Shows
UNAPOLOGETICEpisode 30 - Understanding Hamas and why it matters | Helena Cobban | UNAPOLOGETIC |Helena Cobban is a journalist who has covered events in the Middle East for more than four decades. Through her reporting, she has interviewed senior leadership across Palestinian movements and political organisations and senior members of Israel’s government.Recently, she co-authored a book with Rami Khouri, an academic and journalist who has also been writing about the Middle East for decades. The book is largely a transcript of a series of conversations that the authors had with five experts who have a deep knowledge of who Hamas is, what it stands for, how it operates and wh...
2025-04-141h 19
FredshetsarnaUnderstanding Hamas med Helena CobbanHelena Cobban är en brittisk-amerikansk författare och forskare om internationella relationer, med specialintressen i Mellanöstern.
Vi pratar om hur, var, när och varför Hamas blev till och varför det är en viktig del för att förstå IP-konflikten.
Helena har skrivit "The Palestinian Liberation Organisation" som är en av de mest grundläggande böckerna om PLO.
I introt pratar vi om ETC och deras fokus på att utmåla Palestina-aktivister som antisemiter samtidigt som de inte rapporterar om hur Israel bränner journalister levande i Palest...
2025-04-131h 24
Middle East Monitor ConversationsDecoding Hamas: MEMO in Conversation with Helena CobbanWestern media has often distorted the image of the Palestinian resistance, shaping narratives in a way that harms the fate of Palestinians, but truly understanding Hamas is the only way to have a meaningful conversation on events in the Middle East, the co-author of a book on the movement says.At a time when Western governments refuse to engage with Hamas politically, Helena Cobban's book 'Understanding Hamas: And Why That Matters' challenges dominant narratives and offers a nuanced exploration of the Palestinian movement, its origins, ideological evolution, and its role within Palestinian...
2025-03-2652 min
The Katie Halper ShowMark Ames & Lev Golinkin On Ukraine, Rami Khouri & Helena Cobban On HamasUkrainian-American journalist Lev Golinkin and co-host of Radio War Nerd at Patreon Mark Ames reveal the inconvenient truths about Zelensky and the Ukraine War. Rami Khouri and Helena Cobban talk about the cease-fire, what's really happening in Gaza, what Netanyahu is really doing, understanding Hamas and why it matters.
For the full discussion, please join us on Patreon at - https://www.patreon.com/posts/patreon-lev-mark-123120837
Lev Golinkin is the author of A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka, Amazon’s Debut of the Month, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers program selection, and winner of the Pr...
2025-02-271h 48
Red Inverted Triangle PodcastConversation with Helena Cobban - Understanding Hamas and why that mattersHelena Cobban is a writer and researcher on international affairs based in Washington DC and the president of "Just World Educational".
This conversation with Helena discusses the recently released book that she co-authored about the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas. The title of the book is "Understanding Hamas and why it matters".
2024-11-301h 02
A Public AffairHamas explained with Helena Cobban
Since the deadly attack on an Israeli music festival on October 7, 2023, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has ramped up to what is now a regional war and Hamas has become a widely vilified group. But what and who is Hamas? On today’s show, host Esty Dinur speaks with Helena Cobban, who co-authored Understanding Hamas: And Why That Matters with Rami G. Khouri. Cobban highlights Hamas’ origins in the as a political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, its rise due to dissatisfaction with the Oslo Accords, and its evolution from an anti-Jewish to an anti-Zionist stance
Hel...
2024-10-2553 min
KPFA - Letters and PoliticsHelena Cobban on the Escalation of the War: Israel, Lebanon, & PalestineGuest: Helena Cobban is a writer and researcher on international affairs with a special interest in the Middle East. She is the author of several books including her latest “Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters” co-authored with Rami Khouri. Her writing can be found at Globalities.org.
Book Events – Helena Cobban in the Bay Area:
October 8, 6:30 pm, Marin County, CA “An Evening with Helena Cobban”
The Palestinian-rights leader/activist Anna Rogers is hosting a house party in San Rafael, Marin County, Require an RSVP. Fill the form here.
...
