people in north africa and the middle east are marking the anniversaries of their protests. their protests for democracy and accountability from their leaders. for some these anniversaries have been celebrations of a break of a troubled past. for others, a reminder that progress remains very elusive. in syria, the world continues to bear witness to the violent repression by the assad regime against the syrian people. as tragedy unfolds daily, bringing with it an increasing death toll. after the regrettable veto and the security council by russia and china earlier this month, the u.n. general assembly voted overwhelmingly as did the united states senate to condemn the syrian regime's brutal use of force against civilians. during this upheaval, our government must pay special attention to serious weapons of mass destruction. in egypt, the difficult transition to a democratic civilian government has been marked by changing timelines, protests and sectarian violence. given this tentative transition, when resources are -- or what resources should be spent on building institutions

i truly fully share your perspective and the goals in the middle east and north africa which will make sure that we have tools and flexibility needed to act proactively and take advantage of opportunities when they arise. i look forward to continuing make sure that you have those tools and also to try to ascertain the best way forward with respect to the north supp change and the continued hopes that we all share for a renewed effort in the middle east peace process. we all know the difference that the united states can make. our efforts to vaccinate children, combat climate change, engage at-risk youth, promote core u.s. national security interests, our global presence also does something else. it creates jobs. through loans and multilateral forums we lift the economies of low-income countries and simultaneously and this is important for americans to understand in terms of our own interests, we open markets for american businesses and recognize the connections between promoting our business and creating jobs elsewhere. energetic imperative for america and not a favor we do for other c

western countries need to recognize how their relationship with the middle east and north africa is changing and maturing. as new energy sources develop and the demand from the east increases, our relationship will be based less on the one-way supply of oil and more on mutual economic benefit, trade and exchanges. the hour of awakening has thrown up many new uncertainties, but it doesn't mean we can overlook the old challenges. it seems to have a little impact on iran. its regime continues to impress its people and isolate the country from an increasingly globalized world. they've notified six security council resolutions that call on the regime to spend in negotiations. they enrich uranium to 20%, demonstrates the urgent need to intensify diplomatic pressure to return to negotiations. the necessity of a collective global response is clear. in the united states and european union, they have acted precisely in implementing social sanctions. the u.n. brought in a controversial oil ban measured against the -- and a ban on the uranium section of gold. no assessment of the future could be complet

they are drawing from the middle east peace process.he israeli-palestinian issue is not going to solve every problem in the middle east, but it would certainly bring us to some high ground if we could make some progress. i use that as an example but \ / always come back down to a dictator. mubarak was a dictator, so what is happening is a result of the dictatorship that we rolled along with. it is not our fault. the international community all have to take some responsibility, but those are things we have learned. >> i appreciate you are making my job easier. let me continue to follow you. the issue tonight is a perennial issue as we sit with this conversation. the issue is really about israel and iran and whether israel is going to strike, and if they were to strike, what would our position be? your thoughts? >> i think the obama administration, as was the situation with the bush administration and the clinton administration and the senior bush administration have followed the right line on this. in particular, this administration over

the director for research at the washington institute for near east policy and senior editor of middle east quarterly and in washington we have got out baghdad he is professor of political science at the national defense university and in brussels we cross to you over dakar oh he's an independent scholar and author of great post cold war american thinkers on international relations all right gentlemen this is cross i mean you can jump in anytime you want gilbert if i go to you first in brussels can you explain something to me the american military establishment and intelligence community says iran is not go on developing a nuclear weapon has no intention of doing it and then you changed or in the same page on the washington post new york times everyone's discussing when the attack is going to happen what is going on this seems to be an amazingly paradoxical situation. well i don't have a direct answer to that question but yes there is a lot of crosstalk within the guide states and within the foreign policy community so i'm not particularly surprised that. the personalities or interests with

iran would ignite all of the middle east. we can cope with the threat of an iranian bomb by making a blanket guarantee of american protection for the states of the middle east that are threatened by iran and israel. we have done this affectively for japan, south korea, north korea. we have done this affectively over the years. for all of the states that are a part of nato. in both cases, more dangerous than iran. >> so, when there are people clamoring that we should not even go to war to prevent iran from having nuclear weapons, you are saying no? >> absolutely not. that could become very destabilizing for the entire region. can we really extricate ourselves from afghanistan? they have a lot impenetrability into afghanistan. -- a lot of panic ability into afghanistan. -- penetratability into afghanistan. we have done a lot of damage to a. -- to it. as a result, more specific kinds of ethnic, religious differences. >> a federation of the kurds, sinise, and shiites? -- sunnis, and shiites? >> it could be very destabilizing. thi

