Philip Mirowski is great and unfortunately correct. :/

01 Lights Over London

In 1999 in the wake of the Kosovo conflict Gilbert Achcar published a book titled 'The New Cold War: The World After Kosovo'. At the time, describing tensions between the United States, Russia and China in terms of "a cold war" seemed to many to be outlandish hyperbole, or very premature at best. Now, of course the use of the term to describe the global situation is increasingly commonplace, but if we are indeed in a cold war - the question arises - when did it begin? Should it be dated in Russia's case to the 2008 Georgia war, in China to the rise of Xi Jinping and the repression in Hong Kong - or do we need to think back much further? 

In today's episode Gilbert Achcar joins the show to discuss his new book, 'The New Cold War: The US, Russia and China - From Kosovo to Ukraine', in which he builds upon his earlier work to argue that the current situation is rooted in events and key decisions made during the 1990s, including the devastating collapse of the Russian economy, the failure to create a new security architecture in Europe after the end of the cold war, and in increasing US-China tensions over Taiwan and other security matters, which were obscured by the deepening economic integration of the two states at the time. In the following interview we discuss these topics, as well as why Gilbert thinks its appropriate to describe Vladimir Putin's regime as neofascist, why recognising NATO enlargement as being a vector for Russian nationalism does not in any way justify the invasion of Ukraine, and we also talked about what Gilbert thinks a more just international order might look like.

The roots of the new cold war w/ Gilbert Achcar

Richard Seymour returns to PTO to discuss the crisis and background to the crisis in Israel-Palestine. A little over a week ago US national security advisor Jake Sullivan, speaking at the the Atlantic festival, rattled off a list of positive developments in the Middle East which he argued had allowed the Biden administration to focus on issues elsewhere in the world. Referencing the truce in Yemen, a decline in hostility in the US's relationship with Iran and what he characterised as America's stable presence in Iraq - where around 2,500 US soldiers remain - he commented that “The Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades.”

On Saturday Sullivan's comments came back to haunt him as Hamas carried out an unprecedentedly large scale breakout from the Gaza strip and launched attacks on the Israeli military and Israeli civilians that have claimed over 1200 lives at the time of recording. Deaths on the Palestinian side from Israel's predictable assault on Gaza are heading towards parity, and undoubtedly those numbers will escalate dramatically as Israel continues its air campaign and prepares to launch a ground assault. The following interview with Richard Seymour was recorded earlier today - the 11th of October - and before it became apparent that a national unity government would be formed in Israel.

Interregnum - The Israel-Hamas conflict

Palestinian writer Amjad Iraqi joins the show to talk about where Israel's assault on Gaza is going. We talked about Israel's professed goal to wipe out Hamas in the Gaza strip and what Israel intends to do with the territory and its population after the end of Operation Iron Swords. We also discussed how seriously to take the statements of Western governments who profess to support a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel, and we spoke about how liberal Zionism is a phenomenon that exists more in the minds of western policy makers, and liberal journalists, than it does in Israel itself.

Israel's war on the Palestinians w/ Amjad Iraqi

Start From The Endless

SALUT SALUT

tale by Refaat Alareer

If I must die,
you must live 
to tell my story 
to sell my things 
to buy a piece of cloth 
and some strings, 
(make it white with a long tail) 
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza 
while looking heaven in the eye 
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze- 
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself-
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up
above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale

song by Hodges

青空に白い凧あがる
長い尾を風にたなびかせて
子どもらの見上げる先に
愛を取り戻す天使が浮かぶだろう

singing & playing by Hodges

If I must die

Hodges - If I must die

Game of Phaune, Episode #9: Au-delà du Cercle - Avec Mélia Roger & Grégoire Chauvot

Aujourd’hui, on décolle avec nos oreilles dans les pas de Mélia Roger et Grégoire Chauvot. On suit avec eux les traces sonores, fragiles et puissantes, de ces présences multiples qui peuplent un paysage sans heure.

Et si à l’aventure, on ne sait jamais sur quoi on va tomber, on sait qu’on va tomber. Ici : sur un moment de grâce et de beauté.

Entrelacement de vies, territoires chantés, goût de l’air et frisson du monde, c’est Game of Phaune #9, avec Mélia Roger et Grégoire Chauvot.


 ——

Today, we take off with our ears in the footsteps of Mélia Roger and Grégoire Chauvot. With them, we follow the fragile and powerful sound traces of these multiple presences which populate a hourless landscape.

And if on an adventure you never know what you're going to fall in with, you know you're going to fall. Here: on a moment of grace and beauty.

Interweaving of lives, sung territories, taste of the air and thrill of the world, this is Game of Phaune #9, with Mélia Roger and Grégoire Chauvot.

What The Phaune

What The Phaune #6 - Game of Phaune #9, avec Mélia Roger & Grégoire Chauvot

Live Session #1 SOM / Eugene Nx (test mix

Names

In this public News Brief, we discuss Establishment reaction to pro-Palestinian protests on US campuses, from liberal handwringing to police crackdowns to therapy-speak.

News Brief: Campus Anti-Genocide Protests & the Weaponization of Squishy Bad Faith "Safety" Rhetoric

Philip Mirowski, joins me to discuss why the Covid-19 pandemic is more opportunity than threat to neoliberals and whether - as in the wake of the financial crisis - neoliberal doctrines will survive, and even thrive in the wake of the coronavirus-induced global economic crisis. We also discussed how Philip defines neoliberalism and why the worst political and economic consequences of the Covid-19 crisis are yet to come.

#85 Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste w/ Philip Mirowski

A podcast on radical politics, critical theory, and history. Hosted by Alex Doherty.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/poltheoryother

Contact: politicstheoryother@gmail.com

#85 Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste w/ Philip Mirowski

Politics Theory Other

Recent comments

TheoreticallyImpraxical

Related tracks