Show Notes
Darryl Cooper & Scott Horton discuss the war with Iran, arguing that escalation offers little for either side while major obstacles remain to any durable settlement. They also examine the weaker-than-expected military position, political pressure around the conflict, and the possibility of a limited exchange of strikes rather than a full ground war.
They then turn to Israel, Iran, and U.S. politics, including Rahm Emanuel’s speech in Israel, the Democratic Party’s position on Israel-Palestine, and efforts to keep Israeli policy insulated from changes in American public opinion. They also discuss AIPAC and related attempts to deepen the Israel relationship within U.S. institutions.
Finally, they review Syria and Abu Muhammad al-Jolani’s background, including his ties to al-Qaeda in Iraq, and connect that to patterns in U.S. policy toward Islamist factions in the region. They also answer listener questions on Ukraine and other topics and mention several ongoing book and course projects.
Chapters:
0:36 Iran War and Israel Lobby
1:48 The Logic of the Iran War
3:42 Hawks Demand Surrender
10:02 Sponsors and Side Bets
11:16 Trump’s Mixed Signals
15:24 Israel’s Political Squeeze
21:29 New Books and Courses
31:32 Oil, China, and Iran
35:49 School Strike Fallout
42:49 Rally Around the Flag
45:45 Netanyahu’s Nuclear Lies
47:48 Syria’s New Ruler
50:09 Jolani’s Jihad Past
55:39 Al Qaeda as Tool
1:00:11 Ukraine and Super Chats
1:06:27 Skateboarding and Aging
1:09:18 Waco and Thermite
1:11:59 The Bible and Fundamentalism
(Cleaned up w/ the Podsworth app. https://podsworth.com)
Sponsors:
Expat Money: Secure your international Plan B: https://expatmoney.com/provoked
Agorist Tax Advice: Pick up a free copy of the brilliant Matthew Sercely's Agorist Tax Toolkit at: https://AgoristTaxAdvice.com/provoked
Scott Horton Blend Coffee: https://moondoesartisancoffee.com/products/scott-horton-supreme-breakfast-blend
Provoked show site:
https://provoked.show
Darryl's links:
X: @martyrmade
https://subscribe.martyrmade.com
Scott's links:
X: @scotthortonshow
https://scotthortonacademy.com
https://libertarianinstitute.org
https://antiwar.com
https://scotthorton.org
https://scotthorton.org/books
https://www.scotthortonshow.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from Provoked with Darryl Cooper and Scott Horton
We discuss the Iran war, regional security, the limits of U.S. military options and the risks of a wider confrontation with Russia. We examine Israel’s security doctrine, its influence on U.S. politics and Jewish communities abroad, and the humanitarian toll of the war in Gaza.
We (Darryl Cooper & Scott Horton) answer audience questions about our research and writing methods, including how we build from survey books, follow bibliographies, take notes, and draft by producing more material than we keep. We also discuss current and historical foreign policy topics such as Yemen, Gaza, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, with attention to how U.S. and regional actors are described in those conflicts.
In this episode, we discuss U.S. military involvement in the Middle East, including the withdrawal from Iraq and debates over American power in the region. We also discuss false flag claims, security fears, Netanyahu, Israeli politics, Gaza, and allegations about ignored warnings before October 7.
In this episode, we discuss the visit of Syrian leader Ahmed Al Sharaa (formerly(?) of Al Qaeda) to the UN... but near the end!
In this episode we speak with Bill Bupert of the Libertarian Institute about Saudi Arabia’s military limits and why wealthy states can still struggle to build effective conventional forces. We discuss oil wealth, imported labor, hierarchical structures, maintenance problems, and the difficulty of reporting bad news in military systems.