everybody will be very bad not only to it and not only to the middle east. oil prices are very high now because of this ok gilbert if i can go to you i think patrick kind of put it really out there very openly it's all about regime change that's what this is about it's not about the nuclear program the united states and its allies particularly israel want to regime change there for some reason they think you know it will be better and better to know i mean that change the regime you get the regime or the nuclear weapon you have a choice well it's really strange i use a weapon you go over to your future i guess we don't have all some people have sovereignty some don't you know but what do you think about this. well you've summed it up in the last sentence the word rational came up here and i'd less like to put it into a context as to who is behaving more rationally in the sense of looking after their own interests yes america has interests in the middle east and i think of an attack on iran would jeopardize those interests so is america acting rationally by i

america faces major choices in the middle east. now, i've reported from all these countries, but syria, truly this is an incredible moment we face. in an election year, rhetoric can get more heated. jamie reuben, great to have you with us. so, let me just start off by asking all these situations obviously are i guess worse is a fair word to use in an election year, but let's talk about iran specifically. what is happening here in your view? is this going to be something where you see some sort of strike? >> i think what's happening is what i would call the psychological warfare phase. we've known sanctions have a limbed chance of convincing iran to stop its nuclear program. the israelis are increasingly worried that iran is getting to a point of no return. to the point -- could stop iran from developing a nuclear weapon, so the psychological warfare is the message being delivered to the united states, to journalists and throughout the world that israel is getting close to a decision to use force. this is a kind of psychological war

america faces major choices in the middle east. now, i've reported from all these countries, but syria, truly this is an incredible moment we face. in an election year, rhetoric can get more heated. jamie rubin, great to have you with us. so, let me just start off by asking all these situations obviously are i guess worse is a fair word to use in an election year, but let's talk about iran specifically. what is happening here in your view? is this going to be something where you see some sort of strike? >> i think what's happening is what i would call the psychological warfare phase. we've known sanctions have a limbed chance of convincing iran to stop its nuclear program. the israelis are increasingly worried that iran is getting to a point of no return. to the point -- could stop iran from developing a nuclear weapon, so the psychological warfare is the message being delivered to the united states, to journalists and throughout the world that israel is getting close to a decision to use force. this is a kind of psychological warf

do you have some concern with all that is going on in the middle east that now is not the time to beting significant cuts on the table for the military? >> well, i rely very heavily on our top uniformed leadersment they very strongly in support of the president's budget. they have embraced the budget. they worked very hard to produce that budget. they were involved very deeply in the discussions that led to this budget. and so when mr. romney, governor romney talks about weakening defense, it's obviously a political statement. it's the kind of partisan statement which has no place, as far as i'm concerned in our politics, because when it comes to defense and security issues, there should not be partisan statements. obviously, there's going to be differences. those are legitimate. but the kind of partisan comment which is he's been coming out with just are going to run smack into the statements of our top uniformed military leaders that this budget will not weaken the united states. it's a solid budget, addressing the kind of shift in the threats which have taken place since the cold

so they have built-in advantages right now, but this is a new middle east and that is the new middle east from 1993 and it is a new middle east in that the muslim brotherhood decided that they'll rule the way ben ali and mubarak did, they can't do that. >> but you're saying israel can affect this process for the better if it had moved down -- and moved down the peace process with the palestinians? >> i'm saying -- i'm not sure they can effect it for the better, but i think they can affect their situation for the better and i don't think the muslim brotherhood, per se, will be paying an enormous amount of attention to this issue unless they're trying to divert attention away from not being able to deliver and that basically follows the model of people like mub ar being who said rather than delivering domestic change what they would focus when there was anger would be to divert attention away. i think the muslim brotherhood will have to find ways to deliver because they're see dealing with people who see themselves as citizens. they have the right to hold governments accountable. in oth