2024-09-3059 min
Just World PodcastsHelena Cobban's talk "Palestinian resistance from the PLO to Hamas"On June 13, 2024, JWE President Helena Cobban gave a talk at the Rossmoor community in Walnut Creek, CA, hosted by Rossmoor Voices for Justice in Palestine. The talk was titled "Palestinian resistance from the PLO to Hamas." In it Helena drew on her 50 years of experience of studying, reporting on, interviewing the leaders of, and analyzing all the main Palestinian resistance movements of the modern era. Look on the JWE blog for links to the video of this event, the transcript, and more information about JWE's "Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters" project.Support the show
2024-06-211h 32Just World PodcastsUnderstanding Hamas, Ep.5: Dr. Azzam TamimiThis was the fifth and final session in a series of Public Conversations that Just World Ed presented in May 2024, on the theme of "Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters." The series as a whole was presented by JWE President Helena Cobban and board member Rami G. Khouri. Our guest in this episode was Dr. Azzam Tamimi, who's the editor-in-chief of the London-based Al Hiwar ("Dialogue") TV channel. He's a specialist on issues related to Islamic political thought, Islamic movements, and Middle Eastern (or West Asian) politics; and a distinguished author of several we...
2024-05-311h 21Just World PodcastsUnderstanding Hamas, Ep.4: Mouin RabbaniThis was the fourth of a series of Public Conversations that Just World Ed is presenting in May 2024, on the theme of "Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters." The series is presented by JWE President Helena Cobban and board member Rami G. Khouri. Our guest in this episode was Mouin Rabbani, a super-smart Dutch-Palestinian researcher and analyst who specializes in Palestinian affairs, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and contemporary West Asia, the region also known by its Eurocentric monicker, "the Middle East." Rabbani has previously served as Principal Political Affairs Officer with the O...
2024-05-241h 15Just World PodcastsUnderstanding Hamas, Ep.3: Dr. Jeroen GunningThis was the third of a series of Public Conversations that Just World Ed is presenting in May 2024, on the theme of "Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters." The series is presented by JWE President Helena Cobban and board member Rami G. Khouri. Our guest was Dr. Jeroen Gunning, a Professor of Middle Eastern Politics and Conflict Studies at King’s College, London. Dr. Gunning is also a Visiting Professor at the Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, and at the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics. He is one of t...
2024-05-171h 10Just World PodcastsUnderstanding Hamas, Ep.2: Dr. Khaled HroubThis was the second of a series of Public Conversations that Just World Ed is presenting in May 2024, on the theme of "Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters." The series is presented by JWE President Helena Cobban and board member Rami G. Khouri. Our guest was Dr. Khaled Hroub, a Professor in residence with the faculty of liberal arts at Northwestern University in Qatar, whose focus is Middle Eastern studies and politics with particular interest on Islam and politics, Arab-Israeli conflict and Arab media studies. Dr. Hroub’s many works include Hama...
2024-05-101h 13Just World PodcastsUnderstanding Hamas, Ep.1: Dr. Paola CaridiThis was the first of a series of Public Conversations that Just World Ed is presenting in May 2024, on the theme of "Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters." The series is presented by JWE President Helena Cobban and board member Rami G. Khouri. Our first guest was journalist and author Dr. Paola Caridi.You can see much more information about this project and access the multimedia records of this session and all the others as they occur, at this Online Learning Hub on our website.Dr. Caridi is a...
2024-05-051h 06
Just World PodcastsHelena Cobban, talk on Hamas at Westmoreland Church, April 21, 2024In March 2024, the Middle East Committee of Westmoreland Church, which is a very active "UCC" congregation located on the borderline between Maryland and Washington DC, invited Helena to go and speak to their members on the topic "Hamas: A Primer." The event took place on April 21, 2024, and took the form of a conversation conducted, for the first 35 minutes, by longtime Middle East Committee member Robert Mertz. In the second half of the program, several attendees at the gathering asked questions, both in-person from the church parlor, and online via the event's well-populated Zoom feed. This e...
