Head to Head

In this episode of Head to Head, Mehdi Hasan challenges African National Congress (ANC) stalwart Baleka Mbete on whether, in the 25 years since apartheid, her party has betrayed Nelson Mandela's legacy and the dreams of South Africa's rainbow nation. Over the past quarter century, access to education has significantly improved and the rights of all South Africans to free basic healthcare has been guaranteed. But the ANC's successes have been overshadowed by rising youth unemployment, recent xenophobic attacks on African immigrants and ongoing allegations of systemic corruption, with former President Jacob Zuma currently facing trial. From fighting apartheid, Mbete rose to become one of South Africa's most powerful women, serving as deputy president, speaker of the National Assembly, and chair of the ANC. We ask whether the ANC, and Mbete personally, have done enough to hold Zuma to account, and keep Mandela's dream of a united Africa alive. Hasan and Mbete are joined by a panel of three experts: - Makhosi Khoza - former South African politician who resigned from the ANC in 2017, after calling for President Zuma to step down - Xolani Xala - founder of South African Business Abroad and member of the ANC - Andrew Feinstein - former South African politician and author of 'After the Party: A Personal Journey Inside the ANC'. He is now director of Corruption Watch UK Has South Africa's ruling party betrayed Mandela's legacy? With Baleka Mbete, first broadcast on October 18, 2019, at 20:00 GMT with repeats on October 19 at 12:00GMT, October 20 at 01:00 GMT, and October 21 at 06:00 GMT. - Follow us on: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AJHeadToHeadand Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJHeadtoHead Watch previous Head to Head shows here: https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/headtohead/ - - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Editor's note: Since the recording of this show on September 30, 2019, Rachel Warby has been deselected and is no longer the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Brexit Party. In this episode of Head to Head, Mehdi Hasan challenges businessman-turned-politician Richard Tice, the chair of the United Kingdom's Brexit Party, on his campaign for a "no deal" or "clean" exit from the European Union. In addition to being elected as a member of the European Parliament (MEP) in May 2019, Tice cofounded the successful pro-Brexit campaign Leave.EU before the June 2016 referendum. He went on to fund the Leave Means Leave campaign immediately after the vote. Tice dismisses official warnings about the impact of a "no-deal" Brexit on the UK's economy and believes that sovereignty is paramount, adding: "We get back our sovereignty from the European Union, back to Parliament, and back to the people. So that is, you know, that is something that is absolutely priceless, we must achieve that." Hasan and Tice are joined by a panel of three experts: Graham Gudgin - a pro-Brexit economist at Cambridge University and chief economic adviser at the conservative think-tank, Policy Exchange Jonathan Lis - the deputy director for the pro-Europe think-tank, British Influence Ash Sarkar - a senior editor at the progressive online media outlet, Novara Media After the recording at the Oxford Union, Tice said: "The ultimate challenge is both to survive and enjoy an hour of intense Head to Head with Mehdi Hasan. It sharpens you up and keeps you on your toes. I loved it!" (October 1, 2019) No-deal Brexit: Destiny or disaster? with Richard Tice first broadcast on October 11, 2019, at 20:00 GMT and repeat telecasts on October 12 at 12:00GMT, October 13 at 01:00 GMT, and October 14 at 06:00 GMT. - - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

In this episode of Head to Head, Mehdi Hasan asks Donald Trump's senior economic adviser Stephen Moore about "Trumponomics", the US president’s leadership style, and racism. Trump has made promises to more than double previous economic growth, revive industries like coal, and slash the debt and the deficit. But has he delivered? The national debt is now skyrocketing to levels not seen since World War II and the trade war with China has experts fearing a global recession. "Trump makes grandiose promises," Moore told Hasan. "He exaggerates and sometimes I wish he wouldn’t do that. But if you compare where the economy is today versus where it was when he entered office, it’s substantially stronger." Moore, a conservative commentator and economist at the Heritage Foundation, is also an adviser to the Trump 2020 re-election campaign. He told Hasan he helped write immigration legislation, referring to a bill supported by President Trump and introduced by Republican senators. Moore, however, said he does not agree with some of the government’s positions on immigration. When challenged on policies limiting legal immigration and the dire situation in migrant detention centres at the US-Mexico border, Moore said conditions in every centre he visited had been humane. "But I do believe that until we get the border secure and we get that wall built, once we do that, we can increase our legal immigration." When pressed further on the numerous false statements Trump has made, like needing an ID to buy a box of cereal and suggesting that wind turbines cause cancer, Moore said, "Donald Trump would be better off to stop talking so much and let his record speak for itself". "What I'm saying is, what Americans care about is his performance, his results, not what he says and how he acts," he added. This is the first Head to Head episode with an audience recorded in the United States and marks the beginning of a new series. It takes place in front of an audience at the George Washington University in Washington DC. We are joined by a panel of three experts: - Tiffany Cross - liberal commentator, co-founder and managing editor of the US news outlet, The Beat DC - Rick Wilson - former political strategist for the Republican Party, conservative critic of President Trump, and author of Everything Trump Touches Dies - Jenna Ellis Rives - constitutional lawyer, member of the Trump 2020 Advisory Board, and author of The Legal Basis for a Moral Constitution - - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