saw china re your power broker in the middle east. well as the u.s. a presidential campaign hots up we look at who the republicans may end up choosing to challenge barack obama here's a quick look at what's in our cross talk debate. for me to have a debate with the president on the health care reform bill it's going to be laughable because the bill that the president signed into law was based almost entirely on the bill that mitt romney signed into law in massachusetts. you're right he's not even going to be able to make that argument and the question earlier is is a conservative enough i mean how could anyone call him a conservative when he himself has called himself a moderate the real deal here is the republican party is trying to get the conservative grassroots to support the guy who lost to the guy who lost to obama and so there's this endless cycle of you know it's your turn that's being shoved down the grassroots throat he's been running for five years he already has organization set up in all the states plus the backing of gol

bunch of cones just a few people maybe a dozen of people maybe two dozen of people dressed like middle east. middle age fundamentalist whose number of saying that the green flag. and this is a joke yet it has its repercussions on other muslims. this kind of group of course they are moved them but they have no religious background it is a minority perhaps that in search of an identity but that's ignorance and the method they are using it's scary and it's freaking people like. unfortunately just kind of group feels about image of islam and most muslims condemn this kind of ideology this is a misinterpretation of her secret for. muslims comprise about six percent of the belgian population one of the highest rates in europe and is expected to rise to more than ten percent by two thousand and twenty the muslim who live in belgium they say. they are belgium from american origin turkish albanian origin and the first declination of identity is not muslim radical groups such as those of the islamic fundamentalists comprise a minority and it's not representative of the muslim community in belgium and

survive here in the middle east. only if we are ready to fight for it and when you resigned we sent a message to all the staff of the foreign ministry explaining the resignation what would say the action and what is the general mood like among israeli public servants concerning the policies that i have to the friends i have no illusions some of us were frustrated by my letter. because it is outside of the code of conduct that you just drop out because you don't like the message the messenger has no view over the message that is the code of conduct and it's quite legitimate to think in that way how many missions don't agree with the message and how many don't in the foreign ministry in my view the large majority don't care there are professionals and whatever message comes for them to believe that they will do. there is. a solid minority ministry that is politically motivated to promote. israel. in its. a rather. hawkish. position it's just government it is is issuing. i think we do also have the lefties leftovers fro

a power broker in the middle east yes you mention the middle east there what about syria that i mean china has strongly opposed foreign interference there but now that the west seems to have taken a somewhat softer starts i suppose or syria at the u.n. could we see china support a new resolution. this is a little bit early to do del because things are on going on but again you know you really see china. going through dialogue. to try a constructive role in the in the region but i think that china in any case we all sort of for the month off and on in different in this part of the world i think china is using a kind of subtle power we should transcend hard and soft power and but in any case it is not in the interest of china to see instability in the middle east so again china and we have a constructive role and of course. hoping china will make a concrete pledge to invest in the euro bailout fund all the problems they've been having is that likely. i think first of all i would like to say to repeat that these visit of made america extremely significant significant because of course i

second, we have to rebce presen emphasize asia middle east. these are the areas of concern in the future. third, for the rest of the world, we innovative partnerships and ally partnerships from europe tori. fourth, we'll ensure that we have the capability to quickly confront andef from any adversary any time anywhere. and fifth, this can't just be about cuts. it has to be about investments. what do we protect and prioritize in terms of investments, in technology and new capabilities? as well as our capacity to grow, adapt and mobilize as needed? while sharing this strategy and shaping this strategy, we didn't want to make this mistakes of the pas the drawdowns there have been serious mistakes that have been made. our goal is strongest military in the world. to not hollow out the force, that's extremely force. to not hollow out the force which means to maintain a lors force structure and cut training and equipment and all the other things that are essential, to make that a first-rate force. thirdly, to take a balanced approach to budget cuts. p

and the limbic dreams cattle had to become the first middle east country to host the summer olympics as it fades for the twenty twenty games. but first to football where around madrid on sas car moscow are preparing to go head to head in the champions league last sixteen tile a tour on tuesday the spanish giants arrive in the russian capital in excellent form they season and as rich as one portly reports that we strong favorites to put their place in the quarterfinals. subzero temperatures well controlled simmering years team as they took to the luzhniki pitch ahead of tuesday's encounter the current leader leaders have a stunning array of talent at my disposal of the likes of christie on a row now though. i miss a very attacking options however the portuguese expects a tough month chicken serious car a team who's come up against on a number of occasions non-normal your my face is gone not only when i was the head coach will enter but also with chelsea back in two thousand and four they have a very stable squad which has been together for a number of years such as sarah getting a sha

