Trump, Steven Bannon
4:34 US DOJ prosecution
6:31 China's charges
8:06 US media whitewashing
12:25 Corrupt West-backed "dissidents"
15:23 US support for dictators
17:12 Pro-West Chinese "dissidents"
19:40 Soviet "dissidents"
21:07 North Korean defector Yeonmi Park
24:18 Yeonmi Park becomes a meme
25:36 (CLIP) Yeonmi Park on Joe Rogan
26:12 Absurd propaganda
26:53 Park jumps on the Trump train
27:47 Western media has no standards
28:56 Fake China "expert" Gordon G Chang
34:00 Ai Weiwei change of heart
39:16 Western imperialist hypocrisy
41:17 Outro -
Missing episodes?
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US Big Tech corporations are paying influencers to spread anti-China, pro-AI disinformation on social media. Ben Norton explains why Silicon Valley fears Chinese competition and seeks to monopolize artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies, to impose the global dominance of the USA in an imperialist unipolar order.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BLnM-gxj-o
Topics
0:00 Silicon Valley spreads propaganda
2:08 US govt helps Elon Musk pollute
4:52 Scapegoating China
5:32 AI arms race
7:34 (CLIP) Ex Google CEO Eric Schmidt
7:52 Silicon Valley wants monopolies
10:02 (CLIP) Peter Thiel loves monopolies
10:20 Sam Altman lobbies US govt
12:40 OpenAI is losing lots of money
14:02 Pentagon works with Big Tech
15:54 Anthropic conflict with Trump admin
17:25 Dario Amodei backs Cold War Two
18:28 USA wants unipolar world
20:01 Palantir and techno-fascism
23:26 Totalitarian police state
26:10 Larry Ellison buys up US media
26:44 Surveillance Valley
30:58 Monopoly and hegemony
32:27 Imperialism and Big Tech
34:48 Outro -
The USA and Iran are holding negotiations to end the war, but Tehran condemned Washington for violating the agreement, because Israel keeps attacking Lebanon. US Vice President JD Vance appeared to criticize Israel, but Ben Norton explains the deep hypocrisy of the United States, which is still giving Netanyahu billions of dollars of weapons and military aid.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wogLemf3er4
Topics
0:00 Talks between USA & Iran
0:35 Iran says US violates agreement
1:50 Will Israel sabotage Iran deal?
2:58 Israel needs US military support
4:12 JD Vance: US is Israel's only ally
5:04 (CLIP) JD Vance: US military aid
5:47 (CLIP) JD Vance on Israel
7:57 Put up or shut up
8:40 Billions in US aid to Israel
9:42 Military-industrial complex
11:03 Unsinkable aircraft carrier
11:48 Tails don't wag dogs
12:36 Trump warns of oil shortages
13:25 (CLIP) Trump: 4 weeks of reserves
14:07 Trump threatens Iran again
14:33 (CLIP) Fox News on Trump threats
15:14 Iran has more leverage
16:08 Israel's goals in Lebanon
17:28 Israel takes over Gaza
18:40 US sends more weapons to Israel
19:14 Hypocrisy
19:45 Outro -
The US government has signed an agreement to end its war on Iran. It is now widely admitted that Washington lost, and Tehran won. Ben Norton explains why Donald Trump failed, and how this has massive geopolitical implications for the Global South.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NOUxBUSM64
Check out our related report on how Iran destroyed US military bases: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_wC4KuEcWI
Topics
0:00 USA & Iran sign deal
0:53 US lost the war
2:21 US lifts oil sanctions
4:14 Details of US-Iran deal
7:25 Strait of Hormuz
8:56 US agrees to end sanctions
10:13 $300 billion investment fund
14:08 Frozen assets
14:36 Nuclear weapons
15:37 Previous nuclear deal, JCPOA
18:00 Why USA lost the war
21:33 Victory for Global South
25:35 Destroyed US military bases
26:43 Historic defeat of imperialism
27:46 Outro -
Elon Musk has become the world's first trillionaire, with the IPO of his company SpaceX. He is a symbol of how the United States has become an oligarchy, where elections are bought by rich elites and large corporations, and extreme wealth is concentrated in a few hands. Ben Norton explains.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj-hd3l4dSo
Topics
