Skip to content
Search
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

Puppet Regime is up for a Webby Award!   VOTE HERE

Europe

Presented by

A soldier on a beach in the Middle East. Is the US Misjudging the Middle East’s Power Shifts?

Podcast: Is the US misjudging the Middle East’s power shifts? Vali Nasr's view

Listen: President Biden is determined to turn Washington's attention from the Middle East to Asia once and for all as he moves to confront a growing China. But according to Johns Hopkins University Middle East Scholar Vali Nasr, President Biden's approach to the Middle East will have to adapt to the once-in-a-generation power grab occurring between Iran, Israel, and Turkey while Arab nations in the region increasingly lose influence.

Transcript

Listen: "Pivot to Asia." It was the catchphrase floating around Washington DC's foreign policy circles in 2009 when President Obama first took office. And yet twelve years later, the Middle East continues to consume the attention of the United States' military and diplomatic efforts. Now President Biden is determined to change that, and to turn Washington's attention to Asia once and for all as he moves to confront a growing China. But according to Johns Hopkins University Middle East Scholar Vali Nasr, President Biden's approach to the Middle East will have to adapt to the once-in-a-generation power grab occurring between Iran, Israel, and Turkey while Arab nations in the region increasingly lose influence.

Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast platform to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.
Next Page

More from GZERO World Podcast

Why Orbán's real patron isn't Trump

When Americans think of Viktor Orbán, they picture a Trump ally. But according to political analyst Ivan Krastev, that misses the bigger picture. "The major bet of the Hungarian government is China," Krastev tells Ian Bremmer, and the numbers bear it out: Chinese investment in Hungary now exceeds Chinese investment in Germany and France combined. Beijing's interest isn't in Hungary's size or seaport access: it's in Orbán's willingness to veto any EU anti-China economic policy.

Russia plays a different role, but one equally central to Orbán's political identity. The Hungarian leader built his career demanding Soviet troops leave his country in 1989, yet he has since made dependence on Russian oil and gas a cornerstone of what he frames as Hungarian sovereignty. For Orbán, Brussels, not Moscow, is the existential threat.

The result is a political model built on triangulation: lean on China, accommodate Russia, and position himself as the only truly sovereign leader in the EU. Krastev notes that this carefully constructed story may now be unraveling ahead of Hungary's April 12th elections.

Ivan Krastev explains how Viktor Orbán's economic survival depends not on Trump or Brussels, but on Beijing.... More >

Patching the System

Patching the System

Hard number: Ukraine rips into Russia’s oil windfall

Russia’s two main oil export locations that have come under attack account for more than 40% the country’s seaborne crude export capacity. At one site, Primorsk, Ukraine’s attacks have decimated more than $200 million worth of fuel. Moscow has been getting a boost in oil revenue while Iran seals off the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil and gas prices surging.

Russia’s two main oil export locations that have come under attack account for more than 40% the country’s seaborne crude export capacity.... More >

Syria rolls out the red carpet for Ukraine, Migrants missing in Mediterranean, New international security force to Haiti

Ukraine’s Zelensky visits Damascus

It’s hard to think of two world leaders with more unlikely life paths than Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian who played a president on TV only to become the actual president of a country under assault from a nuclear superpower, and Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former Al-Qaeda jihadist who toppled the Assad regime and now jet-sets to Western capitals, shoots hoops with US generals, and spits game at prime time news hosts. But on Sunday, the two men met as al-Sharaa rolled out the red carpet for Zelensky in Damascus. What was on the agenda? Al-Sharaa is keen to show that the fragile new Syria is no longer a client state of Russia, while Zelensky is shopping his country’s elite drone warfare experience to Middle Eastern leaders who are deeply interested in the subject, as Iran continues to pummel the region with drones in retaliation for US-Israeli airstrikes.

Keep reading... Show less

It’s hard to think of two world leaders with more unlikely life paths than Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian who played a president on TV only to become the actual president of a... More >

US defense spending vs. the world

China has boosted its defense spending 13-fold over the past three decades, modernizing its weapons and military into a force capable of operating beyond its borders. The buildup isn’t happening in isolation. Military spending in the Middle East climbed to 4.3% of the region’s GDP last year, up from 3.5% in 2022, driven in part by Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. Across Europe, meanwhile, governments led by Germany are ramping up defense budgets at a record pace.

Even so, none of them comes close to the United States.

Keep reading... Show less

China has boosted its defense spending 13-fold over the past three decades, modernizing its weapons and military into a force capable of operating beyond its borders.... More >

GZERO Podcasts

Ian Bremmer sits down with Ivan Krastev, Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies and political scientist, to discuss Hungary's consequential upcoming election and what it means for the far... More >

GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Listen: What does global energy transition look like in a time of major geopolitical change, including rebalancing of trade? In this special episode of "Energized: The Future of Energy,” host JJ... More >

Energized: The Future of Energy

Energized: The Future of Energy

Creating artificial human retinas in zero gravity. Mining rare minerals on the moon. There seems to be no limit to what could be possible if we continue to take our more important industries to... More >

Next Giant Leap

Next Giant Leap

Ivan Krastev explains how Viktor Orbán's economic survival depends not on Trump or Brussels, but on Beijing.... More >

Patching the System

Patching the System

... More >

Living Beyond Borders

Living Beyond Borders

In this episode of The Ripple Effect: Investing in Life Sciences, host Dan Riskin speaks with Patrick Horber, President of Novartis International, and David Gluckman, Vice Chairman of Investment... More >

The Ripple Effect: Investing in Life Sciences

The Ripple Effect: Investing in Life Sciences