Podcasts

Most Recent: Episode #18

This week on the podcast, US Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., makes the case for a Joe Biden foreign policy in the Middle East and discusses the Trump Administration’s policies toward Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Israeli normalization deals with Bahrain and the UAE. He also explains how, in his view, Russia and China are gaining at the expense of the US in the region.

• Israel’s Gulf diplomacy and its discontents  
• Sen. Van Hollen speaks on Israeli annexation
• Sen. Van Hollen challenges Trump's bypass of Congress on Saudi Arabia, Iran

Most Recent: Episode #17

On this week’s episode, foreign news editor of Israel’s Channel 13 Nadav Eyal explains to Ben Caspit how the government failed in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and why it pushed Israel to become the first western state to impose a second nationwide lockdown. Israel opened up its economy much too early after the first lockdown, with large weddings and mass gathering, Eyal says. “Even in Sweden they do not allow wedding of more than 50 people.”

• Coronavirus-infected Israel, on brink of anarchy
• Coronavirus rages, but Netanyahu goes to Washington
• Israeli women excluded from decision-making on coronavirus
• Israel advances 'travel bubble' with other Mediterranean countries

| Apr. 1, 2020

As the coronavirus crisis continues to grip the world, the markets have been on the shakiest ground yet since the 2008 economic recession - especially with regards to the price of oil. In the last few years, Saudi Arabia and Russia have developed a special relationship to stabilize oil prices in the face of growing competition from the Americans, who for the first time has begun to outpace both countries in terms of production. But when demand for oil began to fall precipitously in the face of COVID-19, the relationship ended in a messy way. Phil and Cooper break down the bad breakup and how it’s affected economies worldwide.