Background Briefing: May 12, 2024
As Ukraine Faces a Long War, Will the U.S. and NATO Be There and is There Any Hope of a Peace Deal?
We begin with Russia intensifying its attacks on Ukrainian lines as they move to try to recapture the city of Kharkiv near the Russian border and get an analysis of the possibility of Ukraine holding the line in what could be a long war, with the U.S. unlikely to be able to deliver another arms package like the $61 billion in aid that was held up by Trump and the Republicans for six months. Joining us is Joshua Shifrinson, a Professor at the Center for International Security Studies at The University of Maryland. His research focuses on U.S. grand strategy, the durability of NATO, U.S. relations with its allies during and after the Cold War, and the rise of China. He is the author of Rising Titans, Falling Giants: How Great Powers Exploit Power Shifts and co-editor of Evaluating NATO Enlargement: From Cold War Victory to the Russia-Ukraine War and we discuss his article at Foreign Policy with Emma Ashford and Stephen Wertheim, “What Does America Want in Ukraine?”
The FTC Goes After Corporate Greed and AIPAC Goes After a January 6 Hero
Then we look into moves underway by the FTC to highlight corporate greed and what could even be considered treason as American corporations and oil and gas giants drive the rise in inflation while the Biden Administration tries to take credit for an improving economy that average folks aren’t buying because on the impact of inflation as the prices of groceries and gas continue to go up. Joining us to discuss these unpatriotic profiteers and the role of AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s targeting of progressive Democrats in primaries like Harry Dunn, the popular black Capitol policeman who protected the congress from the January 6th mob is Luke Goldstein. A writing fellow at The American Prospect, he previously worked as a reporter and research associate at the Open Markets Institute and was a reporter at the Washington Monthly. We discuss two of his articles at The Prospect, “The Mega-Donor Who Colluded With OPEC” and “AIPAC Running Field Organizing in Maryland House Race.”