0:00 Elon Musk, world's first trillionaire
0:50 Oligarchy
1:54 SpaceX IPO
3:06 SpaceX is losing lots of money
4:13 Wall Street changes the rules
5:39 Trump coin pump and dump
6:14 Reasons to avoid SpaceX
7:04 Musk: symbol of US oligarchy
8:45 Wealth concentration
9:55 Gilded Age & robber barons
11:13 Money wins US elections
13:06 Elon Musk funded Trump
14:52 Larry Ellison buys up media
17:14 Capitalist class
18:19 Progressive Era
19:27 Great Depression & New Deal
20:08 Golden Age of capitalism
20:59 Tax rates
22:08 Tax burden shifts onto workers
23:24 Billionaires avoid taxes
24:34 Neoliberalism
25:18 Financial crisis & QE
26:54 Neofeudalism / technofeudalism
28:27 Artificial intelligence (AI)
29:24 Universal basic income (UBI)
30:50 Nationalize Big Tech
33:04 China's alternative
33:58 Outro -
Gold has officially overtaken Treasury securities (US government debt) as the top asset held by global central banks, according to a report by the European Central Bank (ECB). Ben Norton explains how dedollarization is continuing, gradually and steadily.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmyWn2lrXBM
Topics
0:00 Decline of US dollar dominance
0:55 Debasement trade
1:42 Central banks buy gold
3:59 Gold overtakes US Treasuries
5:36 Top countries buying gold
7:00 West's seizure of Russian assets
8:54 Alleged unofficial gold holdings
10:16 Falling dollar share of reserves
12:14 Reasons for fall in gold price
14:58 EU hypocrisy
16:26 China keeps buying gold
18:05 China calls for multipolar system
19:13 De-dollarization is continuing
20:32 Outro -
The AI bubble has caused the most concentrated and overvalued stock market in US history. The billionaire CEOs of Big Tech corporations fear it may pop soon, so they changed the rules on Wall Street so that, mere days after their IPOs, SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic will be given "fast track" inclusion in major index funds, despite the fact that they are losing tons of money.
These corporate oligarchs want to use average retail investors as exit liquidity, looting pensions, 401(k)s, and other retirement funds, all so Elon Musk can become the world's first trillionaire. Ben Norton explains the scandal.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh3d8xO9NHg
Topics
0:00 US stock market bubble
1:08 (CLIP) Ray Dalio on AI bubble
1:37 Comparisons to past bubbles
3:38 Market cap to GDP
4:50 Concentration of stock market
6:52 Magnificent 7 stocks
7:28 Monopolies eat the economy
8:37 Corporate profits break records
9:35 USA slashes corporate taxes
10:40 Plan to loot retirement funds
11:38 SpaceX is absurdly overvalued
12:32 SpaceX is losing money
13:51 SpaceX IPO is a trap
17:00 Elon Musk, first trillionaire
18:08 OpenAI's shady IPO scheme
19:32 Many IPOs at peaks of bubbles
21:51 Bogus Big Tech earnings reports
24:09 AI circular financing scheme
25:09 Animal spirits
25:49 Unregulated financial looting
26:54 Outro -
A comprehensive global survey found that people in most countries see the United States as the biggest threat to the world, and they prefer China over the US. Ben Norton analyzes the results of the Democracy Perception Index.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UhHqPGFGos
Topics
0:00 Shifting global political order
1:35 Democracy Perception Index
3:08 USA is biggest threat to world
4:25 US military bases unpopular
5:36 Negative perception of USA
6:25 China more popular than US
8:07 US war against Iran
9:06 Israel-Palestine
9:40 Ukraine war
10:14 Taiwan
11:14 Greenland
11:54 Countries progressing
13:15 Democracy
17:33 USA is an oligarchy
20:20 End of end of history
21:15 Outro -
The US government is desperate to create a new supply chain that cuts out China, through its Pax Silica initiative. To do so, the Trump administration plans to colonize the territory of the Philippines, a supposed "ally" run by corrupt leader Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, with a 99-year colonial concession. Ben Norton explains the controversy.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=302uQhql3kY
