Bungacast

Excerpt: /307/ Aufhebonus Bonus (Dec 2022)

On your questions & criticisms.

[Patreon Exclusive]

We debate what kind of work 'shared-labour socialism' would involve in a complex society, and what role 'dispossession' or 'expropriation' has in the contemporary economy. Plus: strategies on Ukraine – backing independence, guerilla warfare, and what an 'anti-NATO' stance actually looks like; and whether the forces exist for exiting the EU.

Fill out our 2022 Listener Survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XNLTVLB 

/303/ The Failure of the French Forever War ft. Yvan Guichaoua

On Mali and the Sahel.

 

French president Emmanuel Macron declared the end of Opération Barkhane on 9 November 2022, bringing to an end to nearly 10 years of French military intervention in Mali. But what is the legacy of the French Forever War in the Sahel, and what happens next?

 

Sahel expert Yvan Guichaou joins us to talk about French defeat in the war on terror, the continued French military presence in the region, the growing extent of jihadi power, as well as the crisis of the post-colonial state in Africa and the new geo-politics of Franco-Russian competition in the region. How do these various political forces intersect with the political economy of aid and smuggling networks?

 

[Part 2 is available to subscribers at patreon.com/bungacast]

 

Readings:

• Norms, non-combatants' agency and restraint in Jihadi violence in Northern Mali, Yvan Guichaoua and Ferdaous Bouhlel, International Interactions
• The bitter harvest of French interventionism in the Sahel, Yvan Guichaoua, International Affairs

Music: Nous Non Plus / Bunga Bunga / courtesy of Sugaroo!

Excerpt: /302/ Aufhebonus Bonus (Nov 2022)

On your questions & criticisms.

[Patreon Exclusive]

 

The weakness of anti-EU forces; the implications of defending Ukrainian sovereignty; what should we call the new far-right and what does it *do* in power? And the gravity of nuclear war

 

Also, is Phil okay?

/300/ Bunga at the End of the World

On nuclear exterminism. 

To commemorate our 300th episode, we discuss how the world is closer to a nuclear conflict than at any point since the Cold War. After decades of inconsequential 'permawar' (at least inside the Western bubble), the proxy war in Ukraine between NATO and Russia is suddenly very consequential indeed.

How does our situation differ from that of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis? Why might it be more unpredictable? Does today's very different ideological configuration make war more or less likely?

Before that, we reflect on five and half years of Bungacast, how the world has changed over the period, and pick out some of our favourite episode from the past half-decade.

The main discussion begins at 23mins.

Readings:

• Who will stop Putin from going nuclear?, Philip Cunliffe, UnHerd
• How to prevent World War III, Philip Cunliffe, UnHerd
• Notes on Exterminism, the Last Stage of Civilisation, EP Thompson, New Left Review
• The War in Ukraine Could Lead to Nuclear War, Anatol Lieven, Quincy Institute

Excerpt: /295/ Aufhebonus Bonus: October

On who's responsible for prolonging the Ukraine War + your questions & criticisms.

 

[Patreon Exclusive]

 

We start off by discussing whether the Zelensky tail is wagging the NATO dog, and what possible exits to conflict there might be. 

 

Then, in the main section, we respond to listener comments: we talk about the possibility of a "Chinese Dream", what the point of economic growth is, the monarchy and modernisation, and whether 'fascism' is an appropriate term for the far right today.

Excerpt: /293/ Goodbye 20th Century (RIP Gorby)

On the meaning of Gorbachev.

 

[Patreon Exclusive]

 

Mikhail Gorbachev continues to be lauded in Western circles for overseeing the collapse of the Soviet Union without much bloodshed. But given the historic societal disaster that followed, is this status unmerited? How naive was Gorbachev about the wolves at the door? And to what extent was the writing on the wall by the late '80s – was there an alternative path not taken?

 

Readings:

• Big Man Walking: Gorbachev’s Dispensation, Neal Ascherson, LRB, 2017
• Voices of Glasnost review 
• Why Gorbachev Failed, Slavoj Zizek, Compact

 

Listenings:

• OK BUNGER! The Problem of Generations, pt. 4 (on Gen X, the End of History and Soviet collapse)
• /276/ Broken Promises ft. Fritz Bartel (on the end of the Cold War and the rise of neoliberalism)
• /270/ Russia vs the West ft. Richard Sakwa (on the geopolitics of NATO expansion)

/286/ What Was Communism? ft. Branko Milanovic

On Communism's historic role.

 

We talk to renowned Serbian-American economist Branko Milanovic about growing up in Yugoslavia and how, in much of the world, History never ended. We then dedicate much of the episode to discussing Branko's claim that communism was essentially an engine of economic convergence, allowing developing countries to haul themselves into the industrial age.

 

We also talk about Branko's work on inequality and why growth still matters. 

 

Readings:

• Capitalism, Alone, Branko Milanovic, Harvard UP
• The Aloofness of Pax Sinica, Branko Milanovic, Global Policy Journal

/281/ Foreign Fighters, Left & Right (I) ft. Stefan Bertram-Lee

On Rojava and Ukraine.

We talk to Stefan Bertram-Lee, former volunteer fighter for the the YPG in Rojava, about whom a Hollywood movie is being made. We ask him about the type of person who volunteers, and how this compares to those who have gone to Ukraine. How does this stop you "being a teenage nihilist"? And who would win in a fight: ISIS, Azov or the YPG?

