Rania Khalek Dispatches

It's been over a thousand days since Israel began its livestreamed genocide in Gaza, and global politics is still shifting as a result. Candidates who refuse AIPAC money are toppling Democratic incumbents across the US, support for Israel has become a political liability and the establishment's answer has been a full-blown red scare. Rania Khalek speaks with Palestinian novelist, poet, a...

Ali Abunimah joins Rania Khalek on Dispatches to discuss the dramatic collapse of global support for Israel, the growing backlash against Western support for genocide in Gaza, and why governments are increasingly resorting to repression as public opinion shifts in favor of Palestine. In this episode they discuss: New polling showing Israel’s popularity collapsing across the world Why propaganda an...

As Israel’s genocide in Gaza continues and Lebanon faces ongoing aggression and political pressure to capitulate, many people are grappling with fear, exhaustion, and despair. But what if hopelessness itself is part of the strategy? Psychoanalyst and author Lara Sheehi joins Dispatches with Rania Khalek to discuss the psychological dimensions of fascism, empire, colonial violence, and resistance —...

The U.S. and Israel launched a massive war on Iran expecting quick capitulation. Instead, Iran absorbed the assault, retaliated across the region, and exposed major limits to American and Israeli power. Now the Trump administration appears to be searching for an off-ramp while Israel continues pushing for escalation, including in Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz crisis, sanctions, economic...

The Trump administration has announced a new military operation in the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran is warning that any unauthorized U.S. presence will be treated as hostile. At the same time, Washington is rejecting key parts of Iran’s proposal to end the war, including sanctions relief and limits on the blockade. So what is this “ceasefire,” really? Is Iran actually weakened, as Trump claims — o...

As war spreads across Lebanon and Iran, the U.S. and Israel claim they are making progress. But on the ground, the picture looks far more complicated. After a supposed pause in fighting and failed negotiations, Israel escalated dramatically, launching massive strikes on Beirut while continuing its ground invasion in southern Lebanon.  At the same time, Iran has held firm in negotiations, raising q...

As Israel escalates its war on Lebanon, one narrative dominates: that Hezbollah is the cause of the conflict. But that story erases decades of history. Long before Hezbollah existed, southern Lebanon was already a frontline of anti-colonial struggle led by Palestinian fighters, Lebanese leftists, and marginalized communities resisting Israeli aggression and internal neglect. In this episode of Dis...

Donald Trump has issued a shocking ultimatum to Iran: submit, or face the destruction of its civilian infrastructure and the total devastation of the country within hours. As Washington and Tel Aviv escalate their war threats, Iran says it will retaliate in kind with potentially catastrophic consequences for Israel, the Gulf, and the wider region. Meanwhile, Israel continues its assault across the...

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has entered its second month, and despite repeated assassinations, attacks on infrastructure, and growing civilian casualties, Iran has not collapsed. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is threatening to take Iran “back to the Stone Age,” floating the seizure of oil infrastructure, Kharg Island, and even a military reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, all while claiming negotiation...

Journalist and lawyer Dimitri Lascaris just returned from Iran, where he traveled from Tehran to the Strait of Hormuz, witnessing firsthand the impact of the US-Israeli war. From hospitals treating the wounded to the world’s most important oil chokepoint, Lascaris saw a side of this war that Western media is barely covering. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most critical waterways on earth, resp...

Speaking from Tehran, Al Jazeera correspondent and columnist Ali Hashem explains how Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq are all part of a single, interconnected battlefield, a coordinated confrontation between the axis of resistance and the United States and Israel. That means what happens in Lebanon is directly tied to what happens in Iran, and vice versa. Despite months of attacks, Hezbollah remains...

As the U.S.–Israeli war on Iran escalates into a second month, the situation is becoming increasingly unpredictable and uncontrollable. Iranian missiles are hitting Israeli targets at higher rates than expected, while the U.S. is deploying massive firepower, including 2,000-pound bombs. At the same time, conflicting signals are emerging from Washington, with reports that Trump may be seeking an of...

As Israel expands its war across the region, Lebanon is once again in the crosshairs. Israeli officials are openly calling for pushing the border to the Litani River, annexing southern Lebanon, and preventing displaced civilians from returning. At the same time, the country is being bombed, depopulated, and pushed toward internal collapse. So what is Israel actually trying to achieve? In this epis...

