Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

J.G.
Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

A podcast where politics, history, and culture are examined from perspectives you may not have considered before. Call it a parallax view.

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    Leaked Documents Indicate Secret Dealings Between Assad & Israel w/ Patrick Hilsman

    You're Listening to Parallax Viewshttps://parallaxviews.podbean.com/ Support the Show on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Recorded: 12-18-24 On this edition of Parallax Views, journalist Patrick Hilsman, an editor at Turning Point Magazine, joins the show to discuss recent reports of leaked documents discovered after the overthrow of Assad in Syria that seem to reveal collaboration between the Assad regime and Israel. Although the documents have not been verified, the way the are written indicate they are either authentic or a carefully-crafted, elaborate hoax. Hilsman argues that if they are fake, and that is possible, they were written by someone incredibly well-researched. Hilsman will go into why there's some plausibility to the documents and how they relate to his reporting on the use of Israeli drones by Russia in, paradoxically, Syria itself. We'll go deep into the Israel-Russia relationship and how they have worked with each other over the years, especially in regard to weapons. In this regard Patrick recommends the book The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World. We'll also cover some odds and ends in both the Israel-Russia connections and how the relate to the leaked documents regarding Syria and Israel. Specifically, Patrick mention the Israel-Russia deconfliction line in relation to this story. The documents indicate that there were secret dealings between the Assad regime and Israel that were harmful to the Assad regime's ally Iran. Patrick will also discuss his time in Syria reporting on the first battle of Aleppo in 2012 and his experiences there. We'll also delve into the problems with overly conspiratorial ways of thinking when talking about international relations, the oversimplicity of "good guys vs. bad guys" when discussing nation-states and nation-state alliances, Israel's actions in Gaza, and much more. Guest Bio: Patrick Hilsman is a journalist and researcher who has covered the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine. He has been published by The Intercept, The Daily Beast and has had recent film work featured on PBS. He was a researcher for the Al Jazeera Documentary “the search for Assad’s executioners”

    55 min

  2. 1 DAY AGO

    The Great New Jersey Drone Invasion! w/ Matthew Petti

    You're Listening to Parallax Viewshttps://parallaxviews.podbean.com/ Support the Show on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Recorded: 12-18-24 On this edition of Parallax Views, a separate portion of the recent conversation between J.G. and Reason Magazine's Matthew Petti is presented. In the course of their most recent conversation, J.G. and Petti ended up talking about the recent flap of mysterious drone sightings that have occurred in New Jersey and seemingly spread to other states like Pennsylvania. These drone sighting and the sensationalistic response to them are akin to the UFO sightings of old, conjuring up a slew of conspiracy theories and, arguably, mass panic. Chief among those conspiracy theories is that the Islamic Republic of Iran is behind the drones. From Matthew's recent Reason Magazine piece entitled "No, an Iranian ‘mothership’ isn't attacking New Jersey with UFOs": Something weird is going on in New Jersey, and it's not just the swamp gas. Residents across the state have been calling in nighttime sightings of unidentified flying objects for the past month, including over military bases and President-elect Donald Trump's golf course. Neither local police nor the feds can explain what is going on—but Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R–N.J.) believes he has the answer. "Iran launched a mothership, probably about a month ago, that contains these drones. It's off the east coast of America," the congressman told Fox News on Wednesday, citing "sources who can't reveal who they are." Then he hedged his bets, saying that the "drones should be shot down, whether it was some crazy hobbyist that we can't imagine, or whether it is Iran, and I think it very possibly could be." So, the conspiracy theories have already started. We'll talk about that, but we'll also have a more general discussion about drones, drone hobbyists, the legal issues around shooting down drones, and much more!

    23 min

  3. 1 DAY AGO

    Analysis of Syria, Gaza/Palestine, Iran, Israel, Turkey, & More! w/ Matthew Petti