2024-04-241h 22Just World PodcastsPalCast: Episode 2, the shared Palestinian and Irish strugglesThe second episode of Palcast discusses the shared struggle of the Palestinian and Irish peoples. From Captain Boycott, to Bloody Balfour, to hunger strikes, Dr Yousef Aljamal, Helena Cobban and Tony Groves delve into the shared struggle between the two nations, and indeed the anti-apartheid movements globally. We also look at the mistakes that Ireland has made and what the movement for Palestinian self-determination can learn from them. Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshackSupport the show
2023-11-2044 minJust World PodcastsPalCast, Episode 1. The Streets are with Palestine As Israel's genocide in Gaza continues, PalCast's Dr Yousef Aljamal and his co-host Helena Cobban survey the situation on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank and the waves of pro-Palestinian sympathy that have swept around the whole world, including throughout the Global South and even at the grassroots level within most Western countries. They note the continued ability of Washington DC to block effective U.N. action for a ceasefire, the declining power of the United States in world affairs, and the need for a deep renewal of the Palestinian political leadership. Please join us at patreon.c...
2023-11-2038 minJust World PodcastsIntroducing: PalCast with Yousef Aljamal and Helena CobbanThis episode introduces the people behind a brand new series, PalCast, which will be hosted by Palestinian refugee (and friend of the shack) Dr Yousef Aljamal and his longtime collaborator and friend Helena Cobban, herself an activist and author of great renown. PalCast is a collaboration between Just World Educational and Tortoise Shack Media, which produces the series from its base in Dublin, Ireland. This twice weekly series will discuss the ongoing Gaza-Israel crisis, the geopolitics at play, the place of Palestine in the world, and the struggle for Palestinian liberation, as summed up in the mantra 'One World...
2023-11-2013 min
Parallax Views w/ J.G. MichaelThe UN, the Gaza War, Protest, International Law, and the Beginning of the PalCast w/ Helena Cobban
On this edition of Parallax Views, recorded before the news that a deal between Israel and Hamas to reach hostages was announced as being close to being made, Helena Cobban, a non-resident fellow of the Center for International Policy, joins the show to discuss the UN, the Gaza War, international law, Hamas, Israel, and related issues. She also promotes her new podcast, co-hosted by Yousef Aljamal, entitled the Palcast: One World, One Struggle about the Israel/Palestine. Helena Cobban is also the head of Just World Educational. Recorded 11/16/23
2023-11-1952 min
Talk World RadioTalk World Radio: Helena Cobban on Climate Crisis in the CapitalistoceneThis week on Talk World Radio, we're discussing global broiling -- "warming" doesn't seem to cover it -- and what's being done and by whom to increase or lessen it. Our guest Helena Cobban is a writer on, and analyst of, international affairs. For two decades she contributed regular columns on global affairs to, respectively, the Christian Science Monitor and Al-Hayat (London). Of her seven books, four deal with Middle Eastern issues and the remainder with other international issues. In 2010, she founded Just World Books LLC, which has published 40 titles on Middle Eastern and global issues. Since 2015, she has been...
2023-07-2529 minJust World PodcastsGlobalities: On untangling Syria's devastating civil warIn this episode, Helena Cobban presents a voiced version of the essay she published today on the Globalities website, which is titled, "Untangling Syria's devastating civil war." In the essay, Ms. Cobban, a long-time analyst of Syria's affairs, expresses her cautiously optimistic assessment of the possibility that recent shifts in West Asian politics and diplomacy may now, finally, allow for a winding down of the conflict inside Syria.If you're interested in what you hear here, head to the essay in the text version, where you will also find all the hyperlinks Ms. Cobban put in there...
2023-04-2129 minJust World PodcastsGlobal Shifts Update, April 14In this episode of her Global Shifts series, Just World ed President Helena Cobban looks at the events and developments of the past week that illustrate the big shifts now underway in the global balance. This week, she looks at the continuing fallout from the visit that French Pres. Emmanuel Macron paid recently to Beijing, and also at this week's visit there by Brazilian Pres. Lula Da Silva. Then, she looks at three big ongoing developments in West Asia, concerning Yemen, Syria-- and the current worrying increase in U.S. military deployments in the Persian Gulf region....
