Going Underground Hosted by Afshin Rattansi

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Steve Keen, Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategy Resilience and Security at UCL. He discusses the severe risk of a global famine as a result of the Strait of Hormuz being shut creating a shortage of petroleum-based fertilisers, Epstein blackmail being one of the reasons for this war despite the disastrous consequences, the financial sector’s ignorance on the true consequences of this war, why a serious financial crisis is now looming for most of the world, the combination of stupidity and blackmail behind Trump launching the war on Iran, the insider trading and corruption leading to massive profits for those close to Trump, why nuclear deterrence remains the only deterrence to attack by the US, the risk of Israel’s Samson Option, why the U.K. and Europe have doubled down on the proxy war against Russia through Ukraine, and much more.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Going Undercover: The G7 Summit
(00:00:54) - Steve Keane: Famine May Strike 2 Billion People by 2030
(00:04:17) - What are the Reasons Why So Many Governments Are Supporting Israel?
(00:14:19) - Trump, Jeffrey Epstein
(00:17:56) - Going Underground: Iran's Nuclear Deterrence
(00:19:24) - Five Scenarios of How This War Will End
(00:20:48) - Trump Could Use Nuclear Weapons
(00:23:44) - Brexit and the Russia crisis
(00:26:41) - Will We See a Rise in Fascism in Western Europe?

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Theodore Postol, Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology and National Security Policy at MIT and former Chief of Naval Operations Adviser at the Pentagon. He discusses the state of Donald Trump’s war on Iran and the pressure on him from the Israel lobby, why this is a war of existential survival for Iran and not a defensive war on the part of the US, the prospect of Donald Trump using nuclear weapons against Iran and why it is impossible for the US and Israel to fully destroy Iran’s nuclear program, Iran’s strategy of remaining on the brink of obtaining nuclear weapons but not crossing the threshold, why Israel is the real nuclear danger in the region as Israel’s military is on the ropes, the prospect of Iran striking Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility, and much more.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Going Underground: Iran's Nuclear Program and the War
(00:01:35) - Ted Postal on Trump's War on Iran
(00:09:52) - Steve Postal on Iran's Nuclear Program
(00:14:17) - Does Iran Have Nuclear Weapons?
(00:22:15) - Could Iran Hit Dubai With Nuclear Weapons?
(00:23:56) - Kiev's Attacks on Nuclear Plants
(00:25:36) - Ted Postal on Dimona and the Iranian Nuclear Program

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Chen Weihua, former China Daily EU Bureau Chief and Washington Correspondent. He discusses how the US’ hegemony and soft power stands after the war on Iran, Gaza genocide, and kidnapping of Venezuela’s President Maduro, whether US allies will continue remaining vassal states and China’s approach to a changing world, the view that the US-Israeli war on Iran is really a part of the war on China, why China hasn’t acted more forcefully to defend its interests as the US continues its campaign against China, how the US drastically underestimated China’s economic power, and much more.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Foreign Correspondent: Israel's War on Iran
(00:01:34) - Coming soon: Retired Chinese Journalist Chen Guangxin
(00:02:21) - US soft power is declining
(00:13:37) - China's support for Iran
(00:14:17) - China's Military Opposition to US Hegemony
(00:18:24) - DW: Any Country That Hosts a US Military Base
(00:20:18) - China's reliance on foreign markets
(00:25:20) - G7 meets in Evian
(00:27:06) - Going Underground

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Steve Hanke, Professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University. He discusses why Russia continues to be a winner economically as the Strait of Hormuz remains shut after the US-Israeli war on Iran, the looming full ramifications of the energy crisis that will hit in August resulting in skyrocketing energy prices, why Europe must lift sanctions on Russia to escape the dire economic situation, why the US and Israel’s miscalculations in launching a war on Iran mean that Hormuz will remain shut, his predictions for the global economy this year as the economic crisis deepens, and much more.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Going Undercover: The St. Petersburg Economic Forum
(00:02:02) - Russia's strong ruble
(00:05:33) - Oil Prices: Physical vs. Paper
(00:14:31) - What Should Europe Do About Sanctions?
(00:18:35) - Iran is like Muhammad Ali
(00:22:53) - Growth outlook for the global economy
(00:25:05) - Keynesian Militarism

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Zhang Weiwei, Director of Fudan University’s China Institute and former Translator for Chinese Paramount Leader Deng Xiaoping. He discusses China’s current attitude to the Trump Administration amid the war on Iran, how China acted over decades to lessen the impact of the US’ attempts to control China’s access to energy via the war on Iran and regime change in Venezuela, why China is winning in the tech and trade race against the US, China’s position on the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, China’s limitation of rare earth exports to the US for military purposes, China’s decoupling from the US in trade and treasury bill holdings, the low quality of the leadership in Europe and the United States, Russia as a ‘revolutionary’ against the US unipolar order whereas China is a ‘reformer’ of the world order, why tech billionaires such as Elon Musk and Apple CEO Tim Cook joined Trump in visiting Beijing, and much more.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Going Undercover
(00:01:17) - Trump's visit to China
(00:11:22) - China's stance on the Strait of Hormuz
(00:13:08) - China's Role in the US-Iran War
(00:18:45) - Putin on China and the United Nations