    You're Listening to Parallax Viewshttps://parallaxviews.podbean.com/ Support the Show on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Recorded: 12-18-24 On this edition of Parallax Views, Reason Magazine's Matthew Petti makes his long-awaited return to Parallax Views to discuss all things currently transpiring in the Middle East. We of course, look at Syria, but this episode also features more talk of Gaza and the continued bombardment of Gaza by Israel than the last few episodes that have dealt more exclusively with Israel/Palestine and Gaza. Matthew will offer his take on how the U.S. should approach the new regime in Syria and we'll delve into his thoughts on Jolani and HTS. Is Jolani truly reformed from his jihadist days? Time will tell, but Petti argues that his and HTS's history should not be whitewashed. We'll also discuss the Islamic Republic of Iran for a good portion of the conversation and the problems it has been facing, not the least of which is its weakening regionally by the overthrow of Assad in Syria. However, Matthew argues that the regime in Iran has been facing other problems as well and questions its adaptability in 2024 and beyond. Turkey will also come up in this conversation and we'll go pretty in-depth on a number of other topics as well. In particular, Matthew will expound on what he sees as the U.S.'s desire to replace the "Axis of Resistance" with an "Axis of Submission" (or Axis of Misery) that demands Arab populations and particularly Palestinians submit to U.S. and Israeli demands regardless of whether they are unfair to said populations. In this regard we'll discuss the Abraham Accords. We'll also discuss the Washington D.C. foreign policy blob and neoconservative triumphalism amongst other matters. At the end of the conversation Matthew will discuss some of his media criticism, specifically his latest Reason piece "CNN presented Syrian jailer Salama Mohammad Salama as a torture survivor".

    56 min

  4. 2 DAYS AGO

    Analysis of the Syria Situaiton & What It Means for the Region's Players w/ George Meneshian

    You're Listening to Parallax Viewshttps://parallaxviews.podbean.com/ Support the Show on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Recorded: 12-18-24 On this edition of Parallax Views, the coverage and analysis of the situaiton unfolding in Syria continues, this time with George Meneshian, an Athens-based policy analyst specializing in the Caucasus and MENA. Meneshian bring his knowledge of the Caucasus and MENA to the table to explain what the downfal of Bashar al-Assad and his replacement of the Jolani-led HTS means for the regions. Meneshian offers a crash course in what needs to happen now for Syria to be stable, what the U.S. and European role should be in dealing with HTS, concerns about HTS and Jolani's Islamist and jihadist past, Turkey's regional ambitions, what the situation in Syria means for Armenia and Azerbaijan, what the downfall of Assad means for Palestinians, the events that were set in motino by the Hamas October 7th attack of 2023, Israel's actions in post-Assad Syria and occupation of the Golan Heights, Turkey and the Kurdish Question, Iran, and much, much more.

    1h 11m

  5. 2 DAYS AGO

    Iran in the Crosshairs + Trump's Neocons w/ James Carden/Syria & the Caucasus w/ Eldar Mamedov

    You're Listening to Parallax Viewshttps://parallaxviews.podbean.com/ Support the Show on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Recorded: 12-18-24 On this edition of Parallax Views, in the first segment of the show James W. Carden, a contributing editor to The American Conservative and a former adviser to the U.S. State Department, returns to discuss his article "Iran: America’s Next War Of Choice", co-authored with Col. Douglas MacGregor, and "How the Neocons Won the Transition". We'll delve into what the overthrow of Assad means in relation to a weakened Iran. James believes we are closer than ever before to a potential conflict with Iran as Israel's Netanyahu and neoconservative ideologues in Washington D.C. are chomping at the bit for regime change in Iran. We'll also discuss the Israel-Turkey relationship and how that relationship may become more contentious over Syria, however Carden notes that, for the time being Turkey and Iran will cooperate with each other against their shared enemy of Iran. We'll also discuss a key player in Trump's transition team, Howard Lutnick, and how he seems to have his fingers all over Trump's rather neoconservative and foreign policy hawk appointments for the 2nd Trump administration. In the second segment of the show, international relations analyst Eldar Mamedov returns to discuss what the overthrow of Assad means for the Caucasus, with a particular focus on Armenia and Azerbaijan. With Iran's power now weakened in the region, Armenia has a lot to worry about from Azerbaijan, a country that says it wants "peace" with Armenia but only on its' own rather maximalist terms that are not going to be accepted by Armenia. We'll also discuss how the U.S. should respond to the new leadership in Syria, specifically the Islamist HTS led by Jolani, and what must be avoided to prevent instability in Syria. Moreover, Eldar and I will go over what Turkey's ambitions in Syria and the region are under the leadership of Erdogan.