2023-04-1533 min
Just World PodcastsThis week's major shifts in the global balance In today's episode Just World Ed's Helena Cobban presents her review of the key shifts in the global balance that we've seen over the past week. This episode covers:The ongoing contest between NATO and Russia over Ukraine The two big diplomatic events in Beijing this weekImplications of Pres. Macron's visit to BeijingImplications of the new rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, andThe effects of this rapprochement on developments in the Mashreq area of West Asia. Support the show
2023-04-0823 min
Just World PodcastsA Korea-style armistice for Ukraine? A voiced essay from GlobalitiesIn mid-January 2023, the veteran analyst of world affairs Helena Cobban published an essay at Globalities.org in which she explored the urgent need for a country-wide ceasefire or armistice for Ukraine, and explored the value of the precedent set by the Korean Armistice Agreement of 1953. She also looked at the issue of armistices more broadly and noted several features of the Korean armistice that are particularly relevant to the case of Ukraine today.In late March 2023 Ms. Cobban voiced this essay as the inaugural episode in this new podcast series from Just World Educational. Globalities is a...
2023-03-2220 minJust World PodcastsThe Urgency of Banning Nukes: Conversation with William B. QuandtThis was the sixth conversation in Just World Educational's project to produce and share multimedia resources to inform, educate, and engage new generations of (especially) Americans on the need to Ban All Nuclear Weapons and dismantle all existing nuclear arsenals, including our own.In this convo, co-hosts Helena Cobban and Amelle Zeroug talked to William B. Quandt, an American scholar, author and professor emeritus in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia. Dr Quandt previously served as senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution and as a member on the N...
2022-06-241h 18Just World PodcastsThe Urgency of Banning Nukes: Conversation with Joseph GersonThis was the fifth conversation in Just World Educational's project to produce and share multimedia resources to inform, educate, and engage new generations of (especially) Americans on the need to Ban All Nuclear Weapons and dismantle all existing nuclear arsenals, including our own. In this convo, co-hosts Helena Cobban and Amelle Zeroug talked to Joseph Gerson, Executive Director of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament, and Common Security and Vice-President of the International Peace Bureau. Gerson, a veteran anti-nuclear organizer has just been at a key meeting in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on the international coordination of Nuclear Weapons-Free Zones (NWF...
2022-06-181h 03Just World PodcastsThe Urgency of Banning Nukes: Conversation with Ivana Nikolic HughesThis was the fourth conversation in Just World Educational's project to produce and share multimedia resources to inform, educate, and engage new generations of (especially) Americans on the need to Ban All Nuclear Weapons and dismantle all existing nuclear arsenals, including our own. In this convo, co-hosts Helena Cobban and Amelle Zeroug talked to Ivana Nikolic Highes, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Listen to additional episodes in this series which will be released twice-weekly through the end of June.Support the show
2022-06-171h 13Just World PodcastsThe Urgency of Banning Nukes: Conversation with Vicki ElsonThis was the third conversation in Just World Educational's project to produce and share multimedia resources to inform, educate, and engage new generations of (especially) Americans on the need to Ban All Nuclear Weapons and dismantle all existing nuclear arsenals, including our own. In this convo, co-hosts Helena Cobban and Amelle Zeroug talked to Vicki Elson, co-founder and creative director of NuclearBan.US. Listen to additional episodes in this series which will be released twice-weekly through the end of June.Support the show
2022-06-151h 01Just World PodcastsThe Urgency of Banning Nukes: Conversation with Ray McGovernThis was the second conversation in Just World Educational's project to produce and share multimedia resources to inform, educate, and engage new generations of (especially) Americans on the need to Ban All Nuclear Weapons and dismantle all existing nuclear arsenals, including our own. In this convo, co-hosts Helena Cobban and Amelle Zeroug talked to Ray McGovern, a veteran CIA officer turned political activist whose post-retirement work includes co-founding in 2003 Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity and work on the National Advisory Board for Veterans for Peace. Listen to additional episodes in this series...
