Bungacast

/461/ Welcome to the World of the Right ft. Michael C. Williams

On radical conservatism and global order.

Professor Michael C. Williams talks to George and Alex about his co-authored World of the Right and how the radical right has gone global. We discuss:

• Does academia takes the Right as seriously as it should?

• What's the difference between the radical right and the far right, the new right, national conservatives, or fascists?

• How is the right 'global' – not just through international conferences but by being "co-constituted by its relation to the global"?

• Why is the radical right focused on the global liberal managerial elite? What does it get right and what does it get wrong about this stratum?

• How did the radical right come to take Gramsci seriously?

• Is the radical right just parasitic on the breakdown of liberal universalism?

• What does this analysis of the radical right say about the Left – is it the force that protects the status quo of the liberal international order?

Links:

• World of the Right: Radical Conservatism and Global Order, Michael C. Williams et al., Cambridge UP

• /351/ Eating the Left’s Lunch? ft. Cecilia Lero & Tamás Gerőcs

• /129/ The Right Is Weak ft. Corey Robin

/456/ All Chips on Taiwan ft. James Lin

On Taiwan, semiconductors, and war.

[Full episode for subscribers only]

James Lin, Assistant Professor of International Studies at the University of Washington at Seattle, talks to Phil about Taiwanese politics and the country's place in the world, in terms of the global economy and Sino-American geopolitical rivalry. We talk about Taiwanese history and politics, from Japanese occupation and colonisation across the Cold War, to the present day, including: 

• Taiwanese politics in the shadow of the geopolitical crisis

• The paradox of political divergence and economic convergence between China and Taiwan since the 1980s

• How did Taiwan corner the market for manufacturing computer chips? 

• How successful is the ongoing US reshoring of chip production?

• Will there be a Marco Rubio/Elon Musk divide on China in the Trump White House? 

• How might a war over Taiwan play out? 

Links:

• In the Global Vanguard: Agrarian Development and the Making of Modern Taiwan, James Lin, UC Press

• What Works in Taiwan Doesn’t Always in Arizona, a Chipmaking Giant Learns, John Liu, NY Times

• Will Trump take the Musk path or the Rubio path on Taiwan?, Lev Nachman, Nikkei Asia

/444/ Opportunism & Revenge in the Middle East ft. Karl Sharro & Arash Azizi

On Israel's invasion of Lebanon and beyond.

Karl Sharro (Lebanese-Iraqi architect and satirist @KarlreMarks) and Iranian writer and historian Arash Azizi join us to discuss war in the Middle East. We ask:

• Is Israel finally waging the great war that will rid it of all enemies? 

• Does Israel have any real plan? What motivates its actions in Gaza and Lebanon?

• What is the impact on Hezbollah of losing its leadership layers?

• How will Iran respond and what is the balance between moderates and hardliners there?

• If Hezbollah is severely weakened, what happens to the Lebanese state?

• What should we make of the global culture war around Israel, Palestine and the rest

Links

• Lebanon in the heart of the storm, Akram Belkaïd, Monde Diplo

• Israel is not ‘saving western civilisation’. Nor is Hamas leading ‘the resistance’, Kenan Malik, The Guardian

• Iran Is Not Ready for War With Israel, Arash Azizi, The Atlantic

• /225/ Wokeistan & Lebanonworld ft. Karl Sharro

• /141/ Oh Lebanon, What Now? ft. Rima Majed

 

/436/ Slovakia's Four World Directions ft. Dominik Zelinsky

On corruption, charisma, populism & assassination in Slovakia.

Slovak sociologist Dominik Zelinksy joins us to discuss Slovakia's positioning between East and West. We discuss:

• Why was Prime Minister Robert Fico a target of an assassination attempt?

• Whether Fico – not a zany outsider but a competent insider – is a "populist"

• Why Slovaks are not so anti-Russian, and why they are sceptical of NATO

• How has anti-corruption politics played a role

• What is "charismatic mimicry" and why have Western leaders aped Ukraine's Zelenskyy?

Links:

• Slovakia's election: "more than a fight between democracy and autocracy", Dominik Zelinsky, LeftEast

• Assassination Attempt Prompts Soul-Searching in Slovakia, Jakub Bokes, Jacobin

• Slovakia’s Election Result Is About Declining Living Standards, Not Just Ukraine, Jakub Bokes, Jacobin

• Charismatic Mimicry: Innovation and Imitation in the Case of Volodymyr Zelensky, Paul Joosse & Dominik Zelinsky, Sociological Theory. Thread on Twitter/X about the article

 

/435/ Reading Club: Stalin's General – Winning WWII (sample)

On Geoffrey Roberts’ 2013 biography of Field Marshal Zhukov.

[Patreon Exclusive]

Who was the Soviet general and architect of Soviet victory on the Eastern Front during the Second World War? We discuss:

• What does Zhukov’s life tell us about modern warfare?

• What can we learn about the life and fate of the Soviet regime?

• How should we view the Ukraine war and renewed geopolitical rivalry between the West and Russia today?

• What are the popular perceptions and folk memories of world war?  

