serious to look to violence. and america's mainstream media is accused of hyping up the prospect of war between iran and the west it's a sensitive time but if you stand up and go ranting sanctions are the telephones and nuclear program. but the u.s. has its fingers in many pies around the world but it's trouble on the home front that the republican presidential candidates are using to try and win voters american foreign policy scholar john for explains how there is actually very little to choose between the. thank you for joining us on r.t. thank you for having me on the show. let's start with the g.o.p. results and i would do you think they indicate an ideological divide among the g.o.p. well i think in general the g.o.p. is has a consensus certainly a consensus on economic matters they don't want government interference in the

market and this is a consensus that even includes ron paul if you look a little closer at some foreign policy issues there's a little bit of a difference with ron paul obviously being the outlier wants to scale back u.s. role in the world the rest of them one way or another taking more hawkish positions in the current obama administration sort of his general consensus there too so i don't think there's a lot of differences between the republican candidates although i mean santorum comes from a completely different school than mitt romney and ron paul. they certainly do they're appealing though to some of the same voters and i think in a general election we of course would see the republican candidate move toward the center in order to get as much of the center and independent votes as possible but right now during the primaries they're pretty much going to be clustered around the same kind of positions and they're running against the obama administration and

there isn't a lot of difference between them seeing their positions which hurt their position in some countries like iran right now away which is the hot spot what role do you think they foreign policy play in their campaign right now to be honest foreign policy doesn't play much of a role in part because the obama administration has taken foreign policy off the table certainly national security issues it's very difficult to run to the right of barack obama foreign policy after what he's done the killing of osama bin laden. the expansion of drone war in pakistan. is also difficult to run on the left around him because of course he's ending the war in iraq so he's essential don't criticize him they still criticize him but it doesn't really get him a lot of leverage or a lot of interest from the media you know the red meat issues for the republicans are going to be the economy and some cultural issues as well foreign policy you

know i mean as herman cain said i don't know where back to back a back to stand as i mean that unfortunately is a popular position in the electorate here in the united states a kind of will for all willful ignorance of what's going on in the world and yet they might that might harm their position on local issues i mean we've been there talking more when they're talking iran they seem to be connecting the foreign policy with. here at home well they they sometimes do and you know they're always trying to make a point connected to the economy whether it has to do with say reducing military spending or increase in military spending ultimately it's got to come back to what we call pocketbook issues i mean what americans have in the last couple of elections voted on that is jobs you know the point at issue here you know whether they have houses you know the foreclosure more dangerous. general kind of feeling

about the u.s. economy in general our g.d.p. our trade balance and so forth those are going to be the issues at the end of the day for the republicans and me of course that have to appear presidential they have to talk about foreign policy but they know alternately that that's mostly for show i mean when they really want to appeal to voters they really have to grab them by the wallets and they kind of mean it's not going to get any better well that's hard to say i mean even economists have difficulty predicting what's happening with the economy. we've seen a slight improvement with the unemployment rate i think for the president the most important thing is perception if americans feel that the economy is getting better they tend to overlook the numbers. but they don't want it to look better now as long as obama still president. the republicans yeah oh absolutely. the brit publicans have been doom and gloom i mean this has been their bread and butter

during the campaign if they can make it seem as though the world is getting increasingly worse they themselves will be superman who comes in to save the situation. relations with countries. countries like north korea countries like china russia seem to be managed differently under. different presidents how do you think that's going to change now. for the remainder of their i mean yes it's not a year well president obama made a big point at the apec meeting and why to say you know we're we're making the pacific pivot you know we're moving away from the middle east and we're going to focus more on asia. in some sense be wishful thinking because of course united states has a certain limited range in terms of foreign policy opportunities it basically is still in afghanistan still has to deal with iran and pakistan still do dealing with the aftermath of iraq still dealing with the arab spring in the aftermath there

it's very difficult for the united states to to make a pivot like this so it's more of an aspirational pivot it's what the obama administration would like to do and so it's made a couple of gestures by putting some more marines in australia by say that we're going to focus more on china but whether we'll actually see some concrete changes it's going to be very difficult. you know what the obama administration has already done a modest opening to burma a very very modest opening to north. gloria the president doesn't have a lot of political capital that he doesn't want to waste it initiatives that might appear from republican critics to be appeasement so appeasing china appeasing north korea peace in burma he doesn't want to get into a situation in which if there is a best selling now especially in the lead up to the elections were either congress or the republican candidates can say we told you we told you this guy likes to sit

down with dictators we would have none of that if we were president does that mean that the u.s. is changing its strategy in that region in the mid i mean in the middle east and in strategy in general not just in middle east you know i think the obama administration has had a. pretty clear trajectory for the last three years it's tried to extricate the united states from the worst kind of legacies of the previous administration primarily in iraq but also looking ahead in afghanistan but at the same time dealing with what has been considered a key issue and that is counterterrorism and the perception that democrats are weak on national defense issues and so the president has been very careful to say hey you know we will go to war if necessary and we will use force when necessary so i think this balance will continue for the remainder of his term all of the presidential candidates. make israel the centerpiece out their foreign

policy discussions do you think it's because it's really the most important foreign security issue for them or are. elections well it's primarily elections i mean if you look at the obama administration's position toward israel. even israel will say it's been the best relations in a long time. the obama administration opposed palestinian initiatives in the u.s. going after statehood continued military support of israel doff basically when netanyahu refused to do anything on the settlements issue again there's been some aspirational language what the united states would like to happen in solving the arab israeli disputes but generally speaking there has been no transformation of the united states remains firm of israel the republican candidates are thinking well there are two constituencies we want to reach out to one are evangelicals

evangelicals who have very strongly said that we stand with israel and the others jewish voters who if they can peel them away from obama would be a great crew in the two thousand and twelve election i mean could you elaborate a little bit more about that specially with the g.o.p. presidential candidates right now and it was specially after what you said that obama has done everything to what seems to be appeasing israel yeah the candidates the g.o.p. candidates are saying that he has not done enough that's right i mean it makes for good headlines i mean strangely it might seem because of course it seems like the republican candidates are trying to outdo themselves in saying that they're friends of israel even to the point of almost outsourcing foreign policy decisions to netanyahu with the debate between romney and gingrich who would you know call netanyahu to get approval prior to any kind of u.s. policy which in some sense is unheard of in u.s. foreign policy circles again i think this is primarily because of who they were

looking toward in iowa and the constituency in iowa there was a perception that maybe whoever kind of grabs hold of the evangelical vote will be able to determine you know the course of iowa. to a certain extent that was smart politics whether this will translate into a real election year issue when the republican candidate is chosen i doubt it i don't know i can't really see mitt romney using the israel issue to much advantage come the fall but certainly in the republican primaries it's useful politics and now with the arab revolutions do you think that has anything to do or affect in any way that presidential candidates campaigns i would like it to of course this is a major event on the world stage unfortunately the united states is rather poor especially with our elections and sometimes even the greatest transformations have very little effect on politics here in this country of course there were some statements by michele bachmann of course to try to suggest that the president had

made a mistake by aligning himself with arab spring protesters because that would assure in islamists and this of course was the greatest fear for michele bachmann and several other republican candidates that no effectively you know obama. from a such a teacher point of view could leave moral questions from a strategic point of view do quite a good job he didn't dive in he waited and then divorced himself from problematic u.s. alliances with mubarak for instance in egypt. said he would lead from behind in libya which seemed to be in hindsight a smart strategy as well so he's essentially protected his flank against the republicans this issue it's going to be hard for the upon the michele bachmann has to go kind of out on the limb you know and with a rather farfetched argument in order to try to attack the president on his

positions on the arab spring so like it or not i think the president has taken arab spring off the table as well as an election year thing so i mean the fact that they have gotten. the war in libya and that was quite a sight criticized by john mccain it was endorsing mitt romney that's right now mind you if the situation in libya deteriorates if the situation in egypt deteriorates if we have full scale civil war in syria that's another matter but the situations as they stand now with elections in egypt with the situation relatively stable in. libya and the situation of course is not good in syria but the level of violence hasn't escalated to an all out civil war. status quo if that remains i don't think some of the election year issue thank you very much.