Topics
0:00 Intro
0:35 Cold War Two
1:50 US-India critical minerals deal
2:55 Pax Silica
3:41 US meddling in Philippines
4:55 Corrupt Marcos dynasty
6:36 US military bases & missiles
8:38 US colonial plan
10:37 Colonial 99-year leases
12:11 US colonialism
13:31 China "threat" narrative
14:34 Exploiting natural resources
15:39 US official Jacob Helberg
16:16 Silicon Valley oligarchs
17:39 US official freaks out
19:57 Neocolonialism
23:58 Comprador leaders
25:21 Poverty & development
28:31 Outro -
It has become so widely accepted that the US lost the war with Iran that now even American neoconservative hawks admit it. Ben Norton explains why major neocons like Robert Kagan and Bill Kristol have turned against the war. They lament that Iran's victory reflects the decline of the US empire and the transition to a more multipolar world order.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrlXNHSCfoQ
Topics
0:00 USA lost war with Iran
1:47 Poll: war is unpopular
2:42 Media admits USA lost
3:32 Iran still has most missiles
4:39 Iran withstands US blockade
5:21 Iran destroyed US bases
6:03 US hawks admit the truth
7:25 Neocons and PNAC
9:13 George W Bush admin
9:55 Neoconservatism
11:30 Rise of Donald Trump
12:00 Hillary Clinton
12:44 Victoria Nuland
13:41 Coup in Ukraine
15:29 (CLIP) US-backed coup
16:14 US "checkmate" in Iran
17:05 Decline of US hegemony
18:26 Iran has major leverage
19:22 US defeat
20:34 Neocons abandon ship
22:14 Poll: Americans oppose war
22:44 Poll: Americans say US lost
23:30 Crisis of US imperialism
23:57 Outro -
Donald Trump said his visit to China was a success, but he failed to pressure Beijing to make any significant concessions. Ben Norton fact-checks the claims of the White House, showing how Washington's trade war backfired, hard, on the US economy.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtuYVMrXmAM
Topics
0:00 Trump's visit to China
0:41 US trade war
2:01 The trip was a failure
3:17 CEOs of US corporations
4:24 Iran & Strait of Hormuz
7:42 Trade & investment
9:14 Rare earth elements
11:58 Trade war failure
12:42 Boeing airplanes
13:52 Agricultural products
15:05 Nvidia & chips
18:19 USA failed
20:05 Trump's empty threats
20:35 Problems in US economy
22:38 Outro -
Donald Trump took a trip to China to meet President Xi Jinping. He was joined by the CEOs of a dozen top US corporations, including billionaires Elon Musk, Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Tim Cook of Apple, Larry Fink of BlackRock, and Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone.
Ben Norton explains how Beijing won the trade war that was started by Washington, how China has significant leverage (in manufacturing, supply chains, critical minerals, and rare earths), and how the US economy is in a very bad state.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7MnTzKOANg
Topics
0:00 Trump's visit to China
0:27 US trade war backfired
1:25 Trump joined by top CEOs
1:56 Elon Musk
2:20 Jensen Huang of Nvidia
2:47 Tim Cook of Apple
2:58 BlackRock and Blackstone
3:22 More CEOs with Trump
4:17 US CEOs meet Xi Jinping
5:31 USA is an oligarchy
6:23 China's massive market
6:57 Nvidia lost Chinese market
8:02 China's self-sufficiency drive
9:15 Manufacturing superpower
10:50 Tesla EVs made in Shanghai
11:25 US tariffs on Chinese EVs
12:21 China has the upper hand
13:00 US trade war
14:42 China-US trade
16:08 Rare earth elements
17:07 Critical minerals
18:18 New supply chain efforts
18:59 Pax Silica
19:41 Why US rhetoric changed
20:40 Iran war
22:51 US sanctions on China
24:20 Inflation in USA
25:41 Trump is very unpopular
26:33 K-shaped economy
27:25 Inequality
28:05 China exported deflation
29:31 US tariffs boost inflation
30:27 China in stronger position
31:07 Outro -
Donald Trump claims Iran has been "militarily defeated", but many reports have come out showing this to be a lie. Tehran destroyed the majority of US military bases in West Asia (aka the Middle East), and Iran still maintains most of its missile capabilities.