2022-06-141h 23Just World PodcastsThe Urgency of Banning Nukes: Conversation with Prof. Ted PostolThis was the inaugural conversation in Just World Educational's project to produce and share multimedia resources to inform, educate, and engage new generations of (especially) Americans on the need to Ban All Nuclear Weapons and dismantle all existing nuclear arsenals, including our own. In this convo, co-hosts Helena Cobban and Amelle Zeroug discussed the growth of two massive nuclear arsenals since WW2 (in the USA and Russia) with JWE board member Rick Sterling and Prof. Ted Postol, who's a professor emeritus of science, technology, and national security policy at MIT. Pos...
2022-06-061h 20Just World PodcastsHelena Cobban and Richard Falk talk nuclear realities at Mt. DiabloOn May 20, JWE President Helena Cobban spoke at an event on the Ukraine Crisis and the nuclear risks associated with it that was hosted by the Mount Diablo Center for Peace and Justice in Walnut Creek, California. JWE board member Richard Falk contributed a video message to this event, which took the form of a 20-minute dialogue that Ms. Cobban had conducted with him a couple of days before.This podcast episode takes the form of a slightly clunky mix of the live audio from the event, the audio from the Falk dialogue, and some w...
2022-05-2532 min
Just World PodcastsRichard Falk & Helena Cobban, Ukraine: Stop the Carnage, Build the Peace!This virtual conversation between Helena Cobban and Richard Falk was pre-recorded for the Friends of Mt Diablo Peace and Justice Center for screening on May 20th, 2022.For more information or to download Just World Educational’s report “Ukraine: Stop the Carnage, Build the Peace!” please visit www.justworldeducational.org.Support the show
2022-05-2022 min
Just World PodcastsReport Launch, Ukraine: Stop the Carnage, Build the Peace!The launch of our report “Ukraine: Stop the Carnage, Build the Peace!” in which Helena Cobban and Richard Falk were joined by Katrina vanden Heuvel, Medea Benjamin, Gar Smith, Ray McGovern, David Swanson, Cynthia Lazaroff, Rick Sterling, and David Barash to discuss the crisis in Ukraine and the policy recommendations included in the report.Support the show
2022-04-201h 06
Just World Podcasts"#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World" with Dr. David Barash & Cynthia LazaroffThe eighth and final session of "#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World," a biweekly series of online convos hosted by JWE Pres. Helena Cobban and Board Member Richard Falk, joined this week by guests Dr. David Barash and Cynthia Lazaroff. For full bios and more info, please visit bit.ly/Ukr-UpdatesSupport the show
2022-03-281h 21
Just World Podcasts"#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World" with Phyllis Bennis and Indi SamarajivaThe seventh session of "#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World," a biweekly series of online convos hosted by JWE Pres. Helena Cobban and Board Member Richard Falk, joined this week by guests Phyllis Bennis and Indi Samarajiva. For full bios and more info, please visit bit.ly/Ukr-UpdatesSupport the show
2022-03-251h 17
Just World Podcasts"#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World" with Anatol Lieven and Ray McGovernThe sixth session of "#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World," a biweekly series of online convos hosted by JWE Pres. Helena Cobban and Board Member Richard Falk, joined this week by guests Anatol Lieven and Ray McGovern. For full bios and more info, please visit bit.ly/Ukr-UpdatesSupport the show
2022-03-211h 17
Just World Podcasts"#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World" with Dr. Radha Kumar and Dr. Mary KaldorThe fifth session of "#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World," a biweekly series of online convos hosted by JWE Pres. Helena Cobban and Board Member Richard Falk, joined this week by guests Dr. Radha Kumar and Dr. Mary Kaldor. For full bios and more info, please visit bit.ly/Ukr-UpdatesSupport the show
2022-03-211h 13
Just World Podcasts"#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World" with Bill Fletcher, Jr., Erik Sperling and Marcus StanleyThe fourth session of "#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World," a biweekly series of online convos hosted by JWE Pres. Helena Cobban and Board Member Richard Falk, joined this week by guests Bill Fletcher, Jr., Erik Sperling and Marcus Stanley. For full bios and more info, please visit bit.ly/Ukr-UpdatesSupport the show
2022-03-211h 18
