Ukraine to Syria: How Imperialism & Sabotage Divided the Western Left for 100 years, w/ Ben Norton

 

“Ukraine to Syria: How Imperialism & Sabotage Divided the Western Left for 100 years, w/ Ben Norton”, April 8, 2022, Rhania Khalek interviews Ben Norton, Breakthrough News, Rhania Khalek Dispatches, duration of video 1:21:05, at < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FR1WzmDc9E >.

~~ recommended by dmorista ~~

Introduction: This is a wide-ranging discussion, that spends considerable time comparing the responses to various crises of the Socialist Societies of the Global South to those of the decrepit and increasingly ineffectual Finance Capital dominated Global North. Norton points out a number of the complex and little-known operations, run for decades, by the CIA and FBI to fund “anti-communist” leftist publications and organizations.

The war in Ukraine has led to a closing of the ranks in the West, with media and politicians in lockstep united against Russia, and some self-described leftists have joined in. As with many recent conflicts the left has been riven by divisions over what is the correct position to take, with “Putinism” replacing “Assadism” as the new term used to excommunicate opponents of NATO and American intervention. To understand the history of the Western left and how wars over the last century have caused divisions, Rania Khalek was joined by Ben Norton, an investigative journalist based in Latin America, and editor of the independent news website Multipolarista.

TIME CODES 0:00 Intro 2:05 Splits on the left over Ukraine 10:34 Vietnam, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine: Divisions on the left 21:11 Policing the anti-imperialist left 25:55 George Orwell 31:44 Social Chauvinists 36:28 Sabotage, infiltration, & assassination 45:36 Divisions over covid 57:40 Watching the war in Ukraine from the Global South 1:04:46 Benefits of multipolarity