Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org.

I'm Ian Masters, and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news.

We will begin with Biden calling Putin a crazy SOB and assess whether that is the wrong target

for such blunt language that Biden should be using against Trump.

Joining us to discuss campaign strategy and the role of RFK Jr. as a spoiler in the 2024 election

since the biggest donor to his campaign is also Trump's biggest donor is Lincoln Mitchell,

who teaches in the School of International Public Affairs and the Department of Political Science

at Columbia University. He's the author of numerous books on the former

Soviet States, baseball and democracy, the latest of which is the Giants in their city, Major Leads

Baseball in San Francisco, 1976, and 1992. He is the author of the popular substack

Kibbutzing with Lincoln, where his latest article is, Threats to Democracy won't go away

if Trump is defeated again.

Then we'll get an update on diplomatic efforts underway to bring about a ceasefire in the Gaza war

and speak with Mitchell Plitnik, the president of rethinking foreign policy,

and a former vice president at the Foundation for Middle East Peace.

A political analyst and frequent writer on the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy,

he served as director of the U.S. officer Bitsilem and co-director of Jewish Voice for Peace.

He's the author with Mark Lamont Hill of Except for Palestine, the limits of progressive politics.

Then finally, we'll look into what is behind the rise of a liberal politics in Eastern Europe

and a right-wing resurgence in Western Europe and speak with Dr. Maria Snegevaia,

a senior fellow with the Europe, Russia and Eurasian project at the Center for Strategic and International

Studies and a postdoctoral fellow in Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service.

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