former senior staffer on the National Security Council
Former senior staff member of the National Security Council under President Clinton; Visiting Scholar at the Center on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for International Development and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland
China in Africa While Chinese President Hu Jintao is on a 12-day tour of Africa , the Pentagon has announced the formation of a new command structure focusing on that continent. Trade between China and Africa has more than quadrupled in the last 4 years. Angola has overtaken Saudi Arabia as China's largest source of oil. Yesterday, in South Africa, Hu said his country will not do anything harmful to the interests of Africa and its people, but he hasn't spoken out forcefully for human rights during his trip. Should the US be worried about China's influence in the region? Is China trying to become the new colonial power on the continent or just a helpful partner in economic development? Guest host Lawrence O'Donnell weighs the benefits and dangers of China's growing influence.
Chinese Economic Investment in Africa While Chinese President Hu Jintao is on a 12-day tour of Africa , the Pentagon has announced the formation of a new command structure focusing on that continent. Trade between China and Africa has more than quadrupled in the last 4 years. Angola has overtaken Saudi Arabia as China's largest source of oil. Yesterday, in South Africa, Hu said his country will not do anything harmful to the interests of Africa and its people, but he hasn't spoken out forcefully for human rights during his trip. Should the US be worried about China's influence in the region? Is China trying to become the new colonial power on the continent or just a helpful partner in economic development? Guest host Lawrence O'Donnell weighs the benefits and dangers of China's growing influence.
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.