12/29/22 12/29/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! as antigovernment protests in iran pass their 100th day, we will look at what has sustained demonstrators with thousands arrested, more than 500 killed, and two executed so far as calls

grow for the international community to do more. we will get response announces from an iranian professor as well as the head iran of the campaign for human rights in iran. russia launches another massive series of missile attacks on cities across ukraine. explosions hit a maternity hospital. this comes as russian president putin says he is prepared to end the war in ukraine. we will speak with longtime were activist and theorist gilbert achcar. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

in israel, returning prime minister benjamin netanyahu has inaugurated the most far-right government in the country's history. netanyahu, who is still facing a corruption trial, was heckled on the floor of the knesset as he delivered his agenda earlier today. >> we will guarantee israel's military advantage in the region . the first mission the members here are yelling but canceling as if it isn't important is to make sure that iran won't annihilate us with nuclear bombs. amy: netanyahu's new coalition brings together multiple ultra-religious and ultranationalist leaders as critics warn democracy is at risk and palestinian and arab rights look set to be even further violated. the new government has announced the expansion of illegal west bank settlements is a top priority.

2022 was already one of the deadliest years for palestinians in the occupied west bank and elsewhere in nearly two decades. palestinian authorities say over 220 people were killed and over 9000 injured by israeli forces in the past year. outside the knesset, hundreds of protesters gathered to condemn what they called an illegitimate government. russia has launched a massive series of missile attacks on cities across ukraine, with reports of explosions and fresh power outages in cities including lviv, kyiv, and odesa. the attacks came after ukrainian officials called on residents to evacuate the city of kherson amid heavy russian artillery strikes. on wednesday, two explosions rattled a maternity hospital in kherson where at least five people were recovering from childbirth. >> it was frightening.

also unexpected. the explosions began abruptly. my hands are still shaking. amn wednesy, uainian presidenvolodymyr zenskyy gave his annual address to the ukinian parliament where he again pressed for ukraine to join the european union. the biden administration has approved the sale of anti-tank mines to taiwan, valued at $180 million. this comes after china's foreign ministry on wednesday condemned taiwanese leaders for extending mandatory military service from four months to a year. >> realizing the complete reunification of the mother hand -- motherland is the will of the people. we believe taiwan compatriots are highly principled and they will not serve as cannon fodder for taiwan independence separatist forces.

china's center for disease control and prevention says it has stopped publishing daily updates on covid-19 cases and will instead publish monthly figures. the change follows the abrupt cancellation of china's long-running zero covid policy, with tens of millions of people across china becoming infected each day. videos shared on social media show emergency rooms and intensive care units overflowing with covid patients and funeral homes crammed with the bodies of the dead. the united states will impose new coronavirus testing requirements on travelers from china. beginning january 5, passengers boarding u.s.-bound flights from china will be required to show proof of a recent negative covid test. officials in italy imposed similar requirements wednesday and urged the european union to follow suit after half of all passengers arriving on two flights from china tested positive for coronavirus. the death toll from last

weekend's historic winter storm has risen to at least 38 in western new york, the hardest hit region. as residents recover from the storm and mourn those lost, criticism against and between local leaders is mounting. erie county executive mark poloncarz says he's spoken with state and county officials about taking over control of snow removal efforts from the city of buffalo. >>, or is not going to be happy about it but storm after storm after storm, this city, unfortunately, the last one to be opened and that shouldot be the case. embarrassing, to tellhe truth. amy: poloncarzas also been criticized for his response, accused of delaying a driving ban that could have saved lives. buffalo mayor byron brown, whom some are calling on to resign, again rejected any responsibility for his response to the tragic storm. >> again, as you know, this was an historic storm, probably the worst storm the city has seen in over 50 years.