Just World Podcasts"#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World" with Medea Benjamin and Marjorie CohnThe third session of "#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World," a biweekly series of online convos hosted by JWE Pres. Helena Cobban and Board Member Richard Falk, joined this week by guests Medea Benjamin and Marjorie Cohn. For full bios and more info, please visit bit.ly/Ukr-UpdatesSupport the show
2022-03-101h 05
Just World Podcasts"#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World" with Amb. Chas Freeman, Jr. and Katrina vanden HeuvelThe first session of "#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World," a biweekly series of online convos hosted by JWE Pres. Helena Cobban and Board Member Richard Falk, joined this week by guests Amb. Chas Freeman, Jr. and Katrina vanden Heuvel. For full bios and more info, please visit bit.ly/Ukr-UpdatesSupport the show
2022-03-091h 13
Just World Podcasts"#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World" with Vijay Prashad & Lyle GoldsteinThe first session of "#UkraineCrisis: Building a Just and Peaceful World," a biweekly series of online convos hosted by JWE Pres. Helena Cobban and Board Member Richard Falk, joined this week by guests Vijay Prashad and Lyle Goldstein. For full bios and more info, please visit bit.ly/Ukr-UpdatesSupport the show
2022-03-071h 01
Just World PodcastsThe World From Palestine: Episode 6This week on The World From Palestine, co-hosts Helena Cobban and Yousef Aljamal untangle the ways in which empires erase and appropriate the cultures of indigenous peoples, whose lands they settle and steal. Support the show
2022-02-2531 min
Just World PodcastsThe World From Palestine: Episode 5In this week's episode, Helena and Yousef take us on a journey from Rwanda to India to understand the classic “divide and rule” tactic that belays many imperial projects and the various strategies indigenous people have used to push back.Support the show
2022-02-1833 min
Just World PodcastsThe World From Palestine: Episode 4In this episode, Helena and Yousef examine how colonial powers throughout history, including Israel, have used various forms of mass incarceration as a central tool in their project to control the indigenous populations of the areas they are colonizing.Support the show
2022-02-1133 min
Just World PodcastsThe World From Palestine: Episode 3This episode delves into the the dire environmental impact that West-European settler-colonial projects have always had on the lands and peoples that have been their target. From Israeli afforestation to the near-extinction of buffalo in the Great Plains of North America, Helena and Yousef break down settler attempts to appropriate resources and destroy indigenous self-sufficiency. Support the show
2022-02-0429 min
Just World PodcastsThe World From Palestine: Episode 2This week, co-hosts Helena Cobban and Yousef Aljamal break down the myths settler states have used throughout the past six centuries to erase indigenous populations and justify their occupation. Support the show
2022-01-2838 min
Just World PodcastsThe World From Palestine: Episode 1This is the first episode in our new podcast series “The World From Palestine.” In this series, JWE President Helena Cobban and Palestinian scholar Yousef AlJamal will be jointly exploring the intersections between Palestine’s liberation struggle and other anti-imperialist struggles throughout history, and until today. Today, Helena and Yousef discuss hunger striking and other forms of resistance to imperial efforts to isolate and punish intellectuals and freedom fighters.Support the show
2022-01-2130 minJust World PodcastsU.S.-China Public Dialogue, Session 2, Economic Affairs Just World Educational's President, Helena Cobban, hosts the second session of the groundbreaking “US-China public dialogue” that JWE is holding in collaboration with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University in Beijing. This dialogue session features two great specialists who discuss some of the currently contested issues in the trade, investment, technology, and other aspects of the two countries' relations.The featured experts are:Dr. Yukon Huang, a senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Dr. Huang was formerly the World Bank’s country directo...
2020-10-3157 minJust World PodcastsUS-China Public Dialogue, Session 1, Political-military Affairs Just World Ed President Helena Cobban hosts the first session of the groundbreaking “US-China public dialogue” that JWE is holding in collaboration with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University in Beijing. This dialogue session features two wonderful specialists who discuss some of the big-picture topics of contention in the relationship and dive in some detail into the thorny issue of the South China Sea.From Beijing (actually, Guangzhou, in southern China) we had Ambassador He Yafei, a Senior Fellow with the Chongyang Institute who has held many high...