Links:

• Stalin's General: The Life of Georgy Zhukov, Geoffrey Roberts

• Saving Private Ivan, Mike Davis, The Guardian

• Negotiate Now, or Capitulate Later: Ten Incentives for Ukraine to Make Peace with Russia, Geoffrey Roberts, Brave New Europe

• Putin’s Trump Card: Ukrainian Membership of NATO, Geoffrey Roberts, Brave New Europe

• ‘Now or Never’: The Immediate Origins of Putin’s Preventative War on Ukraine, Geoffrey Roberts, Journal of Military and Strategic Studies

/431/ The Myth of Monolithic China ft. Lee Jones & Shahar Hameiri

On the structure of the Chinese state and its external relations.

[Patreon Exclusive: for the full episode, go to patreon.com/bungacast]

We welcome back Lee Jones and Shahar Hameiri to reflect on the outcome of the recent plenum of the Chinese Communist Party and to ask who, if anyone beyond Xi Jinping, is calling the shots.

• How will the CCP respond to the US election?

• Why is China not a monolithic, integrated state in the way some think?

• How important is the the Sino-Russian alliance? Does it matter more to Russia or to China?

• What happened to "wolf-warrior diplomacy"? Is it still a thing? 

• What's going on economically with the property bubble, and with Chinese manufacturing over-capacity?

• Should we be worried about WWIII over Taiwan or the South China Sea?

 

Links:

• China’s plenum must offer action not rote slogans, Financial Times

• Views of China and Xi Jinping in 35 countries, Pew Research Centre

• Fractured China: How State Transformation is Shaping China’s Rise, Lee Jones & Shahar Hameiri

/418/ Neoliberal Order Breakdown System, German-Style ft. Gregor Baszak (sample)

On German political derangement.

[Patreon Exclusive]

Independent researcher and writer Gregor Baszak joins us to talk about German centrism being squeezed under pressure from both left and right — Sahra Wagenknecht and the AFD. Meanwhile the German economy is getting squeezed between the US and Russia, and NATO pressures Germany to up its defence spending.  

• Is German public life remilitarising? 

• What are the prospects for Sahra Wagenknecht’s new ‘left-conservative’ politics? 

• What was the original political vision behind the Nordstream 2 pipeline? 

• Why are Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni trying to carve the AFD out of pan-European national-populist cooperation? 

• Where does Germany now stand in relation to the Ukraine War? 

Links:

• Europe After America, Gregor Baszak, The American Conservative 
• What’s the Matter With Germany?, Gregor Baszak, The American Conservative
• The Left-wing maverick who could stop the AfD For many, Sahra Wagenknecht is a tribune of the people, Gregor Baszak, UnHerd

 

/416/ Aufhebonus Bonus (sample)

On your questions & criticism regarding pro-Palestine protests.

 

[Patreon Exclusive]

 

In this episode we focus on the discussion generated by our episode that came out in early May on the protests on US campuses. We discuss the issues along a few axes:

• How do ideas of victimhood relate to the material reality of international politics?

• What really are the aims of the protesters and how likely are they to achieve them?

• Are we cynical in our approach or conclusions?

• How do the protests relate to populism and the end of the End of History?

• What is the proper basis of nationhood?

• How do these protests relate to the millennial Left?

We also deal with your points on Civil War, the state funding of culture, and whether Joe Rogan is a good male role model.

 

Readings:

• Vulnerability as Ideology, Peter Ramsay, Northern Star

• The victimological imagination, Matthew B. Crawford, Substack

 

UNLOCKED: /373/ Take a Stand: Be Neutral! ft. Lily Lynch

On NATO expansion and the end of neutrality

 

Previously a Patreon Exclusive. For more like this, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast

 

Lily Lynch is back on the pod to talk about Northern and Eastern Europe and growing hawkishness. We discuss:

• Why did Sweden and Finland give up decades of neutrality - and why now?
• What happens with an enlarged alliance in light of the conflict in Ukraine?
• How does the current moment compare to the apogee of the Non-Aligned Movement?
• Why were the realists right?
• How is tech mythology helping to build 'digital nationalism'?
• Why is there beef over grain between Poland and Ukraine?
• And what the hell are the "skin suit of social democracy" and the "Waluigi of neutrality"?

Links:

• Joining the West, Lily Lynch, Sidecar
• The realists were right, Lily Lynch, New Statesman
• The EU’s great power delusions, Lily Lynch, New Statesman
• Guns, grain, and history, Lily Lynch, New Statesman
• Tech-Mythologies, Lily Lynch, Sidecar
• Imperfect Unity, Lily Lynch, Sidecar

Excerpt: /378/ Reading Club: Globalisation (II)

On Giovanni Arrighi's Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the 21st Century

 

[Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive]

 

We discuss the Part 2 of this landmark book from 2008, debating theories of Western economic decline: Robert Brenner's, and Arrighi's critique of it.

 

Points discussed:

• Are you 'Team Brenner' or 'Team Arrighi'?
• Was neoliberalism a counter-revolution? A passive revolution? A restoration?
• How does the depression of the 1870s compare to that of the 1970s or the post-2008 period?
• What are the characteristics of our own Belle Époque (1993-2007)
• What matters more in explaining the downturn: inter-capitalist global competition? Upward wage pressure? The role of the global South?