Meanwhile, experts estimate the USA's war against Iran will cost $1 trillion.
Ben Norton reviews the evidence, showing how Washington is clearly losing this war that it started.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_wC4KuEcWI
Topics
0:00 US government narrative
0:23 (CLIP) Trump: Iran is defeated
1:20 Reality: USA is losing the war
2:34 Reviewing the evidence
4:34 Iran destroyed US bases
5:37 US troops expelled from region
6:54 US military bases in rubble
7:37 Donald Trump lied
8:11 USA running out of missiles
9:33 War will cost $1 TRILLION
10:38 Iran still has most missiles
12:38 US government is lying
13:05 Saudi Arabia gets cold feet
14:00 Huge economic damage
15:44 Gulf "safe haven" myth
16:28 USA is losing the war
18:04 USA failed to achieve goals
19:57 Outro -
Donald Trump boasted that the US government acts "like pirates", seizing Iran's ships and oil. "It's a very profitable business", he said. Meanwhile, Beijing is openly resisting Washington's sanctions against Chinese companies for trading with Iran. China has ordered all domestic firms to ignore US sanctions. Ben Norton explains these geopolitical developments.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfB8xQEZolk
Topics
0:00 (CLIP) Trump: "We're like pirates"
0:14 US blockade of Iran
1:11 (CLIP) Trump on US piracy
1:57 US seizure of Iranian ships
2:43 AI memes of Trump as pirate
3:01 Multiple acts of US piracy
4:09 Venezuela
5:06 (CLIP) Trump on stealing oil
5:30 Pirates of the Persian Gulf
6:31 US sanctions on China
8:42 Hengli plant in Dalian
9:23 China challenges US sanctions
10:49 Secondary sanctions threat
11:38 USA crossed China's red line
14:17 US sanctions 1/3rd of world
14:47 Map of US sanctions
15:00 Sanctions are very deadly
16:21 Blockade of Cuba
17:19 US empire's goal
17:59 New sanctions on Cuba
19:02 Chinese solar panels help Cuba
19:47 Blowback: US sanctions backfire
20:45 Outro -
Oil has been at the center of the war on Iran. Ben Norton explains how the United States became the biggest oil producer on Earth, and how the US empire uses petroleum as a geopolitical and economic weapon, pushing for monopolistic Big Oil corporations to dominate the global market. Ben also discusses why Trump pressured the UAE to withdraw from OPEC, and he debunks the myth that the USA is "energy independent".
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh-E3q6tGEw
Check out our related video on the biggest oil crisis in history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUdyPJM_rOw
Topics
0:00 Iran war and oil
0:36 Petrodollar
1:52 USA is biggest oil producer
3:39 US oil exports increase
4:32 Oil price skyrockets
5:03 Corporate profits rise
5:37 Strait of Hormuz
6:30 UAE withdraws from OPEC
7:31 Abraham Accords
8:37 OPEC history
9:14 Seven Sisters: Big Oil
11:01 OPEC members
12:13 OPEC+ participants
13:18 Goal of OPEC
14:25 State-owned oil companies
15:12 Why USA dislikes OPEC
16:56 Oil is political
17:18 Venezuela economic war
19:06 Big Oil execs in US govt
20:55 Cuba oil blockade
22:29 Energy and food crisis
23:36 US "energy independence"
25:06 US oil imports
26:12 Types of crude oil
27:26 US oil refineries
28:47 US imports by country
30:36 Oil benchmarks
32:47 Oil futures market
33:53 Price predictions
36:04 Economic crisis fears
37:02 Outro -
The US-Israeli war on Iran has caused the largest oil supply shock in history, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Ben Norton explains how the attacks by Trump and Netanyahu, and the ensuing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, have unleashed an energy crisis that could destabilize the global economy.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUdyPJM_rOw
Topics
0:00 Intro
0:23 Schrödinger's ceasefire
1:24 Energy crisis
3:11 Strait of Hormuz
5:14 Petrodollar
6:45 Blockade
7:35 Impact on Asia
10:46 Europe
11:29 Food crisis
13:38 China
16:20 Renewable energy
18:24 Trump's claims
19:41 Stagflation fears
21:34 Outro -
There are growing signs that the United States may be on the verge of another major financial crisis, one that could start in the $3 trillion private credit market, which is already seeing significant turmoil, before spreading to other sectors.