wealthy british. it's time to. go. to

the. markets why not. find out what's really happening. the global economy in crisis report. published his plans to fight corruption and poverty as well as create a more civil society the prime minister's own chink his push for a third term as president. syria's president hardens crimes committed during that ten month uprising against his rule and an amnesty that also extends to. tens of thousands of people have been detained last year for serious. and america's mainstream media is accused of hyping up the prospect of war between iran and the west it's a sensitive time with

a military standoff in the persian gulf and mounting sanctions over tehran's nuclear program. next on the latest sports news with richard. a really good to have you with us as always headlines. calling it the first hurdle nicholai dividend goes i want to be australian open losing in five cents please flavio. parkas send parking but new york giants upset green bay. and i've see championship game for baltimore all the houston. ship of all. perfect ten one hundred soul claims a record attempt dark a rally ties or a spoiler for. wins in the points category. of personal tennis and apply the bank

is islands of the australian open to the russian last time to flavia chip all over italy in five sets. fifty two of the world rankings seem to be in come on this he led two sets to one how about the russians game fell apart with only an opponent east of victory meanwhile strangers' main hope with an atomic shock twenty second seed fernando verdasco a nineteen year old eventually prevailing five cents to more than four hours on colts martin del potro was also a free fruit of round two of the autumn time and may have dropped the first sentence against his friend sharon and however the former u.s. open champion recovered called a victory in just under three hours saving it's this exchange of the night. rafael nadal is just about to play his first march two thousand and twelve against

the american called an exclusion it's all third seed roger federer is an action against alexander. however all of a troll coming into the tournament in a row between about one favor and. spiny and blaming the swiss being too much of a gentleman almost a bit of work trying to combine. the one who in the past. talk a lot about. talk a lot about. the baby. brother in the u.s. open now i'm not going to be the one who keep talking about a lot of things because finally you know we've if he would have but the right. to fight for us maybe today we don't have. to mean well on the women's side of the draw to filming champion employees to this is currently on hold against portugal's another of color. of the moment meanwhile russians qualify and you know what i

don't mind to see. pre-sets little later on the local play pauline promethea world number one. political favorite and associate of the all of the. also of the first season victoria azarenka is already safely through the russian hardly had the breaks when it's in her encounter with pedal watson in great britain the twenty two year old fart so much power from the baseline for opponent hundred five in the world and as i think i would wrap up a very comfortable six one six one big tree and just over an hour. as watson couldn't return ferocious. lino who lost last year's final at melbourne park to cloisters to the second round as well as she managed to seal a six three six one win because i see a pair of arc. going on the football and also hopes of challenging for

a champions league sponsor me english premier league suffered another blow spain will be free to add newly promoted swansea city i'm going to show in set up. the score enough for five minutes but i'm cibo was soon level it's called he pled guilty of making diapers brochure to head. to wall calls made it to true on sixty minutes the sponsor mediately winds up being rendered scored a winner with danny graham meanwhile the arm vansickle be only goal is newcastle be q.p.r. the arsenal manager claim that a fetus once the number twenty there is. no performance was not good enough. but why we lost a game where when you came back at two to our forward we had a good chance to win the game because we looked like we could be dangerous to keep at them as well after. in the game and and made some

great saves and i think that is where you me some unbelievable chances. also former argentina superstar diego maradona has successfully undergone an operation for his kidney stones removed in a private hospital and by the fifty one year old car was all coaches expect to be released on monday matilda legends steered aside to a two one win at all early on saturday. mid table and troubled to third from bottom charger in a week's time. baltimore play the new england patriots in the a.f.c. championship game after the ravens beat the houston texans by twenty points to thirteen despite falling behind to only field goal the ravens were soon in front joe flacco throwing a one yard touchdown pass to chris wilson with the home side seven three in front of a baltimore quarterback was soon back in the action. of an equation bolden to get the ravens a sizeable seventeen to free advantage of the end of the first quarter of the texans

