was optimism surrounding the arab spring has been replaced by worries about the arab fall as a wave of anti western protests and violence sweep across the muslim world. but for one former british spy in the recent events brings to mind unheeded lessons from the past in his thirty years of british government service alastair crook has operated in trouble spots all across the globe from helping them with fighters in afghanistan against the soviets to working with rebel political groups in northern ireland cambodia and colombia as a former special envoy to the middle east he has brokered a number of cease fires between israel and the palestinian movements fatah and hamas he now serves as the director of the conflicts forum in beirut where r.t. set down with him for an exclusive interview thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us what is the wave of recent violence the anti-american a wave of protests across the middle east do you see that as a coordinated effort or or perhaps just

a reaction to what's going on on the ground it seems to me that what happened in libya was well planned well conceived i mean very well planned. and was certainly not something that happened just out of the blue and it coincided of course with the anniversary of nine eleven. and seems to be most here i don't think that necessarily suggests that everything else that this that occurred during this period. was therefore coordinated or well designed or or or well planned and what it did touch was a real lady to a sense of anger at what people see as the continuing aggression in this race here against their traditions against sect culture against their way of being in the three chaired by western states the recent events the sudden law. break. in libya itself in the very seats of will keep

american saw. new new year or marriage break will cause. the west cumulatively to begin to question and start the process which they need to do which is really to reassess what actually is going on it's not the awakening people for it's not simply a popular impulse of the oppressed against the of precious it's far more than that and what we are seeing is the overlay of the dynamics here is the gulf states saudi arabia or. other gulf states that are trying to create a sunni bloc in the west and. as they tried to create the salafist sunni bloc in the east and succeeded now it's the here and it's causing huge turmoil and huge internal conflict within the reach of referring to the killing of

the u.s. ambassador in libya secretary of state hillary clinton or mark how could this happen in a country that we helped to liberate what are the u.s. foreign policy makers missing when it comes to their supports our interfering in countries where that complicated stance towards the west indeed i think it is causing a real sense of anxiety and a sense of schalke in the united states widely because this whole narrative that somehow the awakening was going away was reflecting and you know much of that was simply based on this rather press. narrative that was promoted by many mainstream western press that look they're using twitter and facebook therefore it must be western in its orientation well of course you find the salafist groups you're seeing facebook and twitter not necessary. really to promote western values but i

think that gave it the sense that somehow this was flowing in the west direction and i think this is come as a big wakeup call to to the western states for the moment we see a tacit if you like alliance between the of radical elements in the united states in bringing down assad and bringing down get our feet but when that's finished where will their anger turn where will. their objective turn it will turn precisely on israel and america. living i've seen for twenty five years people think they're using the salafist as sort of simple pious people who don't understand politics for their end only to find the salafist use them for their ends and i fear that this is how they will find that it will turn on them and will bite them just as it did twenty five or thirty years ago but what lessons has the us failed to learn when it comes to its experience in afghanistan and how does that relate to what's going on right now i remember in eighty seven going and talking to

the americans about it and saying you know you need to really understand the big differences between these groups that are taking part in this alliance put together and you have to understand some have credibility and real roots within the community but others do not at all quite different and the americans and the senator i remember at the time turned to me and said listen i list thank you for the advice and morning i survived certain groups in afghanistan then but look i just want to tell you they're the ones that really came communist pass and so we looked away didn't want to know what was happening we preferred not to go because it was so popular domestically with president reagan with mrs thought it was going down well no where in the area where king gadhafi is us where king president assad is a popular sport in the west and. good domestically so we don't look who are these groups

in syria who were the groups in libya what really oh they're taking it all their objectives truly to bring about as some in the west imagine a simply a more liberal society a more democratic and easy breathing society of course not just as twenty five thirty years ago people didn't want to hear it was unpopular to say anything so it's been extremely unpopular here so are you saying that the west miscalculated chose the wrong alliances perhaps i think that they miscalculate totally what was happening and chose they created to merit it for themselves it was a constructed narrative that really all of the initial awakening which was popular and had real popular impulse and it was somehow a vindication of european values of american values and they misread this totally