and perhaps, maybe, the worst storm in recorded history since these storms have been tracked. amy: in south dakota, the national guard was called in to help dig out thousands of people trapped in their homes, many without power, at pine ridge and rosebud reservations in south dakota, which saw at least 30 inches of snowfall. meanwhile, federal regulators are launching an inquiry into the preparedness of u.s. power systems for extreme weather events. climate advocates say the current fossil-fuel based energy system has again revealed its unreliability and are urging for greater investment in sustainable energy infrastructure. in jackson, mississippi, residents are still under a boil water notice after freezing temperatures caused pipes to burst. this is danielle holmes, a volunteer at a water distribution site where drivers

waited in long lines on wednesday. >> this has been going in the last 40, 50 years and now it has reached -- amy: u.s. airports remained mired in chaos with more flight cancellations announced. on wednesday, over 2800 flight canceled and 3200 delayed. the vast majority of the canceled flights were at southwest airlines, whose ceo said wednesday it may take days to restore the airline's regular schedule. the latest delays came after the transport workers union said some southwest ground support workers developed frostbite during shifts that lasted up to hours over the holiday weekend. 15 in august, 38 state attorneys general warned in an open letter to congress that the department of transportation was failing to properly regulate the airline industry. they wrote -- "americans are justifiably frustrated that federal government agencies charged with overseeing airline consumer protection are unable or unwilling to hold the airline

industry accountable." according to the watchdog organization accountable u.s., southwest spent $5.6 billion on stock buybacks in the three years leading up to the pandemic rather than making investments in infrastructure to be better prepared for extreme weather events. a federal judge in michigan has sentenced delaware trucker barry croft to nearly 20 years in prison for masterminding the foiled 2020 kidnapping plots against governor gretchen whitmer. it's the longest sentence handed down in the case, though prosecutors had argued for a life sentence, calling croft the spiritual leader of the far-right anti-government group of convicts. in california, david depape, who was arrested after invading nancy pelosi's san francisco home and attacking her husband paul pelosi with a hammer, pleaded not guilty to state charges including attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

the far right conspiracy theorist reportedly told police he wanted to break the house speaker's kneecaps. maryland democratic congressmember jamie raskin announced wednesday he has lymphoma, referring to it as a serious but curable form of cancer and will undergo treatment, including chemotherapy. raskin was the lead impeachment manager for trump's second impeachment following the january 6 insurrection and is on the house committee investigating the attack. he will become the top democrat on the oversight committee in the new congress. here in new york, prosecutors in nassau county have opened a criminal probe into george santos after the republican congressmember-elect admitted he lied about his work, education, and his family history. in the latest revelation, resurfaced social media posts show santos wrote last year that his mother died in the september

11, 2001 attacks, only to claim months later she died in 2016. santos has also said his grandparents fled the holocaust. he lied about attending college at new york university and working at goldman sachs and citigroup. on wednesday, santos granted his first television interview since "the nework times" published its expose of santos' lies. he spoke on fox news with former congressmember tulsi gabbard, who was filling in tucker carlson. >> these are blatant lies. my question is, do you have no shame? do you have no shame and the people who you are now asking to trust you and be their voice for them, their families, and their kids in washington? >> i can say the same thing about the democrats and the party. look at joe biden. joe biden has been lying to the american people for 40 years and

he is the president of the united states. democrats who support him, think they have no shame? amy: meanwhile, federal prosecutors have opened an informal investigation into santos' finances. if that is even his name. when santos first ran for congress in 2020, he listed no assets and a salary of $55,000. yet santos reported millions of dollars of income from a company he founded last year, somewhere between $3 million and $11 million, and fec filings show he loaned his most recent campaign more than $700,000. new york congressmember ritchie torres tweeted -- "where did all that money come from? the ethics committee must start investigating immediately." house republican leader kevin mccarthy has yet to comment on the scandal. and a new lawsuit warns plastic containers used in lots of common household products contain high levels of so-called

forever chemicals, known by the acronym pfas, which have been linked to cancer, liver disease, and reproductive health issues. the lawsuit says texas-based company inhance produces tens of millions of plastic containers which could leach pfas into foods, personal care products, and cleaning supplies. this comes as manufacturing giant 3m announced last week it will stop all production of pfas by 2026 amid a litany of lawsuits. last month, california sued 3m and other companies for contaminating the state's drinking water, rivers, lakes, wildlife, and residents with the forever chemical. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, as antigovernment protests in iran past their 100 amidst a brutal crackdown, calls are growing for the international community to do more. we will get response from an

iranian american professor as well as the head of the campaign for human rights in iran. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "battlefield" by iranian hip-hop artist toomaj salehi. he was arrested in october and could face the death penalty. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman, joined by my co-host nermeen shaikh. as we begin today'show looki at the ongng antigovnment protts in iran which passed their 100th day this week, the otests have been met wh widespre arrest, btal police olence, and public executions. this week iranian authories targetedhe family iranian soccer superstar ali daei, who has for months been an outspoken critic of iran's crackdown, by "forcing an iranian airliner to

