america's mainstream media was accused of hyping up the prospect of war between iran and the west it's a sensitive time they're willing to spend the persian gulf and mounting sanctions over to iran's nuclear program. or 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 move voters american foreign policy scholar john explains now how there's 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 in iowa 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 ron paul obviously being the outlier wants to scale back u.s. role in the world the rest of them one way or another take more hawkish positions than the current obama administration so there's a 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 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 we've seen their positions which hurt their

position in some countries like iran right now way 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 either around him because of course he's and in the war in iraq so he's essentially don't criticize him they still criticize him but it doesn't really get them 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 when they're talking more when they're talking iran they seem to be connecting the foreign policy when. 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 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 employment issue you know whether they have houses you know the foreclosure more dangerous their. 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 key 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 the ball once 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. brooke 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 the 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 the 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 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 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 kind of 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 you there's eventually now especially in the lead up to the elections where you their 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 i mean in the middle east and in strategy in general not just in middle east you know i think the obama administration is have 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 their foreign

policy discussions do you think it's because it's really the most important foreign security issue or. 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 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 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 yet 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 you 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 if you can believe moral questions from a strategic point of view did 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 live you know in 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 with the fact that they have gotten. and that was criticized 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 all right thank you very much i.

the east side. of the limits just saw beasts to. see. how many. cultures that so much as i can recall when it comes to it recasting america's

global military strategy for just more of the same brahmas new vision for the pentagon is aimed at saving. syria's president pardons crimes committed during the ten month uprising against his rule with an amnesty that also extends to all meters it is tens of thousands of people who have been tainted for the past year serious still locked. in a routine that has published his plans to fight corruption and poverty as well as create a more civil society russia's prime minister is launching his push for a third term as president. and america's mainstream media use of hiking up the prospect of war between iran and the west it's a sensitive time we're there but it's the standoff in the gulf and mounting

sanctions over tyrone's nuclear program. next us richard with all the sports news. hello and welcome to a really good to have you with us we'll stop the headlines. for you the first hurdle may come on here is i want of the australian open losing five cents to italy's. parkas sent packing your giants upset green bay to the n.f.c. championship game of baltimore but houston will place in the super bowl. perfect ten. claims a record ten dakar rally times all other fringe cereal to put he wins the points category. start with tennis nickel i got it thank you it's our it's a real strain open after the russian flag you ship all of italy in five sets never

going to sleep two in the world ranking seem to be in come on the scene that like two sets to one however the russians game fell apart this italian opponent east of a jury meanwhile australia's main hope bernard tomic short twenty second seed fernando verdasco nineteen year old eventually prevailing in five of them four hours on court. martin doul porter is safely fruits of a second round. may first set against the french opponents of a former us open champion recovered it's called victory just under three hours saving it's in this nice exchange at the moment. rafael nadal won his first months of the year against the american qualifying exquisite salt and straight sense for third seed roger federer is just getting under way against all odds on the clear out save however all the talk coming into the tournament has been about the run between

a doll and federer responded blaming the swiss being too much of a gentleman leaving others to do the work trying to come back. full schedule. now i am the one who in the past. talk a lot about. talk a lot about. the. problem in the us open now i'm not going to be the one who keep talking about a lot of things because finally you know if if he would have but the right. guys there to to fight for us maybe today we don't have that. meanwhile on the women's side of the door defending champion compliance this is a straight sets victory against portugal's what you call a russian qualifier you know but you called nine hundred seats on the net and three sets another russian aliquippa got some is in trouble in. world number one all of us now to show face local favorites an associate of the all of

a third seed victoria azarenka is already safely through to the second round of a battle russian hardly had to break when it's in her encounter with a watson from great britain a twenty two year old far too much power from the baseline and trying to one hundred five in the world. would wrap up a very comfortable six one six love victory in just over an hour as reports and could return this ferocious right. to last year's fine or to clijsters spread to the second round as well after she managed to seal a six three six one win over seen a pair of arc of kazakhstan. i. want to hold on now and form a argentine superstar diego maradona or his marriage to success we undergo an operation to have his kidney stones removed at a private hospital in dubai the fifty one year old coach is expected to be released

on monday matilda legend steve is signed to a two one win at holly on saturday so they're currently mid table trouble for the bottom smart charger in a week's time. well moving to be n.f.l. in baltimore will play the new england patriots in the a.f.c. championship game out of ravens managed to beat the houston texans by twenty points to thirteen well despite falling behind to an early field goal ravens they were soon in front of joe flacco for a one yard touchdown pass to chris wilson the bottom side seven three in front of a baltimore quarterback was soon again i can reaction after writing that one bowl going to give the ravens a sizable seventeen to free advantage going into the first quarter or texans were back in the game five minutes before the whole time break one yard touchdown run by irene foster trimming the deficit to seventeen to thirteen however baltimore's defense remain resolute despite instance best efforts they weren't able to force