In this episode of Head to Head, Mehdi Hasan challenges Charles Liu, Senior Fellow at Peking University, seasoned Chinese entrepreneur and informal adviser to the Chinese government, on Xi Jinping’s record in power so far, the government’s crackdown on the Uighur Muslim minority, and what role for China if it becomes the 21st century’s military and economic superpower. With the presidential term limit abolished in 2018, critics say that Chinese President Xi Jinping appears to be paving the way to being able to stay in power for life, but Charles Liu, founder of Hao Capital, disputes this. Separately, despite lower-than-predicted growth, China is still growing substantially and is set to become the world’s biggest economy. But the economic boom has been paired with an increase in state surveillance and crackdowns on dissent, as well as the repression of the Muslim Uighur minority. So at what cost has China’s economic miracle come? And what’s the future for civil liberties of the Chinese people? In recent years China has also increased its military spending while some Chinese officials have been ratcheting up their militaristic rhetoric, raising fears of direct military confrontation with the United States. On this Head to Head episode filmed at the Oxford Union, we challenge Charles Liu on all these topics, ask him whether the Chinese economy has hit a wall, and whether China’s neighbours should dismiss their fears as his country builds up its military and extends its global reach. We are joined by a panel of three experts: Andreas Fulda - China Specialist at Asia Research Institute and Assistant Professor at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham. Victor Gao - Vice President of the Beijing based Center for China and Globalization and former interpreter for the late President Deng Xiaoping. Steve Tsang - Professor and Director of the China Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London. What is the human cost to China’s economic miracle? with Charles Liu will be broadcast on March 15 at 20:00 GMT and will be repeated on March 16 at 12:00 GMT, March 17 at 01:00GMT and March 18 at 06:00 GMT. Follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AJHeadToHead) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/AJHeadtoHead). Watch previous Head to Head episodes here: https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/headtohead/episodes.html Head to Head is Al Jazeera's forum for ideas, a gladiatorial contest tackling big issues such as faith, nationalism, democracy and foreign intervention, in front of an opinionated audience at the Oxford Union. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

In this episode of Head to Head, Mehdi Hasan challenges Erik Prince, the founder and former CEO of Blackwater, on his security firm’s performance during the Iraq war, the “exit strategy” he’s proposing for the war in Afghanistan, and his support for US President Donald Trump. During the early years of the Bush administration’s so-called ‘War on Terror’, Blackwater grew into one of the most profitable private military contractors in the US. Over the years, it received over a billion dollars’ worth of government contracts to provide security to top US officials, train members of the Iraqi army and police, and support the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Department of Defense’s counternarcotics programme in Afghanistan. But following the 2007 Nisour Square incident where Blackwater employees shot and killed 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians at a traffic circle, the firm and its founder shot to international notoriety, highlighting the clear dangers of using armed military contractors on the battlefield. Prince, a former US Navy SEAL, has since been channeling his efforts to train security personnel abroad, including most recently in China, where he launched the Hong Kong-based Frontier Services Group, a security and logistics company. He’s also offered a proposal to end the costly, ongoing US-led war in Afghanistan – the longest in US history – by privatising the bulk of it: replacing thousands of US troops with private contractors and sending NATO forces home. But is he really the man to bring peace to the war-torn country? In front of the Oxford Union audience, we challenge Prince on the record of his private contractors in the Iraq war and ask him to explain how his controversial plan for the conflict in Afghanistan would bring it to an end. We’ll also ask Prince, who previously served as an informal advisor to President Trump and has been interviewed by both the US House Intelligence Committee and Special Counsel Robert Mueller, about his ties to the current administration. We are joined by a panel of three experts: Sean McFate, a former private military contractor, former officer in the US army, and author of the book, The New Rules of War. Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, an award-winning Guardian journalist from Iraq who’s covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and beyond. Tim Collins, a former commander in the British Army and co-founder of the private military consulting company, New Century. This episode will be broadcast March 8 at 20:00 GMT and will be repeated on March 9 at 12:00 GMT, March 10 at 01:00GMT and March 11 at 06:00 GMT. Follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AJHeadToHead) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/AJHeadtoHead). Watch previous Head to Head episodes here: https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/headtohead/episodes.html Head to Head is Al Jazeera's forum for ideas, a gladiatorial contest tackling big issues such as faith, nationalism, democracy and foreign intervention, in front of an opinionated audience at the Oxford Union. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/