7/3/20 Trita Parsi on John Bolton’s ‘Israel First’ Foreign Policy

Trita Parsi discusses John Bolton’s tenure in the Trump administration, during which time he worked tirelessly to sabotage any form of negotiation between the United States and Iran. Bolton is a fierce advocate for America’s alliance with Israel, says Parsi, which often means acting in ways that are actually quite harmful to American interests. Netanyahu, Parsi explains, worries that any peace between the U.S. and Iran would threaten Israel’s position as the dominant superpower in the Middle East, and it would no longer be so easy for them to accomplish the things the Netanyahu government wants to do, like annexing more and more Palestinian territory. Unless you have the warped neocon worldview, however, Scott and Parsi agree that attempted American hegemony in the Middle East can only mean disaster for the true interests of the American people.

Discussed on the show:

• “John Bolton can stomach Kim Jong Un’s North Korea, but not Iran” (Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft)
• The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir

Trita Parsi is the president of the National Iranian American Council and the author of Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy. Parsi is the recipient of the 2010 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. Follow him on Twitter @tparsi.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.