2020-10-171h 03
Just World PodcastsDr. Lyle Goldstein discusses US-China relations with Helena CobbanAt a time when US-China tensions seem to be increasing, Just World Educational is launching a new project on the shifting balance between the two countries, as Phase 2 of its continuing "World After Covid" project. In this phase of the project, JWE will be releasing the materials from each of the sessions held in podcast format as well as video and text. To see all the materials produced during this phase and the previous phase of the project, visit the "Resources" section of our website, www.justworldeducational.org.In today's episode, Ms. Cobban discusses key aspects of...
2020-10-1047 min
Talk World RadioTalk Nation Radio: Helena Cobban on the State of the U.S. EmpireHelena Cobban is a veteran analyst of international affairs and an anti-imperialist activist who campaigns for human equality at all levels. She's a Quaker who lives in Washington DC, which she describes as "the belly of the beast." Helena has authored seven books on international issues, four of which have been about the Middle East; and for 20 years she contributed a regular column about global affairs to The Christian Science Monitor. She has also been a publisher. Her company, Just World Books, has helped midwife the work of writers like Miko Peled, Laila El-Haddad, Leila Abdelrazaq, and David Swanson. She's...
2020-05-2629 min
Just World PodcastsFrank Joyce discusses issues in the antiwar movement with Helena CobbanThis episode is an inter-season special: an interview Just World Educational President Helena Cobban conducted with Frank Joyce, a veteran antiwar and workers-rights organizer who was the co-editor, along with Dr. Karin Aguilar-San Juan, of the 2015 anthology The People Make the Peace: Lessons from the Vietnam Antiwar Movement.In July this year, Frank Joyce and four other American antiwar activists went back to Ha Noi again: this time, to celebrate the launching of the Vietnamese edition of The People Make the Peace. You can read more about their latest visit to Vietnam in this blog post on...
2019-08-1142 min
Just World PodcastsStory-Backstory ep. 13: Bolton: pushing the United States into a war against Iran?On this week’s podcast, Just World Educational's president, Helena Cobban, discusses the currently high tensions between the United States and Iran with Amb. Chas W Freeman, Jr., a very distinguished former American diplomatist and the author of a number of very informative books. The most recent of these are collections of his essays on, respectively, US-Chinese relations and US policies in the Middle East.This week’s podcast is linked to a column Ms. Cobban wrote that ran May 15 on the Mondoweiss website, under the title “Bolton pushing United States to over-reach in Ira...
2019-05-1730 min
Just World PodcastsSBS ep.12: Thinking fast and slow in reporting Israel-Gaza fightingThis week’s podcast is Number Twelve in our multi-week “Story/Backstory” project, which explores Washington’s current policies in the Middle East, and the Middle East itself, in a broader historical perspective. It is a complement to a column by Just World Ed President Helena Cobbanthat ran May 8th on the Mondoweiss website, “Thinking fast and slow in reporting Israeli-Gaza fighting”, in which she drew on her own long background as a reporter in war and conflict situations. There's a handy "Checklist for anti-Palestinian reporting bias" that's posted on our blog, that goes along with this package...
2019-05-1039 min
Just World PodcastsSBS ep.11: Saudi Arabia’s assault on Yemen, and U.S. involvement in itThis timely episode focuses on Saudi Arabia's very destructive and now four-year-long war on Yemen, and the direct participation in it of some units of the U.S. military. In early April, the two houses of Congress enacted legislation to end this participation. Pres. Trump vetoed that legislation. Then yesterday, May 2, the Senate held a vote to try to over-ride the veto, and they failed. The weekly podcasts in this "Story-Backstory" project are all linked to written opinion columns that get published a couple of days earlier… This week’s column ran May 1 on the Mondoweiss website, under...
