Columbia University
Senior research scholar, and former Director of the Middle East Institute, at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and author of All Fall Down: America's Tragic Encounter with Iran; National Security Council staffer under Presidents Ford, Carter and Reagan, and principal White House aide for Iran during the Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis
President Obama and Change in the Middle East President Obama has made his second major address on the Mid East and North Africa. We hear how he thinks the US needs to adapt to changes brought on by the so-called Arab Spring, and what they mean for Israel and the Palestinians.
President Obama on the Middle East and 'Arab Spring' Speaking in Cairo two years ago, President Obama called for a "new beginning" in the Muslim Middle East based on "respect" and "mutual interest." Today, he said the so-called "Arab Spring" requires yet another "new chapter in American diplomacy," and he promised economic help to facilitate democracy. Once again, he criticized Israeli settlements. For the first time, he said a Palestinian state should be based on 1967 boundaries. Did he achieve the goal of a sweeping survey of a complex region? Can he revive American influence? We hear a variety of opinions.
Iran: A Nation in Turmoil After a weekend of protests across the country, the government of Iran today organized large-scale counter demonstrations including threats of death to future dissenters, threats backed up by Iran's highest officials. While such harsh reaction might signal the beginning of the end for Iran's revolutionary regime, there are new problems for the US and its allies. President Obama's offer to "engage" on the nuclear buildup has apparently been rejected, providing new impetus for international sanctions. But can they be targeted narrowly enough to damage government leaders without injuring the dissenters the West wants to help? Will the challenges from within topple the current regime, at least force greater freedom, or lead to a tyranny more repressive than ever?
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
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.
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?