Neutrality Studies

Brazil’s election is the entry point for a wider discussion of US influence across Latin America. Mark Weisbrot connects Brazil to debt, central bank policy, sanctions, IMF pressure, and disputes over whether outside involvement is aid, interference, or regime change.

US decline is the central subject here, as Chas Freeman links Ukraine, Iran, Yemen, sanctions, and depleted arsenals to a broader retreat in American power. The conversation also turns to Saudi autonomy, China’s gains, NATO’s failures, Swiss neutrality, and whether regional cooperation can replace confrontation.

Psychiatrist Niall McLaren joins Pascal to argue that dominance, hierarchy, and entitlement help explain elite behavior in the West. The episode connects psychology to imperial expansion, propaganda, group loyalty, democratic reform, and debates over whether power is driven more by human nature or political structure.

This episode explores Professor Kees van der Pijl’s thesis that modern Zionism and the post-9/11 war on terror served the interests of a transnational ruling class. It also distinguishes Zionism from Judaism and follows the argument from Atlantic power structures to today’s geopolitical tensions.

Former British diplomat Ian Proud discusses being detained at Heathrow after returning from Russia and frames it as part of a wider squeeze on civil liberties and dissent in Europe. The conversation also turns to sanctions, nuclear escalation, and why he believes diplomacy is essential to European security.