trying to get out of the middle east you know they are was drawing from iraq and like panetta said that the day two thousand and thirteen they will withdraw or finish their their actions in afghanistan and they are a they are tending to go to the pacific they are they have new strategies to go to the past because they are they are going towards the the asia they are trying to to blackmail russia and and to china or to contain them to make and you are and you had your money order to restore their their hegemony order their way which was two decades before i think that it's a strategy to regain the head germany about and you would order like that one happened after the us as our collapse will not be regained again i think that there are many powers now and russia and china have the ability to contain also and to not to blame be blackmailed so they they will make a balance and they go and security council and they should make a balance in the global order as well i think that that will be for the sake for all the humanity and this will be it will prevent the chaos or constructive case whic

and now it's deceptive at the pentagon by the way the pivot seems from the middle east to asia this means more u.s. interest is so also in the sauce china sea military station the starting in norse in australia but maybe in contacts with surely p.m.'s singapore and thailand specially very close allies of us here in southeast asia so the chinese they look at this in a big circle washington's treatment of this or that country depends on its interest there is nothing surprising about that but it seems with the you know america may find itself off the list of those interests in a situation where you cannot simply dictate its policies in the meantime beijing's economic clout is growing feeling america's fear i'm going to check our reporting from washington are. well some of the day's news now making headlines around the world this hour a very nearly twenty twenty people being killed in baghdad after an explosion struck a crowd of recruits outside a police academy no group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast which also saw at least twenty eight others wounded iraq's police are consider

and the american fatigue of the middle east. could work badly for the image is present in the u.s. in the political discourse in the us. in the context of american interests god forbid that the u.s. will be more reluctant. to reach out for israel because our predicament now is like a result of policy pursued by this kind of government in a way that i think is tragically wrong. that we lean to the american congress a single source of strength. in our diplomatic fabric and that is. very dangerous who can install the lie on in the region considering that in the aftermath of the arab spring the middle east has become more radicalized i don't think israel is looking for a life i think israel is looking for. partners. of convenience. one is jordan. whose survivability in the way in the form we know it is a house in my kingdom. so we entertain. a lot of common interests egypt is consumed by its own revolution and as long as it doesn't pose a threat to us i think israel is taking a very careful distance and took. a cut the straw figure foreign policy towards one of the emerging powers in t

its influence in the middle east we. have the mantle of principles of china is diplomacy and i believe that china easing a very strong body position in the middle east because he didn't do a lot of evil of course i know it's very good relations. but china relations we. saw china really your power broker in the middle east. where as the us presidential campaign holds up we look at who the republicans may end up choosing to challenge barack obama here's a quick look at what's you know cross talk debate today. for mitt romney to have a debate with the president on the health care reform bill it's going to be laughable because the bill that the president signed into law was based almost entirely on the bill that mitt romney signed into law on him as true. you're right he's not even going to be able to make that argument and the question earlier is is a conservative enough i mean how could anyone call him a conservative when he himself has called himself a moderate the real deal here is the republican party trying to get the

this is not the same middle east. when i made the reference to people seeing themselves as citiz citizen, we shouldn't underestimate the significance of that. this is the region where people were acted on as subjects. they couldn't make demands. they had no rights and there was no accountability and now they see themselves. they've discovered their voice. the fact that they've discovered their voice suggest to me that they're not about to give it up easily. syria is another interesting example because for all of those who think that coercion can work and they can simply apply their own rules, it simply hasn't worked in syria. >> los angeles times. >> i would like to ask you to go back to iran for a moment and spend a little time deciphering the various israeli warnings of the potential military action that you've almost gone through mood swings. is it unresolved? is it a message for the united states, for the p-5 plus one and if it's a message for iran and if it is, is it possible to decipher which message arrives at