it was not it was in fact when you heard that it was a protest against injustice in iniquity it was a protest against neo liberalism it was a protest against the absolute support of the west against for israel and for. its policies against the palestinians that may not have been at the forefront of all of the climate but the reason that these dictators like mubarak had been so impulsive that was precisely because he was the instrument of the west the instrument of suppression of the president and that it was all was really behind the protests that took place so it was not a little splinter of western values it was a reaction and i think the recent violence we've seen against western embassies not just american western sharply on the line some. the limits of western

influence in this region this is pushback against their attempt to shape and mold the so-called arab awakening for their own purpose to install their own people their own successors for their own interests in the area but when it comes to syria how do you see the conflict there playing out is peace at all possible at this point or haply surpassed that opportunity i don't think until now we've had a window there's not really been a real window for negotiations because the west has not wanted. the opposition to seriously negotiate except on a complete collapse. of president assad and in the syrian system i think. maybe a window arising in the near future and i do hope that the west will instead of ridiculing and belittling russia's attempts to try and

a negotiated outcome. supported because russia place a crucial if there is ever to be a negotiation between the two parties will have to be guaranteed to have to be guarantees for the opposition for who's going to give the guard the un. west coast only russia can really play the crucial role in result i'm sorry but a u.n. negotiate the u.n. has no standing and no legitimacy in syria amongst either thought at this time and are you worried about the ongoing violence in syria spilling over here into lebanon and potentially fracturing the society here of course everyone is worried and there's already has had effect here in lebanon it is polarized the politics of lebanon. it is result. did in conflicts that have taken place in

tripoli it is resulted in. skirmishes that have happened in beirut and in in the south. we see reflections of this taking place and lebanon the is of course vulnerable to this type of sectarian conflict but so was jordan and so is iraq and we are seeing the same effect also taking place so it's affecting the whole region and if there is if it continues and of course if the money in the weapons continue to be poured into syria it will of course continue for a certain extent. no government can stop two or three people and car bombs does continue the tensions will increase but they may explode outside in fact i think in many cases. at this stage it's the states outside that are more vulnerable the neighbors of syria that could be said to be more vulnerable than syria itself

to call for gratian and civil war israel remains a surprisingly untouched it would seem at least honest on the surface by the rise of radical islam do you expect that to continue and how do you see this playing out i think at the moment it's quite crude that the palestinian issue is almost obscured hardly even on the agenda. but of course i don't believe that this will persist i believe that the palestinian issue has been so crucial to the self identity of so many states whether it's egypt whether it's syria itself that when things settle down the palestinian issue will of course reemerge and of course israel is not unaffected it may not be feeling the effects now. but look i mean what's happened has been is dramatic changes south africa are experienced all the. as he has

a go at the time of the implosion of the soviet union suddenly. israel is not surrounded in egypt. and jordan and elsewhere by a very different region from the one in which. it previously existed thank you. wealthy british style suck some. of the. markets why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy in these kinds of reports. to.

the times. he. says.

emission free cretaceous free in-store chargers free. arrangement free. three stooges free. old free broadcast quality video for your media project for free media and on to r.t. dot com you. egypt's

new leader gets the cold shoulder of the united states as he vows to lessen america's influence after his predecessors decades of being washington friendly. also the hundreds of millions of pounds spent by the british government on foreign countries that barely need a while pushing further cuts and benefit cuts at home. and the storm and see if china vales drone surveillance plans for islands industry to japan with fears of the asian giants could be surging towards a regional. party on monday evening bring you now world sport.

