U.S. Foreign Policy, Saudi Arabia, & the Arms Industry w/ Annelle Sheline & William Hartung/Geopolitics & U.S. Foreign Policy w/ Doug Bandow

On this edition of Parallax Views, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft's Dr. Annelle Sheline and William Hartung return to discuss their recent The Nation article "It’s Time to Cut Off Arms Sales to the Saudi Regime". Among the topics covered in this conversation:

- Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al-Saud granted legal immunity by the U.S. in lawsuit concerning the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

- The argument for suspension of arms sales to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

- OPEC+ cutting oil production

- The U.S.-Saudi relationship, oil production, and arms sales; Saudi Arabia is the largest customer of U.S. weapons; vested interests like the military-industrial complex and the U.S.-Saudi relationship

- The Yemen War; potential for Congress to pass a Yemen War Powers resolution; where the Yemen War has been since the truce struck up earlier in the year

- Statistics on arms sold to Saudi Arabia under the Obama, Trump, and Biden Presidencies

- Lobbying by companies like Raytheon

- Addressing the argument that the arms industry provides jobs to American citizens and thus the arms sales to Saudi Arabia are necessary

- The move of the world towards a multipolar order and how this effects our relationship with other countries; countries like Saudi Arabia don't feel the need to bend to U.S. demands/whims; the consequences of a multipolar world (ie: less stability); adjusting to the changing order (ie: relying more on diplomacy)

- America still has the best-funded military; how then is the U.S.'s dominance in question?

- The U.S. as overdeveloped in military force and underdeveloped in other areas vital to playing a role in a world where power is more diffuse

- What leverage does the U.S. have against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

- Decoupling the arms industry from U.S. foreign policy

- How the U.S. arms industry effects the broader Middle East

- Saudia Arabia, the UAE, Israel, Iran, and the Abraham Accords

- Weakening the power of the arms industry in the U.S.; alternatives to employment; investment in areas other than weapons; green technology and green investments vs. the arms industry

- The revolving door between the arms industry and policy-making institutions

- The American people's perceptions of U.S. arms sales

- What are the biggest misconceptions people have about Yemen and, more broadly, the Middle East in general

- And much, much more!

In the second segment of the show, Doug Bandow, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan, returns to the program to discuss current geopolitical happenings and the hubris of the foreign policy establishment aka the Blob.

Among the topics in this conversation:

- Why the Ukraine/Russia war is still the number foreign policy issue in the immediate term and how dangerous the situation is right now

- Discussing the Reagan Presidency and the Able Archer 83 NATO/military exercise that could've triggered a nuclear war; this historical incident is often underdiscussed or forgotten today and scared Reagan (for more information on the incident please check out Nate Jones's Able Archer 83: The Secret History of the NATO Exercise That Almost Triggered Nuclear War)

- Hubris and sanctimony in the Washington foreign policy establishment

- The U.S., human rights, double standards, Saudi Arabia, and Iran

- North Korea's latest ICBM test and the failure of the U.S.'s current policy on the DPRK; negotiating with North Korea on arms-related issues using sanctions release as leverage

- The crisis in Haiti, the history of U.S. interventions in Haiti, and the calls for a new U.S. intervention in Haiti; Doug's recent American Conservative article "Stop Invading Haiti"

- Rising tensions between the U.S. and China; the issue of Taiwan; the Philippines; the South China Sea; the economic front of the U.S. tensions with China, especially in terms of China's hi-tech economy; Doug's recent CATO piece ""The Wages of Washington’s Economic War on China Are Not Cheap"

- The role of the Global South's relationship with the U.S. and the Global South's perspective on issues like the Ukraine/Russia war

- The importance of diplomacy and talks even with our adversaries

- The hangover of the U.S.'s time as the post-Cold War unipower

- And more!