land mid-flight so his wife and daughter could be removed from the plane and stopped from leaving iran." e human rits activis' new agency repts thousds of protesters have been arrested anmore thahave been lled 50so far, including 69 children. this follows the recent hangings -- public executions of two young men for their participation in protests. the also based organizioiran hun rights has identified at least 100 detainees sentenced to death were charg with capit offenses. the protests began in september under the slogan "woman, life, freedom" following the death of 22-year-old iranian kurdish woman mahsa amini in the custody of iran's so-called morality police after she was detained for what they called inappropriate attire. as calls grow for the united states and the international community to respond to iran's

brutal cradown, present biden has hinted attempts to restore the iran nuclear deal may beead. for more, we are joined by two guests. hadi ghaemi is executive director and founder of the center for human rights in iran, which recently issued a series of recommendations on how congress can play a vital role in supporting the protesters in iran. and nahid siamdoust, a former journalist who has reported across the middle east, including in iran and is now released and media studies professor at the university of texas at austin. we welcome you both back to democracy now! thank you so much for joining us. let's begin with professor siamdoust in austin. can you talk about the significance of these protests and why, unlike previous ones which were extremely serious across iran, these have lasted

so long and if you expect them to continue and grow, professor siamdoust? >> you for having me. these protests have been ongoing because they are not a single issue protest. they were caused by the death of mahsa amini but they have been brewing for many years and decades and rooted both in a corrupt state of impunity as we know the focus has been put -- assign some lawyers who and part speak against their own clients. the impunity, the lack of justice, the fact the islamic republic has been posing a kind of lifestyle on iranians at large, young people, especially the ones who have been on the streets, have been rejecting because iranians for several decades plead along with the stomach republic that the system could be performed within

through various processes such as elections. there has been a nationwide reckoning that that is no longer a possibility, that that will not be happening, that the most recent were the most engineered. when iranians showed up in the lowest numbers ever in the postrevolutionary history. it is really a point at whh many of these strains are coming together and a reckoning that the system is no longer a system that pple at large want to maintain and the need for cultural roots are visible and artist productio going on and the creativity that is there and the slogan. nermeen: could you comment precisely on why it is that so many figures from the iranian cultural world have been targeted from award-winning film directors, actors, musicians? if you could explain what the

significance at that is and this phenomenon seems to be spreading. >> because of the process that the islamic republic has pursued over the last few decades, which has shut down any kind of political, internal, organized opposition to it or alternatives to it. celebrities and filmmakers and musicians have, because of the crisis of representation, become the spespeople of the people. they are the ones who have the kind of following on social media that allows them to speak for the people and represent them, and that is precisely why the state has been targeting them. some of the most powerful videos we have seen or statements have come from either arapper who is sitting on death row and a filmmaker who spoke out very strongly against the minister of culture who asked filmmakers and artists to come out and produ their wk.

he said, i'm sorry, but we are too busy morning the people you're coming to come out and dance for you. nermeen: gilbert achcar, could you --hadi ghaemi, could you comment on the protests? your organization has been document and human rights abuses. could you ask what those abuses are? >> good morning. thank you for having me. human rights violations are very widespread. there happening all over the country. if you look at the numbers, we have had over 500 people killed. that is the minimum. i really believe it is twice that because i am aware many families who have been forced to not publicize the death of their children on the streets or family members. so over 500, possibly 1000 people come are dead in the streets.

nearly 20,000 people he been taken into prison and at least over 10,000 of them remain political prisoners. we have 69 children, people under the age of 18, killed in the streets. many more take into alone -- taken to unknown locations. with the debts and executions happening right now, we are seeing widespread growth and serious violations in the most serious one also includes sexual assault. starting to get reports of rape of young girls and women in prison, sexual assault from the time they are picked up in the streets until they are taken to interrogation and during the interrogations. taken into custody as the result of severe sexual assault. unfortunately, the situation is