Links:

• Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the 21st Century, Giovanni Arrighi, Verso (2008)

Excerpt: /376/ AufheBonus Bonus - Nov 2023

On your criticisms.

 

[Patreon Exclusive - subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast]

 

We respond to your points made in the comments on Patreon over the past few months. The first section is of course dedicated to the Gaza war, followed by discussion on hyperliberalism, neutrality, big tech, outsourcing, and drugs.

 

Now available also as video on Patreon.

Excerpt: /373/ Take a Stand: Be Neutral! ft. Lily Lynch

On NATO expansion and the end of neutrality

 

[Patreon Exclusive - for the full episode, sign up @ patreon.com/bungacast]

 

Lily Lynch is back on the pod to talk about Northern and Eastern Europe and growing hawkishness. We discuss:

• Why did Sweden and Finland give up decades of neutrality - and why now?
• What happens with an enlarged alliance in light of the conflict in Ukraine?
• How does the current moment compare to the apogee of the Non-Aligned Movement?
• Why were the realists right?
• How is tech mythology helping to build 'digital nationalism'?
• Why is there beef over grain between Poland and Ukraine?
• And what the hell are the "skin suit of social democracy" and the "Waluigi of neutrality"?

Links:

• Joining the West, Lily Lynch, Sidecar
• The realists were right, Lily Lynch, New Statesman
• The EU’s great power delusions, Lily Lynch, New Statesman
• Guns, grain, and history, Lily Lynch, New Statesman
• Tech-Mythologies, Lily Lynch, Sidecar
• Imperfect Unity, Lily Lynch, Sidecar

/370/ Dead Ends in Israel & Palestine ft. Alex Gourevitch

On violence and the lack of political resolution.

 

Regular guest Alex Gourevitch joins us to discuss why the Israel/Palestine conflict is so intractable – and why it draws so much attention. Alex then explains why, lamentably, there is no side worth choosing.

 

We then delve into various key points: 

• why Hamas was becoming irrelevant and how the 7 October attack was an attempt to combat that; 
• why violence is necessary but the Palestinians are in a catch-22; 
• how the West is implicated in the violence and callousness on show; 
• why the Palestinians are the most oppressed and forgotten people; 
• why Hamas is not an anticolonial freedom struggle; and 
• what is the right way to compare this to Ukraine.

Links:

• No end in sight: Israel’s search for a Gaza strategy, Lawrence Freedman, FT (attached)
• The House of Zion, Perry Anderson, NLR
• Whither Palestine, David Polansky, Strange Frequencies

 

/369/ Information-War and War-Politics ft. Jacob Siegel

On the war on disinformation and the war in Gaza. 

 

Jacob Siegel, senior editor at Tablet, joins us to talk about Hamas's attack on Israel and Israel's assault on Gaza. We also discuss how the US crusade against 'disinformation' has led it to apply counterinsurgency tactics to its own citizens.

 

Why did Hamas attack when it did? Has it been successful in stopping Israeli-Saudi rapprochement? How much will this change Israeli society? And what does Israel want to achieve in bombing - and soon invading - Gaza? 

 

Meanwhile, how has domestic politics become war? The state has meshed with corporate power to create an almighty surveillance apparatus. How can we start dismantling it? 

 

And how do we escape the postmodern hall of mirrors in which high diplomacy and low culture-war merge, in which domestic and international, and peace and war, all blur into each other?

 

Links:

• On disinformation: A Guide to Understanding the Hoax of the Century, Jacob Siegel, Tablet
• A trap has been set for Israel, Jacob Siegel, Unherd
• End US Aid to Israel, Jacob Siegel & Liel Leibovitz, Tablet
• On data: The Nanny vs. The Nanny State, Jacob Siegel & John Robb, Tablet
• Manifesto Podcast, Jacob Siegel & Phil Klay

/367/ Don’t Pay Them Back ft. Jerome Roos

On sovereign debt and taking back control.

 

The leading candidate in Argentina's election this month wants to avoid defaulting on the country's debt at all costs. But back in 2001, after a mass revolt, Argentina reneged on its debts – one of the very rare cases over the past 70 years of unilateral default. 

 

Why are nations so eager to pay back creditors nowadays, especially when it means endless austerity and little prospect of economic development?

 

We talk to scholar Jerome Roos about his book, Why Not Default? and discuss a range of cases: Mexico, Greece, Zambia, Sri Lanka, Ghana - and of course Argentina. We find that the old free market system used to accept that reneging on your debts was a risk creditors had to take. No longer: transnational institutions make sure that creditors get paid every time. 

 

How might countries free themselves from international financial dictatorship?

 

For part two of the interview and the After Party, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast

 

Links:

• Why Not Default?: The Political Economy of Sovereign Debt, Jerome Roos
• Memoria del saqueo (Social Genocide), film on 2001 debt crisis and uprising in Argentina (many versions available online)
• /83/ Now It’s Syrizous (episode on Syriza's defeat in Greece)
• The World in One Country: Greece, Jonas Kyratzes (part of ep.200)