Part two of this episode is available at: https://www.patreon.com/posts/70597308 

Reading:

• Ukraine the Day after Tomorrow, Stefan Bertram-Lee, Sublation
• The Nazification of Ukraine, Stefan Bertram-Lee, Sublation
• ‘Stefan Vs. ISIS’ Pic In Works, Deadline

Excerpt: /280/ Three Articles: Liberal Nationalism

[Patreon Exclusive]

With European liberals waving Ukraine flags, how might the war and escalating geopolitical tensions between major power be prompting a return to nationalism and patriotism? Is it just a means for elites to extract sacrifices from the people? And how 'real' are nations anyway?

Articles:

• As we unite for the jubilee, let’s believe Britain’s best days are ahead, not behind, Lucy Powell, The Guardian
• The Return of Liberal Nationalism, Sohrab Ahmari, Compact
• What Putin and liberals share, Aris Roussinos, Unherd

/276/ Broken Promises ft. Fritz Bartel

On the end of the Cold War and the rise of neoliberalism.

Fritz Bartel talks to us about his new book in which the 1970s crisis and its aftermath takes centre-stage. How did the response to this global crisis differ in Western democratic capitalism versus Eastern state socialism? And why did this determine which side won the Cold War? How did the twin factors of global finance and energy emerge then, to the extent they still seem so determining today?

We discuss Bartel's striking claim that democracies, rather than authoritarian systems, were better able to 'break promises' – that is, impose economic discipline. And we conclude by discussing whether it could have been otherwise, whether neoliberalism and the collapse of the 'really existing socialism' were inevitable.

Readings: 

• The Triumph of Broken Promises: The End of the Cold War and the Rise of Neoliberalism, Fritz Bartel, Harvard UP
• Democracy and Discipline: Review Essay, Alex Hochuli, American Affairs

/270/ Russia vs the West ft. Richard Sakwa

On the endgame to war in Ukraine.

 

Eminent Russian expert, Putin and Gorbachev biographer and ex-Sovietologist, Prof Richard Sakwa, joins us in advance of his imminent retirement from the University of Kent. We talk about the geopolitics of NATO expansion and the dynamics of the Ukraine war reaching back to 2014. How high is the risk of nuclear war now, and how might the Ukraine war play out?

Readings:

• Whisper it, but Putin has a point in Ukraine, Richard Sakwa, The Spectator
• The Dual State in Russia, Richard Sakwa, Post-Soviet Affairs
• A Review of 'Frontline Ukraine' by Richard Sakwa, Peter Hitchens, Mail on Sunday
• Putin Redux: Continuity and change, Richard Sakwa, openDemocracy

/254/ Three Articles: Ukraine

[Patreon Exclusive]

 

On US proxy wars, Russia's elite, Ukrainian neutrality.

 

'Three Articles' aims to provide serious political discussion on current affairs that we feel is lacking elsewhere, drawing out the logical conclusions of the three pieces' arguments.

 

Articles:

• A proxy war in Ukraine is the worst possible outcome — except for all the others, Sam Winter-Levy, War on the Rocks
• “Now we're going to f*ck them all.” What's happening in Russia's elites after a month of war, Farida Rustamova, Faridaily
• Zelensky’s muddled neutrality plan is not the answer for Ukraine, James Sherr, FT (attached)

/250/ Oil & Disorder ft. Helen Thompson

On energy, the material basis for all our politics?

Helen Thompson, podcaster and professor of political economy at Cambridge and author of Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century, joins us to talk about the geopolitics of oil, stretching from the 1956 Suez Crisis to the Fracking Revolution of today. How does US energy independence help explain shifting politics in Europe and the Middle East?

Plus, did the End of History stay afloat on a sea of cheap oil?  

Part 2 of the interview, plus our After Party, is here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/251-oil-disorder-64394535

Readings:

• Profits from fossil fuel energy power Russia's war machine, and Ukraine suffers, Helen Thompson, New Statesman
• What Is Fueling Our Century’s Global “Disorder”?, Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins, The Nation
• How Did Europe Get Hooked On Russian Energy?, Paul J. Davies, Bloomberg
  

Excerpt: /237/ Three Articles: Italy, Ukraine, Matrix

We take on Italy's election of a new president and what that tells us about permanent crisis, the EU and the curtailing of democracy; we ask how serious the risk of war in Ukraine actually is; and review a film we haven't seen.

 

The full episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

 

3 Articles:

• As war looms larger, what are Russia’s military options in Ukraine?, The Economist 
• How the EU destroyed Italian democracy, Thomas Fazi & Paolo Cornetti, Unherd
• Boringly postmodern and an ideological fantasy, Slavoj Zizek, The Spectator 

Others:

• Chartbook #70 Draghi for President?, Adam Tooze, Substack
• How serious is Vladimir Putin about launching a major Ukraine offensive?, Max Seddon, FT 

Excerpt: /234/ Three Articles: Restoration?

On Millennial homeowners, the USA falling apart, and restoration in the UK.

As better-off 30-somethings start to get on the property ladder, does this put paid to 'Generation Left'? Will American decline be accompanied by a second civil war - as China serenely watches on? And does Britain represent a return to the 'End of History'? Is everything becoming boring again?

 

This is an excerpt. For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast

Articles:

• Millennials Are Supercharging the Housing Market, Nicole Friedman, WSJ (attached)
• A tale of two elites in Washington and Beijing, Gideon Rachman, FT (attached)
• British politics suddenly feels small – and the old order is ‘taking back control’, Julian Coman