    1h 10m

  6. 4 DAYS AGO

    Trump & the America First Policy Institute + the MAGA Media Ecosystem w/ Tina Nguyen

    You're Listening to Parallax Viewshttps://parallaxviews.podbean.com/ Support the Show on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Recorded: 11-14-24 On this edition of Parallax Views, Tina Nguyen, author of The MAGA Diaries: My Surreal Adventures Inside the Right-Wing (And How I Got Out) and the resident "MAGA Whisperer" at Puck News, joins the show to discuss elements of her book, specifically the MAGA media ecosystem (ie: Tucker Carlson, amongst others), as well as the think tank she believes deserve more attention than Project 2025: the America First Policy Institute. Given that Linda McMahon, a key player at AFPI, is heading up the Trump transition team I reached out to Tina to discuss her thoughts on AFPI and how it fits into Trump's plans for his 2nd term. Tina argues that the Heritage Foundation, which drafted Project 2025, is an older institution than Trumpism with a conservative agenda that has been around for decades prior to Trumpism. AFPI, on the other hand, is a new institution and one that is grounded less in a decades-spanning conservative agenda and more in loyalty or fealty to President-elect Donald J. Trump himself. She says that while Heritage Foundation/Project 2025 figures will have a role in the Trump administration, it will be loyalists from AFPI that will be doing the management of much of the administration on behalf of Trump. All of this analysis is based on Nguyen's own contact with the MAGA world. We discuss all that and much more in the conversation on this edition of Parallax Views!

    40 min

  7. 4 DAYS AGO

    Syria and the Great Game w Charlotte Dennett

    You're Listening to Parallax Viewshttps://parallaxviews.podbean.com/ Support the Show on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Recorded: 12-11-24 On this edition of Parallax Views, journalsit and lawyer Charlotte Dennet returns to the program to discuss her book Follow the Pipelines: Uncovering the Mystery of a Lost Spy and the Deadly Politics of the Great Game for Oil, which features a forward by her brother, the late American philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel C. Dennett. Previously, Charlotte, alongside Gerard Colby, co-wrote a book that has been mentioned previously on the program, Thy Will Be Done: The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil. Follow the Pipelines came about as a result of Dennett's search for answers about the death of her father, Daniel Dennett, who was the U.S.'s master spy in the Middle East. Dennett died in a plane crash that remains shrouded in mystery. This led Dennett to uncover the world of what she calls "The Great Game for Oil". We discuss the relationship between war and oil pipelines in this conversation. Although Charlotte and I have discussed Follow the Pipelines before, this conversation will focus more on Syria and the Great Game in light of the overthrow of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. For your benefit, Charlotte has provided maps from her book that will aid in understanding the conversation:

    50 min

  8. DEC 12

    Syria, U.S. Foreign Policy, and the Geopolitical Uncertainties of Our Current Moment w/ Graham E. Fuller

    You're Listening to Parallax Viewshttps://parallaxviews.podbean.com/ Support the Show on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Recorded: 12-11-24 On this edition of Parallax Views, J.G. reached out to a very interesting political analyst in his continued coverage of the situation in Syria with the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the ascendancy of the Islamist HTS led by Abu Muhammed al-Jolani. Graham E. Fuller specializes in long-range forecasting of geopolitics. In fact, Fuller is a former vice chair of the National Intelligence Council at CIA responsible for long-term forecasting. He also served as a CIA operations officer overseas for two decades, with much of his time being spent in the Middle East. He served as the CIA Station Chief in Kabul and is the author of such books as A World Without Islam (2010) and The Future of Political Islam (2003). He is a noted analyst on Islamist movements and continues to write extensively on issues pertaining to U.S. foreign policy, the Middle East, and geopolitics. Graham joined me for a conversation about Assad's overthrow and what it means for various geopolitical players including the U.S. Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the Gulf states. We ended up having a more broad discussion that led into many different areas including: - Explaining the phenomena that has come to be known as "Political Islam" sans the tabloid clickbait that has unfortunately something attended the non-academic literature on the topic - Graham's critique of John Mearsheimer's Realist school of thought in regards to international relations. Graham believes there is great value in Mearsheimer's analysis, but makes the case that Realism as a school of thought is too often mechanistic and deterministic in how it perceives the course of geopolitical trends - The U.S.'s endless "Search for Enemies" and the consequences that approach to foreign policy creates, in relation to, for example, the U.S.-China relationship - The question of HTS and its leader Abu Muhammed al-Jolani; how will the govern?; HTS's administration of Idlib; how al-Jolani is, in the immediate, approaching the West and Israel - Israel and Turkey's strikes in Syria; Turkey's geopolitical concerns over the Kurds in Syria; the far-right elements that have been unleashed in Israel, especially since the October 7th, 2023 attack and how that effects both Israel and the Middle East more broadly - And much, much more!

    1h 16m
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4.4
out of 5
130 Ratings

About

A podcast where politics, history, and culture are examined from perspectives you may not have considered before. Call it a parallax view.

Information

  • Creator
    J.G.
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2024
  • Episodes
    880
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2018 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

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