a complete disaster. it is the wars i have ever seen. -- it is the worst i've ever seen. amy: talk about what women face, the sexual abuse and nicholas kristof wrote a piece in "the new york times" recently quoting -- talking about a 14-year-old girl. explain what happened. >> it is a very heartbreaking story and it came to us from very much underground, from people who were engaged and witnessed every stage of it. this was a 14 euro girl living in her neighborhood that ironically is populated by many people who work for the regime as security forces, special forces on the streets and armed men in the streets. many of them we were told live in that neighborhood and yet the

girl's high school and that neighborhood became a hub of tivity, late september and early october. the 14-year-old girl joined the protest in her school. school cameras identified her. she was picked up, taken away for three days. when she came back after three days, she was completely mentally and physically destroyed. she had suffered serious sexual assault, including gang rape and violence and had serious injury to her body as a result and psychologically had completely lost it, going around her apartment complex telling everyone what had happened to her. her mother decided to publicize this and was in the process of documenting it and bringing it out in the open. but given the neighborhood, security forces lived in the

building and was actually a friend of the mother, became aware and alerted the other 32 came again that night and took both the mother and daughter away. after a few days, the neighbors had to pull together all the resources and go post bail, very heavy bail for the mother. the daughter's body was turned to them in a mental hospital, a psychiatric hospital. she had died they don't know what happened to stop her body was turned in. our sources were involved in burying her and the mother was so frightened, she took her other child and disappeared. we are very confident this happened and we are worried many more have happened. it is starting to seep out from prisons that other families -- we are encouraging other

families to preservehe evidence, the medical evidence especially, so it can be publicized. nermeen: professor siamdoust, if you could also comment on this phenomenon of which is only just coming out, the sexual violence against protesters, and also the way in which the protesters are taking on new methods? there is now a lot of video rculing wi turneossing proteste going aft clerics and tiing overhereurbans before running away? >> these protests have been fought on many, many friends. we have had,s hadi ghai just mentioned, these horrible reports of torture, sexual abuse coming out from the prisons. the tipping off the turbans that one of the youth had been

imprisoned for that and released three days after his release committed suicide. we know based on both these reports but also the number of people -- very young people who come out of the prison who committed suicide was 16. the young people who come out of prison and are no longer themselves commit suicide, clearly horrible things are happening once these children and adults are arrested and taken in. amy: axios has a new report on president biden saying under the surface video, that the iran nuclear deal is dead. axios reports biden made the remark in a short conversation with a woman who attended an election rally in oceanside, california. the woman asked biden to announce the jcpoa, joint conference of plan of action as the iran's formally, is dead.

biden responded he would not for a lot of reasons, but that added, it is dead but we are not going to announce it. you can listen closely. >> mr. biden, could you please announce jp coa is dead? -- jcpoa is dead? pres. biden: no. [indiscernible] amy: hadi ghaemi, if you can talk about the significance of this happening now with the protest taking place? you are former cuny professor of physics as well. >> look, before the protest, the negotiations were going nowhere. the iranian government had opportunities to come back to the deal and it was throwing a lot of obstacles in the path of it. dennis protest happened and the

situation is completely different. let me tell you from in -- what i hear from inside iran. the iranian people i talked to and the analysts are saying, look, we are a party to this deal, to boast of the economic benefits that would flow to the regime at this moment and absolutely not justified. lealone the fact there can be no trust that they will follow up with her nuclear commitment if they sign a new deal. so they are saying, for example, the money in the event that could come back to the iranian government is really belonging to the iranian people. it is the oil sales and the iranian people have no role in the negotiation and their interests should be protected so they are especially pointing out that an economic benefit should only be tied, n just to the nuclear activity, but the crimes

being committed. they won a moratorium on executions. -- they want a moratorium on executions. they whether constitutional guarantees. the situation has changed a lot. they are willing to come back to negotiations. i hope president biden really meant it and they're not trying to strike a backroom deal thinking this way they can put the nuclear issue in check. i think would be a disaster to move forward. we need to construct a new package that has the interest of the iranian people who are not at the table. nermeen: can you explain what the punitive measures are in place, the sanctions against iran, what affects those are

having, whether they have been in any since weakening the regime or the economy? and if so, in what ways? >> most involved in human rights violations, carrying out the violence. none of the people really have had activity abroad that we can know is substantial, but it is a minimum that should have been done. i think a lot more has to be done to send a strong message to the iran, the u.s. does not have diplomatic relations. it does not have many tools in its toolbox. but europe does. we have been recommending your should be pulling its ambassadors in tandem, in protest. this does not mean they -- they argue we need diplomatic rresentation and we

