Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael
Society & Culture
On this edition of Parallax Views, Ambassador Chas Freeman, a retired diplomat with a stories career and a visiting scholar at the Watson Institute for International Relations and Public Affairs, returns to discuss the bombing of Gaza by Israel in retaliation for the October 7th Hamas attack. We also discuss his critique of the U.S.-Israel special relationship, which he argues is harmful towards to both the interests of the United States and Israel. In the final portion of the conversation Amb. Freeman discusses how pro-Israel lobby elements, namely the Zionist Organization of America, applied a pressure campaign against his being the chair of the National Intelligence Council in the Obama administration.
Amb. Freeman's full bio (courtesy the Watson Institute):
Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. is a senior fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense, ambassador to Saudi Arabia (during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm), acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and Chargé d'affaires at both Bangkok and Beijing. He began his diplomatic career in India but specialized in Chinese affairs. (He was the principal American interpreter during President Nixon's visit to Beijing in 1972.)
Ambassador Freeman is a much sought-after public speaker (see http://chasfreeman.net) and the author of several well-received books on statecraft and diplomacy. His most recent book, "America's Continuing Misadventures in the Middle East" was published in May 2016. "Interesting Times: China, America, and the Shifting Balance of Prestige," appeared in March 2013. "America’s Misadventures in the Middle East" came out in 2010, as did the most recent revision of "The Diplomat’s Dictionary," the companion volume to "Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy." He was the editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica entry on "diplomacy."
Freeman is a former U.S. assistant secretary of defense, ambassador to Saudi Arabia, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, chargé d’affaires a.i. at Bangkok and Beijing, acting U.S. commissioner for refugee affairs and director of program coordination and development at the U.S. Information Agency. He was the principal American interpreter during the late President Nixon’s 1972 opening of U.S. relations with China.
Chas Freeman studied at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and Taiwan and earned an A.B. magna cum laude from Yale University as well as a J.D. from the Harvard Law School. He chairs Projects International, Inc., a Washington-based firm that for more than three decades has helped its American and foreign clients create ventures across borders, facilitating their establishment of new businesses through the design, negotiation, capitalization, and implementation of greenfield investments, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, franchises, one-off transactions, sales and agencies in other countries.
Chatting w/ Casper Kelly of Adult Swim Yule Log, Too Many Cooks, & Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell Fame
The Strange Story of Nazi Satanists, the Feds, & Montenegro’s Orthodox Church w/ Boris & Rey of The Empire Never Ended Podcast
Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia w/ Natasha Lance Rogoff
UNLOCKED: Absurdist Humor and Horror Collide in Butt Boy and Tiny Cinema w/ Tyler Cornack and Ryan Koch
Horror Cult Classic Black Christmas, the It’s Me Billy Fan Film, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare Fan Sequel, and Voice Acting w/ Dave McRae
Gremlinology for the Holidays! w/ Robbie Martin
The Delay of the Yemen War Powers Resolution w/ Hassan El-Tayyab/Understanding Hanukkah and Jewish Culture w/ Deborah Dash Moore
Israeli Politics from a Progressive Jewish-American Perspective w/ Abe Silberstein/Combating the Israeli Far-Right and Antisemitism at the Same Time w/ Stephen Zunes
The Life & Films of Steven Spielberg + Myth and Reality in THE FABELMANS w/ Joseph McBride
Lawsuit Over JFK Documents, Lee Harvey Oswald, & the CIA w/ Jefferson Morley/FBI Surveillance and the ”Black Identity Extremist” Label w/ Patrick Eddington
The Problems of U.S. Arms Sales Policy w/ Jordan Cohen/Student Confronts Liz Cheney Over Iraq War w/ Mitch Robson
Money-Driven Politics in an Age of Global Tumult w/ Thomas Ferguson/Railroad Workers, Corporate Power, and Congress w/ Jack Rasmus
New Film FARHA Tells a Coming-of-Age Survival Story Set Amidst the Nakba w/ Darin J. Sallam/The Sordid History of Guantanamo Bay w/ Andy Worthington
Is Turkey Preparing for a Ground Operation in Syria? w/ Giorgio Cafiero
Railroad Workers Sound Off on Their Grievances, Biden, Sick Leave, and the Rail Carriers w/ Marilee Taylor, Jeff Kurtz, and Maximilian Alvarez
U.S. Foreign Policy, Saudi Arabia, & the Arms Industry w/ Annelle Sheline & William Hartung/Geopolitics & U.S. Foreign Policy w/ Doug Bandow
Israel, Biden, and the FBI’s Shireen Abu Akleh Investigation w/ Mitchell Plitnick
The Iran Protests and The State of Resistance: Politics, Culture, and Identity in Modern Iran w/ Assal Rad
The FTX/SBF Crypto Scandal & Elon’s Twitter Takeover w/ Mike Swanson/A Critique of Psychedelic Capitalism w/ Daniel Pinchbeck
The Russia-Ukraine War w/ Patrick Cockburn/The Kyrie Irving Controversy and Black Hebrew Israelites w/ Jacob S. Dorman
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Dairyland Frights
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL