below and welcome to cross talk we're all things considered i'm peter lavelle manufacturing consent for determining a foreign policy consensus in washington in the halls of power in western capitals drive foreign policy decisions particularly when it comes to iran israel and syria is public opinion constructed to fit the interests of special groups and lobbies and is american foreign policy in the country's own interest. to cross-talk american foreign policy i'm joined by my guests in washington judith kipper she is director of middle east programs at the institute of world affairs and we also have flynt leverett he is a professor at penn state and author of the new book going to to run why the u.s. must come to terms with the islamic republic of around there's just the two of us and myself to cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i really encourage it flipped if i can go to you first what drives american foreign policy towards iran very simple question maybe a complicated answer i think that what really drives american foreign policy toward iran is

hello and welcome to cross talk where all things are considered i'm peter lavelle the imperial presidency barack obama ran for president in two thousand and eight as an alternative today his record is clear obama has expanded and institutionalized some of the more appalling aspects of the insecure and upset state that he inherited today the president claims unprecedented executive privilege in the name of security is obama casting aside the rule of law and other constitutional rights . to cross-talk america's imperial presidency i'm joined by my guest michael kugel man in washington he is a south asia associate at the woodrow wilson international center for scholars and in new york we cross to george said muley he is a fellow of the global policy institute of london metropolitan university and author of the upcoming book bombs for peace nato is humanitarian war on yugoslavia . gentlemen crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage it you know michael thank go to you first we're calling this program the imperial presidency and and i'm thin

below and welcome across all things are considered i'm peter lavelle pakistanis have gone to the polls and elected a new parliament what will the new government do domestically and in the area of foreign policy particularly washington's drone war with growing economic dislocations in a very threatening taliban how can and should pakistan move forward and will the military continue to watch from the sidelines. to cross not pakistan i'm joined by marvin weinbaum in washington he's a scholar in residence at the middle east institute also in washington we have a son he is an independent defense consultant and author of the the book. great powers versus the edge of on and in rochester we cross it judy bello she is an active member of the upstate new york coalition to ground drones and end the wars right crosstalk rosen a fact that means you can jump in anytime you want marvin if i go to you first here what's your first conclusions drawn after the election here particular when it comes to drones is anything going to change. i don't think that we'll see too much change in the visible way. the

or international foreign policy coming into focus with peter lavelle his guests on cross talk of the ins and outs in particular of what's happening on capitol hill in washington d.c. this is. the illusion of safety trumping your right seems to be the main political theme of post nine eleven america i notice pushing the keep you safe at any cost more than new york billionaire mayor michael bloomberg who recently had to defend his stop and frisk strategy after giving a speech to police brass stop and frisk is the practice of just being able to search anyone in new york at any time for any reason with your hands this gestapo style practice has been in place since two thousand and two but thankfully was finally recently found to be unconstitutional by a federal judge you know the fourth amendment all the talk about no unlawful search and seizure seems pretty clear to me why did this take so long to figure out bloomberg despite that silly constitution thing stands firm with this policy declaring if you end street stops looking for guns they will be more guns on the street and more people

tough talk and solid arguments i am best to weapons this crossed with peter lavelle off to the brink. of destruction is one thing the media does very well we all tend to focus on one space issue of the moment and ignore the rest jill those are definitely worth the media attention but let's not ignore the fact that the food people eat around the world is an attack from multiple fronts antibiotics are often overused in cattle which can and eventually sadly will lead to anti biotics resistant bacteria evolving animals are also injected with various hormones which can make their way into our stomachs and speaking of mysterious things getting into our body pretty much any crops that you we are doused with all sorts of pesticides and sit on top of powerful fertilizers which can affect bodies of water far beyond the fence of the farm obviously technology has been and should be used in farming so we all don't starve i get why pesticides exist and why they start giving diseased animals antibiotics but there comes a point where outputting a lot of poisonous food will kill you just as dead as sl

hello and welcome to cross talk where all things are considered i'm peter lavelle giving peace a chance this may or may not be the case when it comes to the fate of syria after almost a year a russian peace plan to end a civil war is being reconsidered the idea is simple no preconditions and all parties have a seat at the negotiating table are the u.s. and its gulf allies serious or is this a ploy to merely intensify the complex. to cross talk russia syria and israel i'm joined by my guests in washington ariel cohen he's a senior fellow in russian and eurasian studies and international energy security at the heritage foundation and he is a political analyst and a professor at the george washington university right gentlemen cross-talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want ariel how well what accounts for the flip flop the american flip flop now they're going for the russian plan or something like that what do you think about that. well winston churchill said that americans can be counted upon to come to the best option after the tried everything else i think the un

below and welcome to cross talk were all things we considered i'm peter lavelle global gun control the un has passed the arms trade treaty to regulate the international conventional weapons business supporters of the treaty claim it is a positive first step to tame an industry because over a half a million people a year opponents are dismissive they say the treaty is not balanced in favor is the interest of arms exporting states. across not the arms trade treaty i'm joined by geoffrey ingersoll in new york he is a defense reporter with business insider in washington we have daryl kimball he is the executive director of the arms control association and in london we cross to quito maki she is an associate fellow at chatham house in an expert in conventional arms and disarmament and if you can jump in anytime you want jeffery in new york are you happy with this treaty because there it passed overwhelmingly with a lot of abstentions though important abstentions yeah there were a lot of abstentions but i really honestly think that regulating a seventy billion dollars business with several a

hello and welcome to crossfire all things are considered i'm peter lavelle is the west fighting a global war without end if this is the case who is the enemy what defines victory and what about borders in the greater middle east sectarian ethnic conflicts are seen rejecting borders imposed after the first world war the great unraveling of the west new colonial project in the region and beyond is in play is this the meaning of the west's eternal war. across not the politics of endless war i'm joined by my guest phyllis bennis in washington he is the director of the new internationalism project at the institute for policy studies and in new york we cross the odd abdel nor he is the founder and president of the us committee for a free lebanon or a cross in fact that means you can jump in anytime you want fill us my go to you first here just recently president obama said at the national defense university about the war on terror we define we must define the nature and scope of this struggle or else it will define us how did you react to that because i think it already has defined us. well i

just a moment peter lavelle crosstalk discussing the ins and outs of washington's foreign policy. do we speak your language i mean some of the or not at the end of. your music program some documentaries and spanish what matters to you breaking news a little turn to angles stories. for you here. spanish. visit. download the official. yourself choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorites. if you're away from your television just. now with your mobile device you can watch on t.v. anytime anywhere. hello and welcome to cross talk we're all considered i'm peter lavelle manufacturing consent for determining a foreign policy consensus in washington in the halls of power in western capitals dr foreign policy decisions particularly when it comes to iran israel and syria is public opinion constructed to fit the interests of special groups and lobbies and is american foreign policy in the country's own interest.

follow and welcome to cross talk we're all things are considered i'm peter lavelle is the capitalist system in crisis after five years of financial and economic chaos multiple bailouts from wall street to cyprus the global capitalist system is on trial high unemployment and mountains of debt plague the western world all the while politicians go from one blunder to another so what has capitalism done pretty lately. to cross something crisis of capitalism i'm joined by rachel martin in paris she is the tribune company syndicated columnist and founder of rachel martin associates in new york we have george said newly he is a fellow of the global policy institute of london metropolitan university and in washington we cross to fred smith he is founder and chairman of competitive enterprise institute. that means you can jump in anytime you want to george capitalism state today. well i think capitalism is indeed in crisis it's been five years since. the crash of two thousand and eight and the multiple bailouts and the unemployment remains high and there's no real prospect of recovery and wha

hello and welcome to cross talk we're all things considered i'm peter lavelle engulfing the neighborhood syria's civil war has spread across the border into lebanon hezbollah defiantly promises victory over sides enemies indeed it would appear hezbollah interim intend to steadfastly stand by their ally in damascus the taking of sides is all but complete and the stakes for the entire middle east could be higher. to cross-talk the war in syria i'm joined by dan our bell in washington he's a guest scholar at the subban center for middle east policy in the brookings institution and a former israeli diplomat also in washington we have martin all over he is a professor of philosophy and religion at the american university and in beirut we cross to franklin lamb he is director of americans concerned for middle east peace all right gentlemen cross talk rose in fact that means you can jump in anytime you want franklin here in beirut if i can go to you first the head of hezbollah says since the syrian war is our battle pledging a completely new phase what does he mean by it and what are the implic

hello and welcome to cross talk we're all things are considered peter lavelle is the capitalist system in crisis after five years of financial economic chaos multiple bailouts from wall street to cyprus the global capitalist system is on trial high unemployment and mountains of debt plague the western world all the while politicians go from one blunder to another so what has capitalism done to you lately. to cross out the crisis of capitalism i'm joined by rachel martin in paris she is the tribune company syndicated columnist and founder of rachel martin associates in new york we have george said newly he is a fellow of the global policy institute of london metropolitan university and in washington we crossed to fred smith he is founder and chairman of competitive enterprise institute in fact that means you can jump in anytime you want george assess capitalism state today. well i think capitalism is indeed in crisis it's been five years since. the crash of two thousand and eight and the multiple bailouts and the unemployment remains high and there's no real prospect of recovery and wha

hello and welcome to cross talk we're all things are considered i'm peter lavelle the debate over the u.s. defense budget is quite heated well not creating much light why does the woods need such a vast military industrial complex who or what actually threatens american security is the real debate if not a battle over who garners fast profits at taxpayer expense. to cross-talk defense spending i'm joined by my guest in washington anthony shaffer he is the director for external communications at the center for advanced defense studies douglas macgregor he is a retired army colonel author and independent businessman and kelly she is a journalist at antiwar dot com or the folks cross talk rules and i think that means you can jump in anytime you want to tell me if i can go to you first what is one fact that is not focused enough on this debate and what's the biggest myth about defense spending well i'd say though the one fact that's not focused enough on this in this debate is the fact that we are in a natural downturn anyway having got out of the iraq and afghanistan wars so we're headed

oh and welcome to cross talk we're all things are considered i'm peter lavelle atheism a religion that has a specific worldview and even a value system what accounts for the spectacular loss of faith in much of the western world and secularism captured much of christianity is message without the organizational trappings and dogma and or a court of the same rights as people of faith. to cross not to atheism and religion i'm joined by jason torpy in washington he is the president of the military association of atheists and freethinkers in quebec we have loans to still he is the president of the creation science association of quebec and in new york we cross to rob he is a writer and comedian cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage you jason. atheism a new religion for the west. atheism simply means lacking a belief in a higher power so if so if that's what you're talking about then of course not it's a simple expression of one's have one's own personal beliefs which is more feeling than anything if you're talking about something li

and up next we've got peter lavelle's who rob their sleeves for some more crossed on this day with us. you know i've been asked a few times if i believe in conspiracy theories which is kind of an odd question i mean just in general believe in conspiracy theories like all of them even the ones that contradict each other i mean j.f.k. could have been killed by the mob the cia the k.g.b. and various secret societies at the same time or could he have been know what you just declare themselves official conspiracy theories that's silly obviously it is good to just go around fishing for evil plots to explain every situation the mainstream media sure does lie a lot but i think they're telling the truth about that whole sky being blue thing but on the other hand if you never question what the glowing box in your house tells you that just makes you a sucker the kind of sucker who bought that there were magical mysterious invisible weapons of mass destruction in iraq and you know what in all honesty there's actually been real evil conspiracies that have been exposed like the tuskegee experiment