The New World Disorder (Robert Wright & Thomas Friedman)
nonzero.substack.com
Jun 2 • 58M
The New World Disorder (Robert Wright & Thomas Friedman)
Appears in this episode
Robert Wright
Conversations with a series of people who have nothing in common except that program host Robert Wright is curious about what they’re thinking.
Episode details
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1:31 China’s role in Saudi-Iran rapprochement
7:10 The legacy of Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal
12:25 Does Israel have a Palestine plan?
24:12 Tensions resurface in Kosovo
29:03 NATO expansion and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
35:31 Has the US mismanaged its relationship with Russia?
43:53 Prospects for peace in Ukraine—or for massive military escalation
56:26 A message from Bob about this week's Parrot Room
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Thomas Friedman (The New York Times). Recorded May 31, 2023.
Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66256
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods
The New World Disorder (Robert Wright & Thomas Friedman)
Thomas Friedman was among the worst hacks in elite journalism for most of my life. His support for the Iraq War was a catastrophic error that should not be forgotten, and his coverage of Israel simply erased the interests of the Palestinians like journalists erased the interests of the Plains Indians back in the 19th Century.
However, the past couple of years, he’s gotten much better. I give him credit where it’s due.
I will make one comment regarding his coverage of the Palestinians: he seems to confuse “the Palestinians” as a people with “the Palestinian political leadership” who are widely unpopular with the Palestinian people. He needs to start getting in touch with the perspective of the Palestinian people, not the wantonly corrupt and feckless political class. He could start by doing a series of extended interviews with Palestinian teenagers. Why teenagers? Because most Palestinians are in their teens and early 20s! They have a very young median age; it’s only the politicians who are old men with gray hair.