Neutrality Studies

Updates on the Ukraine-Proxy War and the Iran War with Larry C. Johnson: Both wars are about to get worse as NATO is trying to expand the fight into Russia. Moscow will now escalate in Kiev to send final message to Collective West. At the same time, the global economic shock from the Iran War will only grow deeper and more intensive with every day. Links:Larry Johnson Sonar21: https://sonar21.com...

NATO's proxy war in Ukraine is morphing into a direct EU-Russia war. And the war hawks in Brussels are further escalating by attacking civilians in the Donbas and Russia proper. The doves in the Kremlin, including Vladimir Putin, are running out of options to keep their own hawks under wraps. As things stand now, an all-out EU-Russia war is not only a possible, but by now a likely scenario. Bu...

Today, I speak with Richard Falk, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, about the state of international law in 2026, power and reciprocity, the UN order after 1945, unipolar decline, US militarism, neutrality, Gaza and Israel, media framing, and whether law can still restrain great powers in a more unstable world. Links:Richard Falk blog: https://richardfalk.org TRANSCE...

NATO is causing the very mass-migration its members then claim to be solving through more violence at home and oversees. It's a sick game in which the powerful once again pit the poorest and most abused people abroad against the poorest and most abused people at home to feed the West's system of violent domination. But cracks are now more than visible. Patrick Henningsen, journalist, write...

Pascal Lottaz speaks with Dr. Jonas Tögel, a German propaganda researcher and author, about war messaging in Germany and Europe, Bundeswehr outreach in schools, youth resistance, NATO narratives, the role of the US and EU, the collapse of antiwar politics, and the way propaganda, fear, and media overload shape public opinion. They also discuss public resistance, self-care, and keeping a peace move...

Pascal Lottaz speaks with Sheng Zhang, visiting fellow at Koç University’s Center for Asian Studies, on China’s changing view of Iran after the war, Beijing’s split between Iran and the Gulf states, military lessons from Iranian strategy, the Strait of Hormuz, Trump’s Beijing visit, and the wider message for US bases, trust, and power in West Asia and East Asia. Links: Sheng Zhang at Johns Hopkins...

Giles Chance joins Pascal Lottaz to discuss China’s rise, from Deng Xiaoping’s reforms and WTO entry to the 2008 crisis, BRICS, Belt and Road, and rare earth leverage. Chance, author of Doing Business in China and China and the Credit Crisis, also examines Xi Jinping’s impact on the private sector, tensions with Washington, and the outlook for a more multipolar world. Links: Doing Business in Chin...

Pascal Lottaz and Benjamin Schoendorf speak with Explosive Media, the creator behind the viral Iranian Lego videos, about using Lego and AI to break through Western media habits, the team’s roots in Iran, creative speed, humor, empathy, audience feedback, narrative warfare, cultural identity, direct media between people, and the spiritual drive behind the work. Links: Resistance is Fertile Podcast...

Pascal Lottaz speaks with Ivana Nikolić Hughes of Columbia University and Peter Kuznick of American University about the NPT review conference, nuclear deterrence, first strike thinking, Trump and launch power, pressure for more states to seek nuclear weapons, the role of US allies in the Gulf, Europe and Japan, and the small but real hope offered by the nuclear ban treaty and public action. Links...

Pascal Lottaz speaks with Dr. Kees van der Pijl, emeritus professor of international relations at Sussex, about ruling class formation, Marxism, finance, tech, intelligence, Zionism, and the shift from nation states to transnational power networks. They discuss Europe’s decline, war, BRICS, social collapse, collective values, migration, and the limits of resistance against a violent Western-led or...

Pascal Lottaz speaks with Dr. Warwick Powell of Queensland University about Trump’s China visit, the thin planning behind it, the US business team, and the lack of real progress on Iran, trade, and wider strategy. They also discuss the Strait of Hormuz, US limits, China’s growing weight, and Xi Jinping’s use of the Thucydides trap as a call for serious diplomacy. Links: Warwick Powell on Substack:...

Professor Seyed Mohammad Marandi joins Pascal Lottaz to assess the war with Iran, the failed ceasefire, Gulf state pressure, Lebanon, and the risk of a new US attack. They discuss claims about Iran’s missile strength, Saudi and Qatari moves, nuclear enrichment, Trump’s China trip, blockade plans, and the wider threat of economic shock, proxy war, and a deeper regional crisis. Links: Professor Seye...

Pascal Lottaz welcomes back friend and colleague Stanislav Krapivnik for a hard look at Russia, Ukraine, and Europe. They discuss claims that Russia has stalled, repeat stories of Russian collapse in Western media, ceasefire talk, NATO escalation, nuclear risk, the loss of trust in peace deals, and the growing debate over whether the war can freeze or spread into a wider European conflict. Links:...

Ambassador Chas Freeman, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia and former assistant secretary of defense, discusses the Trump-Xi meeting, Taiwan, Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, China’s growing role, US war powers, Europe’s drift toward conflict with Russia, and the decline of diplomacy in the West. The talk also covers Gulf politics, Ukraine, media control, and the wider crisis of constitutional gover...

Pascal is joined by Eugene Doyle of Solidarity to discuss the Sumud flotilla raid near Greece, reports of beatings and detention, the lack of help from New Zealand, Western support for Israel, the meaning of state duty to protect citizens, the Rainbow Warrior comparison, media silence, rising public concern, and the courage of activists trying to break the siege on Gaza. Links: Solidarity https://...

The "Nuclear Umbrella" always was a sick joke in which the umbrella itself would do the dirty work of exterminating the place it was supposed to "keep clean" of enemy forces. Today I speak with Ola Tunander, professor emeritus at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, and Rainer Rupp, former NATO analyst and East German spy, about the real meaning of the US nuclear umbrella. We dis...

While all of Europe is sitting in the antechamber of war—except Ukraine, which is already in the slaughterhouse—a small Alpine nation is putting up resistance. The Swiss population is demanding a referendum on neutrality from its EU- and NATO-subservient government. In the best tradition of direct democracy, the Swiss have managed, against the will of their elites in government and parliament, to...

President José Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste joins Felix Marquardt to discuss Europe’s loss of credibility on international law, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the Iran crisis, the collapse of UN authority, energy and shipping risks, moral limits in war, freedom fighters and terrorism, the Nobel Peace Prize, and Timor-Leste’s approach to diplomacy and peace. Links: President José Ramos-Horta (Official...

Pascal welcomes back Arnaud Bertrand for a wide talk on China’s open source AI push, US tech controls, Europe’s growing dependence, drones and humanoid robots, Southeast Asia’s balancing act, new payment rails in Asia, China’s response to US sanctions, and the wider shift in global power around Iran, finance, industry, and the fading force of Western control. Links: Arnaud Bertrand on X https://x....

Pascal Lottaz speaks with former CIA analyst Larry C. Johnson about the Iran war, failed US pressure, Saudi anger over US actions, oil shock, rising prices, Gulf states pulling back, and the wider shift toward China and Russia. They also discuss sanctions, market signals, Israel’s role, and the chance of talks forcing Washington to change course. Links: Larry C. Johnson Substack https://larrycjohn...

Settler colonialism goes not far enough to explain the insane level of cruelty we see with the Gaza Genocide and the rampage of Israel in Lebanon, Syria, and other parts of the Holy Land. It doesn't explain why the entire West, Europe and North America are on board with the project. The crusading spirit that is baked into the colonial system, does. Looking at the original crusades, we see that...

The Gaza Genocide would not be possible, was it not for the enabling hand of Legacy Media. Today I speak with Prof. Dr. Robin Andersen (Fordham University), author of "The Complicit Lens", about Western coverage of Gaza, the October 7 story, newsroom pressure at major outlets, distorted war language, hospital reporting, discussion-stopping media frames, collapsing trust in legacy news, a...

Pascal speaks with Israeli-American lawyer Joseph Avesar, president of the Israeli Palestinian Confederation Committee, about a one-state federal plan for Israel and Palestine. They discuss Israel’s lack of a constitution, the limits of the two-state path, Zionism, democracy, public support, and a shared government model with equal rights, local self-rule, and elected bodies meant to build peace....

Pascal Lottaz speaks with Dr. Mattias Desmet, professor of clinical psychology in Belgium and author of The Psychology of Totalitarianism, about mass formation, totalitarianism, propaganda, loneliness, free speech, war narratives, and the emotional pull of group belief. The discussion covers the difference between dictatorships and totalitarian states, the role of education and media, and sincerit...

Steven Kapos, a Jewish Holocaust survivor and pro-Palestine activist, shares childhood memories of bombing, hiding, rescue homes in Budapest, and his father’s survival through the Kastner deal. The conversation then turns to Zionism, racism, Israel and Palestine, Gaza through Holocaust memory, European support for the war, and the moral duty to resist mass violence. Links: Double Down News YouTube...