were back in the game five minutes before half time one yard touchdown run by audience paul start trimming the deficit the seventeen to thirteen however baltimore's the fence remain resolute despite his best efforts they were unable to force overtime so it's a ravens who advance will be tom brady's patriots near future again. meanwhile the new york giants cause a major upset by the time last year's super bowl champions the green bay packers game looked to be even to play ways going into a hard time break hearts played before the intervention. picking out a community it's about thirty seven year old possible new york giants went into intermission twenty to turn up packers struggled to get back in the game with fuel to have given away far too many turnovers on the joints all but knew they were in the n.f.c. championship game. manning but for this we are touchdown pass. to

give them a thirty to thirty knee deep into the fourth. seven to twenty is hope finished new york will play some francisco for a place in the super bowl. was moved to ice hockey where. the reigning cage champions you live free won on home ice to clinch by third win in a row and to spare claims for a playoff spot in the western conference well a lot of them young has this report. sysco used to be one of the most degraded sites in soviet hockey but quite a lot has changed over the last twenty years now the club is struggling to return to the summit of the kid shell and facing the leaks reigning champ and so lucky alive was an important test own the way and the only man blasted into what twenty eleven they won at the site and then on sunday they met again in moscow where the hosts promptly showed their intentions to repeat that success and that

can the nation of moves around the visitors do kilmeade with. seven minutes in one eye the home side kept up their pressure grating more goal scoring chances and they were soon rewarded much sooner a week finding that from the blue line to extend their men's lead to nil i know ever the second period so saw about fired back with one of the league's most skilful players and then never gives up alex under a new of letting the visitors assault however they only managed to break the deadlock after the second intermission. i just over a minute into the third to get a middle no give sela a glimmer of hope to one. or the of get breaking through the amens defense with his individual efforts but it wasn't enough to call lies and once has

a downs failed the hosts scored again. because the puck sprints of the entire length of the rink and wrapped up the scoring three one two minutes from time game over i mean you can see there we didn't think much of my points. we tried to focus on our game and this approach worked we played groups defensively we managed to switch from the fans too often. quickly and effectively there are very strong teams so we had to do with some tough pressure in this game and i like the way we played tonight we should keep it up we worked as a team we helped each other on the ice and we we try to fight hard in battle hard in front of both nights and you get that electric today and they're very satisfied with this guy have the perfect record of two victories out of two games against scoring going cup holders so what's that for a man now looking to get even stronger william verity skill. meanwhile

russia's former overall champion alexanders of cough has picked up a second win of a season in germany to stretch his lead and the standings and four man bobsled a first russian team top the time sheets in both runs only two hundred a second faster than germany's second seen captain by more marketer maximillian arms germany one completed by podium for coffee but said to relinquish his truman crown bow from last season this sitting on a comfortable question in a four man event had a bunch of people thirty seven year olds in the gold at last week's european championships more than our free events to go on the world cup calendar. i. oh motor sports frenchman's stuff on page one hundred saw has claimed precedented ten dakar rally title after doing enough by crossing the line in ten place in south america american robby gordon on the fourteenth and final stage of the world's most famous insurance car race as the competitors arrived in lima the capital of peru

but that was before the six year old at the hands all celebrated this fall for over all time it's all also winning six motorcycle crowns in the ninety's rushers li i need and i mean skiing was for over all fellow frenchmen. prevailed in the buying scatterbrain for a fourth time of masters when a corner of spain couldn't run. in the trucks. i wrote today more sport coming up in around two hours time the state into our t.v. weather is coming up next. the issue is that so much of it which of course. will be recast the local military strategy or just more of the same bronco momus new vision for the pentagon is even saving.

it's easy to.

believe. but they may have voted on bell's plans to fight corruption and create a more civil society as he begins his push for the presidency. president pardons crimes committed during the ten month uprising against his rule but syria is still in a deadlock reform that's also. bomb iran or let iran get the bomb america's mainstream media stands accused of unbalanced reporting and hyping up global tension all trying to steer public opinion to please their sponsors. and in the business pulled bear.