The United States and Israel are pushing the region toward a dangerous escalation with Iran, threatening strikes on energy infrastructure and even raising the possibility of a ground invasion. But Iran isn’t backing down. As the war expands across the region and the global economy, the risk of a wider conflict is growing by the day. So what is the real strategy here? Is this brinkmanship, or the e...

In week 4 of the U.S.-Israeli war of aggression on Iran, the global economy has been pushed to the brink.  Iran’s disruption of the Strait of Hormuz shows just how key it is to global energy markets, supply chains, and food systems, putting millions at risk. So what happens when the U.S. no longer has a monopoly on economic coercion? Has Trump overplayed his hand? Are we witnessing the limits of A...

Three weeks into the war on Iran, the conflict is expanding more than ever. The Strait of Hormuz is closed, energy infrastructure is under attack, and U.S. bases are increasingly vulnerable. Israel and Washington are escalating. According to Middle East expert Vali Nasr, this is actually all part of Iran's strategy. Iran isn’t trying to win quickly. To “win” is to survive — and for that it wa...

Israel has expanded its war across the region, bombing Lebanon and Iran while preparing a potential ground invasion into southern Lebanon. Israeli officials claim the goal is simply to create a “buffer zone” for security. But many Israeli politicians and commentators are openly discussing something much bigger: territorial expansion to the Litani River and beyond. This is not about security, it’s...

The war between the U.S., Israel, and Iran could send shockwaves through the global economy. Energy markets, shipping routes, fertilizer supply, and cloud infrastructure are all at risk. Even a short disruption could drive inflation, food shortages, and economic instability worldwide. Rania Khalek speaks with economist Yanis Varoufakis, former Finance Minister of Greece, about why this conflict co...

As war between Iran, Israel, and the United States escalates, what’s actually happening on the battlefield, and how is the conflict being viewed inside the U.S. military itself? On this live episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined by two guests to break down both the military realities of the war and the growing opposition to it inside the United States. Jon Elmer, contributing editor at The...

As Israel expands its war on Iran and U.S. officials float the possibility of American boots on the ground, what is really happening behind the headlines? Iran expert at Johns Hopkins Vali Nasr joins Rania Khalek to explain: Why Iran prepared for decapitation strikes Why “regime collapse” is far from guaranteed How global oil supplies “have become a battlefield”  Why Trump may already be looking f...

Mike Huckabee’s reference to borders stretching “from the Euphrates to the Nile” has sparked a diplomatic firestorm across the Middle East. Even governments that normalized relations with Israel — including the UAE — publicly condemned the remarks. Why did this rhetoric hit such a nerve? And is it really new, or just unusually blunt? At the same time, tensions between Israel and Saudi Arabia are r...

At the Munich Security Conference, Marco Rubio said the quiet part out loud. No more “rules-based order.” No more liberal pretense. Just open coercion. After Gaza — after a genocide livestreamed for the world — U.S. empire isn’t even pretending anymore. In this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined by Dylan Saba — attorney with Palestine Legal and co-host of Turbulence — to unpack what thi...

The United States is mobilizing for a new war on Iran — repositioning military forces, floating assassination threats, and insisting on negotiations at the same time. As this military buildup intensifies, Western media is reviving a familiar propaganda narrative: that Iran is collapsing, its government has lost control, and foreign intervention might actually help. To cut through the noise, Rania...

Join Rania Khalek and Zoe Alexandra for a special live show as Minneapolis erupts after Border Patrol agents killed nurse and legal observer Alex Pretti, just hours after a historic general strike shook the state. Zoe will report from Minneapolis as protests surge nationwide and fury at ICE and federal occupation explodes. With special guests, Rania and Zoe will discuss the Democrats’ weak respons...

Rania Khalek is joined by former UN human rights official Craig Mokhiber, whose recent Mondoweiss article, "Ushering in the age of impunity: Venezuela, Palestine, and the end of international law," unpacks how recent U.S. aggression from Venezuela to Gaza signals a dangerous unraveling of the post-World War II legal order.  We’ll discuss: • What the U.S. attack on Venezuela reveals about...