announced disappeared at the pentagon by the way the pivot seems from that middle east to asia this means more u.s. interference is cellcept in the sauce china sea military station the starting in norse in australia but maybe in contacts with surely p.m.'s singapore in thailand specially very close allies of us here in southeast asia so the chinese they look at this in a big circle washington's treatment of this or that country depends on its interests there is nothing surprising about that but it seems with marina america may find itself hostage to those interests in a situation where you cannot simply dictate its policies in the meantime beijing's economic clout is growing feeling america's fear i'm going to check our reporting from washington our. grace approved a new austerity bill on sunday in return for a second e.u. bailout the cuts were designed to prevent the country from defaulting on its debt although angry greeks worried about their pensions and jobs responded with more protests on the streets of athens jacob graves reports. the system on the seach m.p.'s drowned out the pleas

policeman has also been hired by the country's authorities to train the nation's security forces and as middle east acts expert eric ali has been telling r.t. he's advising the government on how to strong arm protesters. those countries which are regarded as as the west still stooges of the west basically. criticise regularly very rarely do we have coverage it's not just the gulf states. it is also countries like yemen brutal former president is currently in the united states receiving medical treatment and no reporting that's taking place now we have a situation where the chief advisor to the bahraini police is the former chief of police in philadelphia and in florida. who's recorded those two parts of the united states wasn't very good he's not giving women rights about right and brutalized the demonstrators and he says they're doing it like should be because these demonstrators create perfect problems the problem in bahrain is sort of traffic problem it is a problem that seventy to eighty percent of the population feels it has no representation whatsoever and yet nothing happens on this front ac

and the relations of the united states with the middle east have been very, very complex, very... very difficult over generations now. and i didn't want to be a liability for him. so yes, his love had to win... win me... and his faith. it was his faith in us that won me over. >> hinojosa: and i was writing in my notes, i was like, "you know, oftentimes people in this country think of the arab world, and the muslim world, as a world that kind of pushes conformity." and you're an absolute nonconformist in so many ways. >> what we're seeing in the arab world today that is very exciting is not only that, for a variety of reasons, economic, political, and social, are the traditional centralized state power centers being diffused through different groups in society, but more importantly, we're seeing a self assertion of the youth. we're seeing a whole new dynamic take place-- and i'm getting now to the question you asked me-- and it is about thinking outside the box. we're seeing youth empowered through technology and through changes that are taking place in society, and through sheer number

do and don't know is influence in the middle east region which is of strategic importance to china and china even. if there is a global power it has interests and these interests should be respected. well tell us continued support of negotiate a solution to the conflict is leaving it increasingly isolated on the international stage was the majority of young members now against president so what implications might this have for beijing and is beijing worried about that. i think beating is concerned beijing understands that is the tool instead of the stand certainly. not only the isolate itself in the international community is certainly brings on lot of pressure in terms of criticisms from the international media from the international community is position more significant still is goes against the goals against countries like turkey and it therefore realizes that it has to do something and its best bet is to send a special envoy to syria and hopefully to push three the syrian president bashar assad at least to to immediately stop. action military actions against opposition i think thi

the fact that since the arab spring began russia has been monitoring the the region of the wider middle east very closely and that is his findings from the monitoring that's being going on now this comes just a day after two israeli diplomats were targeted in the capitals of georgia and india now they were targeted with bombs being placed in cars the bomb in georgia was able to be found in diffused but the bomb in india exploded injuring several people now. what. the israelis were very very quick to point the finger of blame towards terror and something that experts of later said there's very really really no evidence to suggest that the iranians were behind this now this is all part of the blame game it's been going on between tell of the terror and terror and accuses the israelis have been behind a two year campaign to assassinate a rainy and nuclear scientists and well on tuesday in bangkok what we've seen is a rainy unmanned taken into custody by type police. an explosion two explosions in bangkok injured several people there now it's really media very very quick to point the finger of t

the persian gulf one accuser russia and china this is about who is going to control the middle east from now well and syria is needed to. linked to what's happened in europe so basically what we have here is the u.s. with their and nato partners in fact the only to look at. france and britain this expression gulf monarchies there are still so many hardcore sunni in the persian gulf against iran against syria and delete between iran and syria with russia and china so brazen again the road lot in the long run the big picture is let's draw russia from having a naval base in the mediterranean with syria having a close connection with the middle east let's block iran from having a close energy partnership with china and in the end let's we the west block russia and china from being closely related to the middle east and southeast asia this is the big picture so what are we going to see from now want is a radicalization and that's already happening. so this means. the rebels in syria the free syrian army will keep being armed and weaponized by not only qatar and saudi arabia which is already h