need eyes on the ground. i agree. but ambassadors are mostly doing a small role inside iran. they're not needed. it would be much more impactful. the security council has obligated itself in 2017 to have a session and attention to the issue to instances of sexual violence in conflict. this usually happens in february, march. i believe this occurred council should take that up and of course iran's work with russia and the support it is getting from russia and china makes it much more essential for international community to come up with solutions to address the crisis, which also involves iran 's destructive role in the ukraine war. i think the international community, especially u.s., europe, japan, like-minded countries, should be coming to

gather -- together diplomatic political aspiration of the iranian government given the way it has behaved. and only then the iranian people who feel the international community -- substantial. amy: let me put this question to professor siamdoust. do you feel the same way as hadi ghaemi around the issue of the nuclear deal? and also the significance of israel's new government, the most far right government in its history, now coming into power with benjamin netanyahu appointing his longtime political ally as head of the national security council? he is known as the hawk on iran. >> yes, i think iranians at-large at large and the activists on the ground for sure they are seeking the solidarity of the international community, especially its leaders. they're not looking to these

foreign governments to make new deals but the islamic republic, they're asking for them to really highlight the executions that are going on, the repression going on, and not to make deals with a state that is repressing and killing its own people. that has been the demand of the protesters. as far as israel is concerned, the new security had, recently commented pilots should get ready because into her three years time they might be bombing iran, certainly, the geopolitical situation in the region is volatile and not having a deal with iran and iran being able to develop its nuclear energy, of course, has always raised concerns about nuclear arms even though iran says it is not pursuing them. it is a volatile situation that western governments and other foreign governments are trying to balance. but that has to be balanced against the kinds of demands

that foreign governments will make up the state in iran and fundamental things have to change before any talk of that could proceed. and most protesters and activists would say they're not looking for that. they're not looking for a deal within the islamic republic because they're trying to -- islamic republic. nermeen: could you explain whether there are any governments in europe or elsewhere that have been taking measures in solidarity with the protesters in iran? >> most recently, e foreign minister of germa has said they will not be entering a nuclear negotiation with iran. she has stated the spokesperson for -- the spokesperson for the minister has said germany is on the side of protesters and their intention is toward the repression that is ongoing and to the people's fight for freedom and justice and they're not interested in starting negotiations. that was really circulated on social media and embraced by iranian activists and iranians

at large. that is the kind of approach that the iranians are looking for. amy: we want to thank you both for being with us. nahid siamdoust, assistant professor in middle east and media studies at the university of texas at austin. former journalist who has reported across the middle east, including in iran. hadi ghaemi, executive director and founder of the center for human rights in iran. years ago was a professor of physics at cuny and worked at human rights watch as well where he particularly exposed the plague of migrant workers in dubai. next up, russian president putin says he is prepared to end the war in ukraine and will negotiate with anyone stop our negotiations likely as russia pounds ukraine across the country today? we will speak with longtime antiwar activist professor

gilbert achcar. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: protest song "mama, don't watch tv" by the russian activist group pussy riot. according to the group, the song uses the words of a captured russian conscript soldier who told his mother, "there are no nazis here, don't watch tv." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. russia has launched a massive series of missile attacks across ukraine today, with reports of explosions and fresh power outages in cities including lviv , kyiv, and odesa after ukrainian officials called on residents to evacuate the city of kherson amidst heavy russian artillery strikes. on wednesday, two explosions rattled a maternity hospital in kherson where at least five

people were recovering from childbirth. >> it was frightening. also unexpected. the explosions began abruptly. my hands are still shaking. amy: on wednday, thekraine esidenvolodymy zelenskyy gaveis annual dress to the ukinian parliament where he again pressed for ukraine to join the european union. zelenskyy has been pushing a 10 point peace plan while russian president putin says he is prepared to end the war saying he will negotiate with everyone in this process about acceptable solutions. our negotiations likely? for more we're joined by the longtime antiwar activist and professor gilbert achcar, author of a number of books including "perilous power: the middle east and u.s. foreign policy," co-authored with noam chomsky, and "the people want: a radical exploration of the arab

uprising." his next book, to be published in april, titled "the new cold war: the united states, russia and china from kosovo to ukraine." welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you with this, professor. so you have this barrage of missiles, russian missiles across ukraine today at the same time you president putin saying is prepared to negotiate with anyone. can you respond to the situation and do you think negotiations are possible and what the peace plan of president zelenskyy is? >> good morning, amy and nermeen. thank yo botfor hosting me. what is happening in ukraine is systematic destruction of the city and infrastructure by the russian side.

