Geopolitical Economy Hour

How Can a $1.5 Trillion Military Keep Losing? | US Military Analysis By KJ Noh & Radhika Desai

54 min · 15 de jun de 2026
Portada del episodio How Can a $1.5 Trillion Military Keep Losing? | US Military Analysis By KJ Noh & Radhika Desai

Descripción

Is the US military worth the $1.5 trillion being spent on it? President Biden called the US militarily ‘the most powerful nation in the history of the world.’ On the campaign trail Kamala Harriss called it the ‘strongest most lethal fighting force in the world. President Trump has called it ‘the strongest military on the face of the earth’. Events, however, have belied this cross-party consensus. The Iran is clearly failing. The international relations specialist Stephen Walt today called on Trump to ‘just admit defeat’. And this most recent failure is not an exception. The ignominious defeat in Afghanistan recalled that in Vietnam, Iraq became a quagmire within a couple of years. Apart from overrunning tiny countries like Grenada and Panama, the US has no military successes to name. Before Vietnam, Korea ended in stalemate. How can such an astronomically expensive military fail so abysmally? That is the question I discuss with K J Noh, the superbly informed scholar, journalist and activist with a knack for excellent analogies…..

Comentarios

0

Sé la primera persona en comentar

¡Regístrate ahora y únete a la comunidad de Geopolitical Economy Hour!

Prueba gratis

Empieza 7 días de prueba

$99 / mes después de la prueba. · Cancela cuando quieras.

  • Podcasts solo en Podimo
  • 20 horas de audiolibros al mes
  • Podcast gratuitos

Todos los episodios

20 episodios

episode Everyone Says WW3 Is Coming. Is this true? | Radhika Desai Geopolitical Economy Explainer artwork

Everyone Says WW3 Is Coming. Is this true? | Radhika Desai Geopolitical Economy Explainer

Are we entering World War III? As conflicts spread across multiple regions and tensions rise among major powers, many commentators warn that a new world war is already underway. In this explainer, I argue that while today's conflicts are serious and dangerous, they are fundamentally different from the world wars of the twentieth century. Those wars emerged from the rivalries of competing imperial powers in a colonial world order that no longer exists. By examining the historical origins of world wars, the role of imperialism, and the transformations brought about by anti-colonial and socialist struggles, I explain why understanding today's conflicts requires a different perspective.

29 de jun de 202622 min
episode Nuclear Scientist: They Are Pushing For Nuclear War | Ivana Hughes And Radhika Desai artwork

Nuclear Scientist: They Are Pushing For Nuclear War | Ivana Hughes And Radhika Desai

Are we living through the most dangerous nuclear moment since the dawn of the atomic age? The evidence suggests we are, and yet nuclear weapons have all but disappeared from public discourse in the West. I am joined by Professor Ivana Nikolić Hughes, president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and senior lecturer in chemistry at Columbia University, to explore why the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has failed, who is really driving nuclear escalation, and why the history of capitalism and imperialism cannot be separated from the history of nuclear weapons. The primary responsibility for the escalating danger of nuclear war lies not in Moscow or Beijing, but in Washington, London, and Paris.

28 de jun de 202655 min
episode The Deal Israel Feared Most Came To Life | Interview With Mohammad Marandi artwork

The Deal Israel Feared Most Came To Life | Interview With Mohammad Marandi

As more information about the content of the Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran emerges, the full scale of Iran’s resounding victory is becoming clear. This interview with the renowned Professor Marandi, we explore the scale of the defeat of the US and Israel, the vindication of the Islamic Republic’s historic support for the oppressed and downtrodden of the world, the direct result of this victory in empowering the people around the world, in particular in the West Asian region, where imperialism has supported autocracy for over a century and used them as supports for Zionism, and even in the US, where popular revulsion against the war played a critical role in forcing Trump to end the War. Resources mentioned by Mohammad Marandi: 1. Going to Tehran by Flynt Leverett 2. Resistance: The Essence of the Islamist Revolution by Alastair Crooke 3. Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare by Gareth Porter 4. A Dangerous Delusion: Why the West Is Wrong about Nuclear Iran by David Morrison and Peter Oborne

24 de jun de 20261 h 10 min