Israel Barrels Toward WW3

This week brings heavy questions about the regional and global impact of conflicts — that is, Israel’s violent military activity — in the Middle East, as Israeli strikes in Lebanon kill civilians and open up the possibility of a much larger crisis. Turning to U.S. politics, we’re also turning a critical eye to the Harris campaign playbook less than a month before the election, where policy is taking a backseat to pretty much everything else. Is it too late to turn things around? Watch our conversation with guest Omar Baddar, below:

Quick, name one Harris policy without looking! Kamala understandably caught flak (and endless memes) for ridiculously means-tested public support programs when she ran for president back in 2020. But at least we can all still think of the “Pell Grant recipients who start a business that operates for three years in disadvantaged communities” plan, while the 2024 Harris-Walz ticket seems to have little to offer in terms of material policy. Part of our current bone to pick with the campaign, as Krystal points out, is that Harris and Walz need to add three solid, popular policy planks to their stump speeches and general campaigning approach: things that gain instant recognition as material improvements the Democrats will make to American life if they win a month from now. Think of Bernie and Medicare for All. A different time!

And yes, it needs to be said: The media is partly to blame. Because mainstream outlets profit so much from the three-ring circus of American political pageantry, there’s been noticeably less emphasis and deep-diving on the nitty-gritty of policy. Much more time is always given to dust-ups between the campaigns, vibes and optics. Now, though, Americans heading to the ballot box in November may well have trouble thinking of what four years of President Harris would do for their lives, and this strategy certainly doesn’t sound like a winning one.

The meat of our conversation is on the escalating conflict in Lebanon and the ties we and our guest, Omar Baddar, see between this crisis and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Omar provides insights into the “opportunities” for military escalation and struggle for dominance over Hezbollah that Israel sees in its current campaign in Lebanon. Because the U.S. plays such a major role greenlighting and funding Israel’s military activity, and because Biden refuses to set a true “red line” or rock the boat before the upcoming election, what we see now is Israel’s attempt to escalate as much as possible given a window of opportunity for unchecked violence.

Some have compared the violence in Lebanon to the genocide taking place in Palestine. Omar points out the massive similarities — decimating infrastructure, targeting medics, killing civilians — while also indicating the potential of the strikes in Lebanon to expand into an even bigger regional conflict. Netanyahu’s recent remarks addressing Lebanese civilians, a pretty clear threat to reject Hezbollah or suffer the same violence as Gaza, opens up the possibility of sectarian civil war, just as it suggests that Netanyahu is totally ready and willing to repeat the genocide in Gaza that is still ongoing.

Thanks for tuning in. You can listen to this episode as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and other streaming platforms when it’s released tomorrow evening.