thanks for joining us this is sports today plenty head over the next ten minutes think looting stories embry. big to fail w.b.c. heavyweight boxing champion vitaly klitschko makes a strong start he's already fought his last. weekend to remember brandt snedeker wins the p.g.a. tour championship claiming with the. prize of ten million dollars. on sticky wicket bulldogs for their loss there were twenty twenty cricket score the defending world champions go down to india by nine. one half of the greatest heavyweight boxing jewel in recent years looks like he set to bring down the curtain on his illustrious career vitaly klitschko on monday stating quote i don't

intend to fight anymore leaving younger brother vladimir to carry the torch but tully also reiterating out a press conference in the politics in this need of ukraine as work is focused on. the forty one year old retained his w.b.c. world heavyweight title earlier this month the feeding manuel char in moscow via a fourth round tactical knockout to previously already retired want to injury in two thousand and five only to announce his return to the after his overall record stands at forty five wins two goals. to russian for poor sport domestic and european aspirations suffered a massive blow brazilian international set to miss perhaps the entire season after suffering a serious knee injury and sunday's three one win over rough stuff the twenty two year old turning his a.c.l. on separate springs to two other needs ligaments in the eighty fifth minute of the

home victory the london olympic silver medalist will. on record treatment in germany sponsored jose manuel jurado also server to knock in the game and will be like the. world and sports three two loss against barcelona and their champions league group not lost the red white stick on celtic in the next european cup adventure on october second. former england football captain john terry has call time on his international career the chelsea skipper informing his country's monitor roy hodgson of his decision in a telephone call on sunday evening the thirty one year old is currently in the process of defending a football association charge of using racist language against q.p.r. defender entente ferdinand cherry was cleared of racially abusing ferdinand courts in july the f a's this isn't to pursue charges against him no makes his position as an england player on tenable seventy eight times for his nation was initially made captain in two thousand and six. let's talk all for american brandt snedeker has

every reason to smile today after winning the p.g.a. tour championship with that fed ex cup over the weekend the american showing no signs of nerves as he concluded run for on sunday three birdies on the back nine taking all the drama of a final day which was laced with possibilities it's a timely push for snedeker head of the ryder cup which starts on friday the thirty one year old finishing three strokes clear of englishman just in rows was enough for him to part of a ten million dollar prize for also playing the fed ex cup world number one marco royd meanwhile finished nine shots off the pace with tiger woods one stroke in front of. complete faith and one of you know i knew that it would be a tough day and every time something bad happened under something good was going to happen i saw him going into my mind all went right the middle and i need to and so that's just one of the very think i went right. moved to the ice where the new n.h.l.

arrivals are already making their presence very much felt in the kontinental hockey league the match for tween title holders. and petersburg taking center stage on sunday the class pitched as a battle between superstars alexander ovechkin and. here is remand cost ref with more. take a shell is widely considered to be secondary in popularity to the n.h.l. but with the lockout in north america already in effect that argument seems to be no longer an issue because some of the world's best players are now strutting their stuff right here in the continental. attics of the skins returns at this point no one will steal from n.h.l. the washington capitals was marked by two points in its many games with the new jersey devils in the a couple chick on the other hand the match against all these t.v. became his cage and very successful once it has scott st petersburg out scored the muscovites by three bucks to one and all family and all the friends here and those

rates are playing from the home crowd to know that people here they're enjoying the watching hockey especially those reiver yanks you know to top teams play against each other and i think it was fun to build the battle for a place in the good garri called playoffs is still months away but that you can couple chook that soup and other looks out and h l r's are ensuring top attendance at various cage hillary nets from seven countries and you should be up most i'm very happy that players like alex ovechkin decided to come and my hope that he will shine here just like in the n.h.l.'s i'm glad that he opened his scoring tourney today and how does he and the rest of us suppose she will help us win the title which is what well a deskins did on was certainly have plans if you look forward to the season but capitalizing on opportunities will probably become the priority in the immediate future though it will take him some time to adjust the bench can already knows what needs to be done such that success. i can feel the trust from my teammates on the