it is a war crime. human rights organizations clearly stated that from the beginning. it has already been two months of systematic bombing of the civilian infrastructure. so this is horrifying, of course. it must be very, very strongly condemned. no less than the condemnation of the u.s. destruction of iraq's infrastructure in 1991. i mean, we have tbe consistent . if we have denounced, condemned what happened in iraq, left to denounce and condemn what is happening today in ukraine. about the statements about negotiations, are, i think, today, more propaganda devices

-- that's because if you see what conditions they are associated with, i mean, they sound like willingness to negotiate. on the russian side, it has been a while now. september that putin is making statements calling for a cease-fire and calling the ukrainians to return to the negotiating table. that is his own words. but if you read clearly what he has been saying, he is saying that the same time that there is no way that there could be any discussion about the four ukrainian provinces that he annexed to russia. so this is excluded, then how

possibly could negotiations or even a cease-fire happen? on the ukrainian side, sometimes you have statements like the foreign affairs minister of ukraine saying the condition for negotiations would be that slender putin, rather russian leaders, be deferred in terms of international tribute. of coue, that is putting the bar very high r any possible negotiation. i think for now, both sides are just probably betting on being able to achieve more on the ground and not really serious about a cease-fire and negotiations under the present conditions. nermeen: professor achcar, you wrote a number of articles before and following the russian

invasion of ukraine. he pointed out rightly anticipating that russia's invasion would strengthen nato measurably, including finland and sweden seeking to join the military alliance -- which is what has happened. a lot of people pointed out that one of the reasons for the invasion in the first place was nato's eastward expansion. if that is the case, first of all, do you agree that is the case? and second of all, how does one understand what has come about as a result since it was anticipated not just by you but many others? how does that figure into russia's calculation for the invasion? they couldn't possibly have thought nato would be weakened as a result. >> right. well, i think first of all, let me start with the last point.

this has been a terrible miscalculation. that is one of the historical numbers cmitted usually by leaders who do this since of reality and completely overestimated their own force and underestimate the capacity of those they aggress. that has been very clear. remember the first few weeks, the russian troops -- the plan was to take the capitol and bring down the government, remove all the leadership of the state, and replace them with sothing like you have in belarus, a government that is -- that field miserably. -- that failed miserably. there has been a miscalculation.

even leaving aside the justice, the human considerations and the rest even from the sheer realism if you want, calculation that was terribly mislculated, now the issue of nato, i mean, it depends on how we are looking at it. in historical terms, there's absolute no doubt in my mind the expansion of nato -- the expansion of nato was started by a demonstration in the 1990's. the decision to expand nato instead of dissolving, should have been the end of the soviet union, this decision has been

crucial in creating the conditions that led to the present state of the world and this state of relations between western countries and russia. there have been a lot of moves since 2008, very clearlyrom russia, that can be construed as counter moves to block the possible a session to nato, georgia, and ukraine, after -- countries that were previously under soviet domination or even the soviet union. the three baltic states were integrated into nato. of course from the russian side, this has always been perceived as aggressive and hostile.

and for good reason. in the first place, why is it nato is so eager to integrate all of the states and not offer russia itself to join nato? if it weren't actually leaning by all this to encircle, to rock russia. putin himself is, to a large tent, a product of the administration's policies toward russia, including economic policies in the 1990's come the so-called shock therapy that created the ground, along with -- to the rise of something -- all this being said, to say 2014 war of russia on ukraine, the annexation of crimea, were made

to a large extent to block ukraine's exception to nato, indeed, ever since russia has annexed crimea, there was no longer any possibility for ukraine to join nato because nato cannot take on board the country that is the fecteau at war with another country from a state of war. so that cannot happen. the same reason you have the assertion of georgia and russia in 2008, also to block any -- this year, february this year, there is no immediate prospect of ukraine -- exception of ukraine to angela. vladimir putin, as part of his