2019-05-0333 min
Just World PodcastsStory-Backstory ep. 10: The UAE and Gulf Arab state influence-buying in WashingtonThis episode in the "Story-Backstory" series is a complement to the article that Helena Cobban published on Mondoweiss on April 25, exploring a small window that the Mueller Report provided into the world of the influence-buying operations undertaken by the UAE and other rich Arab Gulf states in Washington DC. In this episode, Ms. Cobban interviews Ben Freeman of the Center for International Policy, to discuss the extensive influence operations undertaken in Washington by the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Israel. At one key point, Freeman notes that the same lobbying and p.r...
2019-04-2642 min
Just World PodcastsStory-Backstory ep.8: Algeria's popular movement making wavesSince late February, the large North African country of Algeria has been the site of a massive popular movement that every Friday brings millions of people into the streets demanding deepseated reform. The protests were sparked when the country’s ageing president Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced that he would be seeking a fifth term in office. Last week, Bouteflika announced that he would not run again, and also that he would immediately resign. The country’s very powerful army chief Gaid Salah also announced the postponement of the planned presidential elections until July. These steps did not satisfy the d...
2019-04-1231 min
Just World PodcastsStory-Backstory ep.7: Palestinian Jerusalem faces Israel's assaultsJust World Educational President Helena Cobban and guest Nora Lester Murad discuss Israel's continuing waves of attack against Palestinian life in Jerusalem, which Ms. Murad describes here as "The front-line of the Palestinians' ongoing Nakba." Ms. Murad is the co-author of the recently published book Rest In My Shade.This episode is a complement to the column Ms. Cobban published on this topic in Mondoweiss on April 3, 2019.Support the show
2019-04-0534 min
Just World PodcastsStory-Backstory ep. 6: Trump's support for Israel's Golan annexationJust World Educational president Helena Cobban and guest Amb. Peter Ford look at the implications of Pres. Trump's March 25 decision to break with decades of US policy and provide official US support for Israel's annexation of Syria's Golan. This episode is a complement to the column Ms. Cobban published on this topic in Mondoweiss, March 26.Support the show
2019-03-2942 min
Just World PodcastsStory/Backstory ep.5: Beating Israel's "But Khamas!" ployThis episode of the "Story/Backstory" series is related to the column "Beating Israel's 'But Khamas!' ploy" that was released on the Mondoweiss website on March 20. In this episode, JWE president Helena Cobban tries something a little new. Instead of starting off by reading the text of the column, she briefly summarizes it, and then dives right into the deeper backstory, providing her take on what's needed to prevent this commonly used Israeli ploy from succeeding. In the second half of this episode, she introduces some excerpts from the audio of a fascinating presentation that Ahmed Abu Ar...
2019-03-2218 min
Just World PodcastsStory/Backstory ep.4: Gaza the crucibleJust World Ed president Helena Cobban reads the column she had on this topic on Mondoweiss on March 13, which asked whether the Great March of Return movement that has swept the Gaza Strip for the past 50 weeks, may be the third great political movement to be born in Gaza. In the second half of this episode she discusses the Great March of Return with British-Palestinian author and activist Dr. Azzam Tamimi.Support the show
2019-03-1530 min
Just World PodcastsStory/Backstory episode 3: The two-state solution is deadJust World Ed president Helena Cobban first of all reads the column she published March 6 on Mondoweiss, "The two-state solution is dead. Let's plan for the one state." Then, she discusses the issue of one-state vs. two-state with special guest William B. Quandt, former Middle East advisor to Pres. Jimmy Carter...Support the show
2019-03-0938 min
Just World PodcastsStory/Backstory episode 2: The curious case of US domination of Palestine-Israel peacemakingIn this episode in our "Story/Backstory" miniseries, JWE president Helena Cobban first reads, then reflects on her most recent 1,300-word op-ed on U.S. policies in the Middle East. For more details on this project, visit the blog on our website.Support the show
2019-03-0124 min
Just World PodcastsStory/Backstory, episode 1: The longer arc of U.S.-Palestine relationsThis is the first episode in our new "Story/Backstory" miniseries, which combines both the reading by JWE president Helena Cobban of her most recent 1,300-word op-ed on U.S. policies in the Middle East, with a slightly longer segment in which she reflects on some of the issues raised by the op-ed. For more details, visit the blog on our website.Support the show
2019-02-2226 min