over time so it's ravens who advance and brady's new england patriots gets the championship game. more of a new york giants cause a major upset in last year's super bowl champions the green bay packers game looked to be evenly poised going into the half time break also played before the intermission eli manning picking out a key mix of thirty seven yard pass neil went into the intermission twenty to ten in front of the packers were struggling to get back into the games the bills have been far too many turnovers away i'm a giants all but knew they were in me only of c. championship game. when running through a food yard touchdown passed mario manningham in the thirty to thirty knee deep in the fourth thirty seven to twenty is how i finish my san francisco for a civil suit them. moving to the n.b.a. in utah one of the second time in as many days has been managed to beat but then

the nuggets hundred six points ninety six proved to be a tying game start to finish. aflalo closing the nuggets in front of six pretty late in the second and then the steal berth in the fervid giants remain well in contention golden he would finishing with that dunk on ice a watson steals sixty seven to sixty two however fourth quarter that was all about . sixteen points in the last twelve minutes per game to utah the eighth to win twelve games this season in prague denver the second place in the northwest division. but golden state warriors go first win on the road all season because of the tourists in detroit twenty four points from tim duncan elder son and tony spurs preserve their own unbeaten home record they beat the suns by eleven points also hopes of challenging for a champions league sponsor mulish premier league suffered another blow as they were

beaten free to a newly promoted swansea city under a sharp instead of problem percy harvin the scoring up of five minutes from side seam level both players penalty and then lleyton dyer the welsh side ahead early in the second half theo walcott's made it to two on sixteen on minutes but the swans of immediately went up the other end it's called a winner for danny graham meanwhile the own best scope the only goal is newcastle big q.p.r. while the arsenal manager arsene wenger blamed his for pete's swanzy on the fence there is. no difference in performance was not good enough. but why we lost a game where when you came back at two two zero forward we had a good chance to win the game because we looked like we could be dangerous to keep look at them as well after. in the game and. made some great saves and i think it would be me some unbelievable challenges. to ice

hockey now assess come moscow be reigning cage or champion some of your live free one on home ice to clinch their third win in a row and respect lanes for a playoff spot in the western conference of about of anyone as 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 kids and facing the league's reigning champ and so lucky life was an important test only way and the only man lasted in up to what twenty eleven they won at the foresight and then on sunday they met again in moscow where the hosts promptly showed their intentions to beat that success and the condition of moves around the visitors do kilmeade with ilias the bulls reste shot seven minutes in one eye the home side kept up their pressure

grating more goal scoring chances and they were soon or the super always whining and that from the blue line to extend their men's lead to nil i know ever the second period so solid fired back with one of the league's most skilful players and then never gives up alex under a new of living 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 minimum of gifts all of a glimmer of hope to one i. get breaking through the amens defense with this individual efforts but it wasn't enough to her eyes and once his attempts failed the hosts scored again so really because the puck sprint through the entire length of the rink and wrapped up the scoring three one two minutes and time again moving

i mean you can see we didn't think much of my points. we tried to focus on our game and this approach weren't we played groups defensively we managed to switch from the fans too often pretty. under fixedly 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 hardened front of both nights and we get to go to victory today and they are very satisfied with this guy had the perfect record of two victories out of two games against going good going cup holders so what's new for the young man looking to get even stronger. marty skill. or finish of motorsport frenchman stefan but the one soul has claimed unprecedented ten dakar rally title of the doing enough by crossing the line in ten place in south america where american

robby gordon won the fourteen from final stage of the world's most famous insurance car race for competitors arrived in lima company peru but it was a forty six year old at the hands all who celebrated his fourth overall title of also winning six motorcycle crowns in the ninety's russia's new i need my ski was full of over old fellow frenchmen sitio the prey prevailed in the points category for a fourth time at last year's winner mark o'meara of spain dutchman gerard awad triumphed in the trucks. that program so that more sport coming up and around it so as time stations will see what is coming next and carol be here with overhead once. culture is that so much time in which of course you can write on it so here we can think america's global military strategy or just more of the same problem is new

vision for the pentagon is aimed at saving.

wolf the first science technology innovation hall the list of elements from

around russia we've got the future covered. president assad pardons crimes committed during that ten month uprising against his rule but syria is still in a deadlock of violence. you know unveils plans to fight corruption and create a more civil society as he can see his push for the presidency also. truly two options bomb iran or let iran get the bomb america's mainstream media stands accused of unbalanced reporting and hyping up global tension while trying to steer public opinion to please their sponsors. and in the business bulletin bears.