own first thomistic policies of nationalism, [indiscernible] the view also he had that he could actually invade ukraine, change its government without much trouble. that is the miscalculation. i think one of the reasons he is very bothered by ukraine is actually what happened with the election zelenskyy zelenskyy of. the election of a maverick like zelenskyy is something such a very bad example from someone like leonard putin. of course, zelenskyy in his mind can only remind him of navalny,

all that happened to navalny. onhe one hand, there is the fear you might have some kind of democratic society and policy in ukraine, which is unacceptable going in the exact opposite direction of the increasing authoritarian and autocratic transformation of the russian side. i would not hesitate even calling the regime as neofascist in the sense it has a lot of degrees of fascism without this paramilitary aspect. but on that background of imitating democracy, the fake democracy -- fake elections, imitation of democracy. basically, you have very repressive and frightening

regime. nermeen: professor achcar, could you elaborate a little bit on the point you make about navalny and zelenskyy, why putin would view them or may already view them as somehow linked or analogous figures? and then also i want to turn to the article you wrote on -- days after the invasion. explain why you wrote that piece. >> first what i said about zelenskyy and navalny, i mean, the possibility of the election of someone like zelenskyy is a kind of maverick, he was perceived as such. on top of that, that is even someone [indiscernible] mother tongue is russian and of

jewish descent. this isomething that represents a kind of democratic achievement in a country like ukraine that is shocking for someone like putin because of the culture and osmosis, strong cultural links, including linguistic, between ukraine and russia. so the example is very problematic stop i am sure that was one factor. of course not the only but one important factor in the escalation of letting -- starting from the summer of 2021. about the memorandum that i wrote three days into the invasion, that is because of the fact i have been involved in many discussions about wars, imperialist wars, and

anti-imperialism. last year any article -- an ticle about the medium of anti-imperialism. therefore, i thought the confusion along the radical left was such that there was a need to clarify what the anti-imperialist physician should be toward this war, and that is why i wrote this memorandum. my key point that we have -- that anti-imperialism should be against all imperialism, not against the u.s. or t western countries alone come and secondly that imperialism should be based on the right of the people to self-determination. that is the basis of anti-imperialism. and that should be our gding principle that in defining our

position as antiwar, left-wing, as progressive toward all the wars of this kind. amy: professor achcar, you are professor of international relations at the school of oriental and african studies at the university of london. you also look at the media. in france, there's a different approach, certainly the president macron has a different approach to putin, often seen as a back channel for biden talking to putin. as we begin to conclude the conversation, what do you think as russia just pounds ukraine today, as the u.s. gives billions of dollars worth of the terry weapons to ukraine -- military weapons to ukraine, zelenskyy address congress and shington, d.c., what you see

the ending of the war could look like and if you see the u.n. involved in the negotiations around that? >> basically, i can't think of any kyiv end war of this without the involvement of the u.n. unless the collapse of putin's government were regime, short of something that will completely change the situation. the only way to end this war is also through the united nations. the united nations coming in. and that also means china. both the united states and china have not been eager to let the u.n. take up this issue and move towards -- a lasting peace and just peace which can only be a peace based on the right of the

-- the people's rights, self-determination. that is a peaceful, democratic way of solving such issues, not by war, not by force. we are against the acquisition of territory by force. the u.n. charter is based on this. that is the point here. any solution to that should go through the united nations and any negotiations should go through the united nations and respect deep principles of the u.n. charter. now, i have not seen the biden administration really active on trying to get that, which would also involve a cooperation with china. the biden administration has been extremely aggressive, hostile to china, continuing the hostile policies that were started by biden and trump, in

particular. this has been quite counterproductive for the prospect for peace. because china, rc, holds key issue and that only important ally that russia may look at and therefore china's position would weigh a lot on whatever position russia takes. amy: we want to thank you so much for being what does, gilbert achcar, professor of international relations at the school of oriental and african studies, or soas, at the university of london. speaking to us from france. he has been active in the socialist and antiwar movement for decades. author of a number of books, including "perilous power: the middle east and u.s. foreign policy," co-authored with noam chomsky, "the people want: a radical exploration of the arab

uprising." his next book coming out in april, "the new cold war: the united states, russia and china from kosovo to ukraine." that does it for our show. to see all of our shows, radio and tv podcast, go to demo [♪♪]