coaching staff both were showing combinational and attractive playing us about what it's coring is our we have one we needed seven on the previous match and one today are still high so we need to find that golden mean of those we score three or four and with i did a series of. so because the n.h.l. and its players union continued to grow six over cash north america is now missing out on top notch action their loss is now russia and other occasional countries gain as even you are. seeking to the continental the rim on cos we're already. let's move on wearing men's preparations for the super eight stage of the twenty twenty cricket world cup could hardly have been worse the reaming champions of the short game recording their lowest ever t twenty score in a ninety run defeat to india both sides already secured their place in the super eights making this my somewhat of a dead rubber carver in men's cap issue reports that will be pleased with what he

saw india reaching one hundred seventy four in their twenty overs in replying then struggled with india spinners and were skilled all right for eighty hard to bouncing in particular to the fourth figures of four for to help. now russia's national cross-country run how successfully concluded the annual event this year attracting a record one million participants and eighty cities michel to chant go was at the moscow leg of the race for us. it's one of the oldest sports and one of the simplest since it was included in the first modern olympic games back in agent ninety six cross-country running has barely changed and why should it in compass is everything that's needed in sport strength stamina fitness and competition but to name a few but today's nationwide event is also about uniting a nation. is designed to unite the nation friends family and friends of support and

even those who on the longer active like me have come down to support the cause we all run to give an example to people. running and i not only about strength it's also beautiful and though it hasn't been run in. that many prominent figures in athletes were among the one point two million people who don't they're running in roughly eighty cities across the country and just outside moscow russia's minister of sport italy would call was on hand to officially open the race and also paltalk in a rather symbolic run with fellow colleagues. ultimately everyone who was taking part today is winner there's no need to overdo it everyone should be picking the distance that suits their stamina and that's why i chose to run only five hundred metres but another pleasant factor was seeing so many youngsters willing to come out on a dreary sunday morning to take in the fresh air open space and party atmosphere which that will look like a very interesting spring. board sport as best we can i myself do love supporting

it well that's why game. the event will no doubt continue to be a success in coming years with russia determined to further promote a healthy lifestyle well it probably won't rival the world's biggest nationwide cross-country event which was held recently in the philippines attracting over four million people it's still the biggest sporting event in russia and judging by the turnout today it's proof that people here definitely do approve of a healthy lifestyle as to why. not go read. what you didn't see there was out there was a free bar at the end of the truck that is all your sport for. the mighty volga that runs deep through the russian soul has provided inspiration

for songs and poems and is the country's main north south artery and decades ago schumann ingenuity connected it to the dawn river to the west the vocal dawn canal is an engineering marvel within a day a vessel can pass the canals thirteen blocks ten million tons of shipping does so every year. another concrete giant is this finished fifty years ago it's the biggest hydroelectric plant in europe it powers the local city of volgograd and sends lots more electricity to moscow the hydroelectric plant behind me is a potent example of how much the volga can provide but harnessing the river like this isn't without its cost. fishermen have been watching fish stocks for years they see the slow damage the downing of the river has done especially to russia's prized sturgeon the source of caviar. the hydroelectric plant has done significant

damage because it stocked fish swimming up river to the spawning grounds. within a year all these houses would have gone fall into the river depending on how many of the hydroelectric plants turbines are on the water level can change suddenly and dramatically too suddenly for the banks to absorb. control of the river flow by the plant has made building on the bogus front plane more attractive serious floods are less likely but the water that is put into the drains is taken away from the fish that need it now but last the voice of the voters of color jay might start being heard. the first time in fifty years the rules will contain a point on maintaining biodiversity in the river we still have a chance to bring the volga back to law. meaning that the mighty vogue is treated with the respect it deserves. wealthy british style holds that it's not on.

the. markets why not scandal. find out what's really happening to the global economy in the kinds of reports. the french invasion of russia has started again after two hundred years up at the. sub journey of the inferno polian has arrived from overseas to lead the army i have to really take my time to prepare myself to get it right. the bloody battle near moscow is going to start over. james brown will reveal the victor the soldiers are back to do it all again. but you know version twenty twelve on r.t.

. the. line in motion would be soon which brightened if you knew me by someone from finest impressions. who screams totty don't come.