Geopolitical Economy Report editor Ben Norton interviewed economist Michael Hudson to discuss the serious problems on Wall Street. Hudson warned that the US economy is built on a Ponzi scheme that depends on continuing to pour money into a bloated, bubbly financial system based on unsustainable speculation, not industrial production.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blv49u3Q230
Check out our related short video about the private credit crisis on Wall Street: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1cx9Zk6WZk
Topics
0:00 Introduction
1:37 Highlights of Michael Hudson
3:29 Interview starts
4:18 2008 financial crisis
5:04 Zero interest-rate policy (ZIRP)
7:31 Private equity
9:17 Lack of investment
10:34 Wealth inequality
12:08 Debt defaults
14:10 Depression fears
16:12 US govt supports Wall Street
19:07 Ponzi schemes
23:51 US economic problems
27:35 Iran war impact
30:16 Financialization of economy
33:46 Outro -
The peace talks held between the US and Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan failed. Despite a temporary, two-week ceasefire Donald Trump announced a naval blockade of the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Ben Norton explains the USA's strategy, and how it is targeting China and Asian economies that import oil, natural gas, and other important commodities from the Persian Gulf.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDH5qMZSPm4
Topics
0:00 Peace talks in Pakistan fail
1:07 Trump blockades the blockade
2:53 Iran trolls the US
3:45 Trump's contradictory posts
6:12 Ceasefire
6:51 Israeli attack on Lebanon
8:17 Trump threatens Iran
9:45 Trump targets Cuba
10:38 Strait of Hormuz
11:41 Iran toll challenges petrodollar
13:12 Logic behind US blockade
14:01 Scott Bessent threatens China
15:31 USA targets China's oil supply
16:29 China condemns US blockade
17:06 Dangers of escalation
18:38 Chinese tankers
20:37 China's oil reserves
21:11 China's supply chain shocks
22:59 Trump wants leverage
24:09 The US is losing the war
26:25 Iran's message to Trump
27:45 Outro -
The US government has pushed for years for a war with China, selling billions of dollars of weapons to separatists in Taiwan. However, those plans are falling apart, after the leader of the KMT, the Nationalist Party based in Taipei, took a historic trip to the mainland, promoting peace. Ben Norton explains the importance of Cheng Li-wun's meeting with Xi Jinping, and the complex political history of Taiwan.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiDtfdBYHBQ
Topics
0:00 KMT leader visits Beijing
1:28 US "prickly porcupine" strategy
2:09 KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party
2:48 Taiwan's ruling party DPP
3:27 Nancy Pelosi visit
4:17 Taiwan's DPP supports Israel
4:42 Fears of new Ukraine
5:22 US war plans
6:22 US arms sales to Taiwan
7:09 USA uses Taiwan as proxy
8:12 (CLIP) KMT leader on Ukraine
9:08 Is Taiwan the next Ukraine?
9:28 Elections results in 2024
10:12 Lai Ching-te is unpopular
10:54 Iran war hurts Taiwan
11:48 Energy crisis
12:27 TSMC and advanced chips
13:45 Neoliberalism
14:10 Developmental state
14:54 Economic insecurity
15:14 Trump tariff threats
15:48 Beijing does not want war
17:12 Beijing opposes separatism
18:06 UN: Taiwan is part of China
18:50 One China policy
19:46 Map of Taiwan recognition
20:05 List of Taiwan recognition
20:45 Cross-strait relations
22:19 Rising trade
23:13 One country, two systems
24:31 US military bases
24:58 Peaceful reunification
25:27 Poll: Taiwan independence
26:09 Future leader of Taiwan?
26:48 Divisions within KMT
27:27 Modern history of Taiwan
29:05 Chiang Kai-shek
29:41 Democracy?
30:46 Cold War One propaganda
31:39 Sun Yat-sen
34:40 Historic step for peace
36:14 Outro - Show more
