Interviews

  Kourosh Ziabari - A German political pundit says China will use its soft power to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis and force it on the U.S., the UK, France, and Germany. “I am also rather confident that China will give the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and other important European governments economic incentives to find a peaceful resolution to the (Syrian) crisis,” Christof Lehmann said in an interview with the Tehran Times on Tuesday. “One could compare it with a soft power carrot and stick strategy where the policy of Turkey ultimately is dependent on decisions which are made in Europe and the USA,” he added. Lehmann went on to say that he is “very confident that a peaceful...

  Kourosh Ziabari - Prominent American political scientist Prof. John J. Mearsheimer believes that as a result of the enormous influence of the Israeli lobby on the U.S. politicians, one can hardly think of rapprochement between Iran and the United States in short-run, but they can move toward reconciliation by recognizing each other’s rights and responsibilities. “What the Americans and Iranians have to do is to reach a compromised agreement, where the Americans would recognize the fact that Iran is allowed to have a nuclear enrichment capability and we should recognize that, and at the same time, Iranians should accept the fact that there have to be limits on this enrichment capability, so that they don’t march up to the...

  Kourosh Ziabari - Linh Dinh is a prominent progressive author and poet, internationally renowned for his outspoken criticism of the domestic and foreign policy of the United States, which he calls criminal and detrimental to the interest of the American people. Born on 1963 in Vietnam, he is the author of two collections of stories and five poetry books. The Vietnamese-American author whose writings frequently appear on CounterPunch, Common Dreams and other publications, has studied painting in the college and runs a photography blog. He has lived in Italy and England and is the editor of two literary anthologies, “Night, Again: Contemporary Fiction from Vietnam” (Seven Stories Press 1996) and “Three Vietnamese Poets”...

  Kourosh Ziabari - A Malaysian political pundit says political and economic institutions in the United States are dominated by Israeli lobbies and this is why Washington cannot adopt an independent and a more balanced foreign policy. “One of the main reasons why the U.S. elite is not able to abandon its patronage and protection of Israel is because of Zionist influence and power in some of the key sectors of American public life,” Dr. Chandra Muzaffar said in an interview, which was conducted earlier this month. “The U.S Congress, Senate and the White House are all beholden, in one way or another, to Zionist funds and Zionist lobbies,” he added. The Malaysian scholar also commented on the global economic crisis,...

  Kourosh Ziabari - American journalist and scholar Gregory Harms believes that the recent 8-day Israeli war on the Gaza Strip might have been waged to distract public attention from the internal socioeconomic crises and problems the Israeli regime faces, especially ahead of the January 2013 legislative elections. He believes that launching airstrikes on Gaza may serve to give Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party a secure vote in the upcoming elections. “ushing the Gaza button focuses Israelis on matters of security. The population in Israel is highly manipulated and taught to be fearful… Israel’s isolation is bad for the country and its people; it cultivates a very unhealthy national psychology. As a result - and quite...

Kourosh Ziabari - It was reported on November 23 that the Helsinki conference on the nuclear-free Middle East has been called off after the United States announced that it will not take part in the conference. Some political commentators believe that the U.S. distanced itself from the summit after Iran said that it would participate, and it was quite clear that Iran will raise the issue of Israel’s undeclared, uninspected nuclear arsenal of about 200 – 400 atomic warheads. Israel’s nuclear program is America’s redline and it’s like a nightmare for Washington to see that Tel Aviv’s nuclear stockpiles are open to the scrutiny and inspection of the UN atomic watchdog. In order to explore the possible reasons why the...

Kourosh Ziabari - American political author says that the United States and its allies impose sanctions against independent nations in order to destabilize those countries, create political chaos there and install puppet regimes which are subservient and obedient to them. “Sanctions are indeed a form of warfare used by the United States and its European satellites. The very purpose is to make the population suffer, so that the people will turn against their own leaders, throw them out, and accept leaders more acceptable to Washington. That has been the purpose of sanctions against Cuba for decades. It was the purpose of sanctions against Serbia and against Iraq,” said Diana Johnstone in an interview with Tehran Times earlier...

Interview with Prof. William Wohlforth Kourosh Ziabari - There’s no doubt that the signs of the decline of the U.S. Empire and the weakening of the bases of imperialism have begun to emerge. The United States, although it lawlessly continues to wage wars on the other countries and threaten independent nations with its aggressive war rhetoric, economic sanctions and media propaganda, is not as powerful and influential as it had been during the Vietnam War. The United States is now plunged into an unprecedented economic crisis and the people at the White House and Pentagon know well that it’s not too easy to convince the American public that more wars are needed to export the values of imperialism to the other world nations,...

Interview with Prof. Walter Hixson Kourosh Ziabari - What will the future of the U.S. Empire look like? Where is it heading to? Is the United States capable of sustaining its hegemonic dominance over the world or is it becoming costly and expensive for the United States to continue featuring itself as an uncontested economic and political superpower? There are lots of questions and ambiguities regarding the future of the U.S. Empire and the repercussions of the decline it has begun to experience, and these questions are being seriously discussed in the intellectual circles around the world. Realistic and independent political scientists and even some prudent American officials have been long warning against the consequences of the...

Kourosh Ziabari - The signs of the decline and weakening of the U.S. global hegemony and its political and economic dominance have begun to emerge and such serious and powerful contenders as Brazil, Russia, China, Turkey and Iran are gradually contributing to the diminishing of the uncontested power and authority of the United States as the world’s number one superpower. With the most excruciating and unprecedented economic recession in the United States since the Great Depression of 1930s, and the continued political failures of the United States, especially in supporting and sponsoring its staunch ally in the Middle East, Israel, and the continued revolutionary wave in the Middle East which is rattling the shaky foundations of the...

The American public’s appetite for military intervention has diminished considerably Kourosh Ziabari - Is the United States still as powerful as it had been 50 years ago? Is it possible for the United States to continue ruling the world, placing dictators in place, staging coups against democratically elected governments and waging unjustified and unsanctioned wars? The brief answer which anyone with some minimal familiarity with the global political equations will give is “no,” but we are not after eliciting an unscientific and unsubstantiated response. We have started a project to explore the different aspects of the decline of American imperialism with the world’s great political scientists and academicians. They join us...

An interview with Prof. Henry A. Giroux Kourosh Ziabari - American philosopher and cultural critic Henry A. Giroux believes that under the influence of the government, the higher education system in the United States has moved toward silencing progressive and alternative voices which try to challenge the U.S. militarism and its expansionistic policies. He also believes that the American students are not trained to be critical thinkers “I think many students are weary of America’s expansionist policies but there is not enough dissent among college students over such policies at the present time to actually challenge them. Many American students are educated largely to be consumers not critical thinkers and those who do escape the...