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Geopolitics & Empire

Scott Ritter: US Empire in Decline, Biden Administration is Dangerous, Nuclear Specter Remains

Geopolitics & Empire

Geopolitics & Empire

History, News, Government, Politics

4.2 • 568 Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2021

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Former UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter discusses US foreign policy, the decline of US empire, and the shift toward a multipolar world. He considers the Biden administration to be one of the most dangerous in modern times as it has gone back to square one (the post-WWII era), demanding American allies and the world subordinate themselves to Washington. He looks at the rise of Iran, the failed Forever Wars in the Middle East which have destroyed the American economy and military, and considers NATO a joke of an organization no longer capable of fighting a war. The U.S is unable to catch up to China’s economic infrastructure investments and the consequences of continued hegemonic behavior and failed diplomacy could translate into escalation of military conflict with Russia or China and ultimately risk the use of nuclear weapons.

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Websites

RT Op-Eds https://www.rt.com/op-ed/authors/scott-ritter

Twitter https://www.twitter.com/RealScottRitter

Books

Clarity Press https://www.claritypress.com/book-author/scott-ritter

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Scott-Ritter/e/B001HO9B80

About Scott Ritter

Scott Ritter is a former Marine intelligence officer who served in the former Soviet Union, implementing arms control agreements, and on the staff of General Norman Schwartzkopf during the Gulf War, where he played a critical role in the hunt for Iraqi SCUD missiles. From 1991 until 1998, Mr. Ritter served as a Chief Inspector for the United Nations in Iraq, leading the search for Iraq’s proscribed weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Ritter was a vocal critic of the American decision to go to war with Iraq. He resides in Upstate New York, where he writes on issues pertaining to arms control, the Middle East and national security. Dealbreaker is Mr. Ritter’s eighth book.

Scott Ritter has testified before a combined Armed Services/Foreign Affairs hearing of the US Senate, and before the House Foreign Relations and National Security committees. He has testified before a combined Armed Services/ Foreign Affairs hearing of the US Senate, and before the House Foreign Relations and National Security committees. He has spoken to NATO, the United Nations, the British, Canadian, Italian, French, Iraqi, Japanese and European Parliaments. He has done public speaking engagements at Harvard, MIT, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Yale and Columbia, and dozens of other public and private universities and colleges across the country. He has spoken before the Council on Foreign Affairs, Chatham House and RUSI (in London), and various World Affairs Councils.

*Podcast intro music is from the song “The Queens Jig” by “Musicke & Mirth” from their album “Music for Two Lyra Viols”: http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Geopolitics and Empire is joined by Scott Ritter, a former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer and former Chief UN Weapons Inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998.

0:11.0

He is the author of a number of books, including Iraq Confidential, Target Iran, and Scorpion King.

0:16.9

We'll be discussing the states of the U.S. empire and how he sees the current trajectory of

0:21.4

U.S. foreign policy in light of the hotspots that are flaring up around the world,

0:26.4

everywhere from Syria and Iran to Ukraine and Taiwan.

0:29.9

Thanks for being with us, Mr. Ritter.

0:31.4

How has 2021 been treating you so far?

0:34.5

Well, me personally, 2021 is doing just fine.

0:37.2

I mean, it's, you know, we're hopefully coming

0:39.4

out of a pandemic and, you know, I have employment. My wife has employment. My kids have

0:45.2

employment. We have our health. So not too bad. As an American citizen, it's interesting times.

0:52.8

We have a new president who's embarking on, you know, new

0:57.1

approaches of interacting with the world. And, you know, there might be some problems with that.

1:04.3

We, you know, I don't like to prejudge outcomes, you know, but, you know, one, one, I think I think, when examining, you know, there's a state

1:15.0

of affairs in the world, you know, you need to draw upon past experiences and history to

1:20.9

understand, you know, how things work vis-a-vis one another. And or not policy uh formulations are realistic or maybe a

1:30.9

little too pie in the sky and uh you know what the um what the outcomes can be and uh right now i'm

1:37.6

i'm a little pessimistic but like i said you know it's early on in the in in the biden

1:42.6

administration then um he he has some time left to prove whether or not

1:47.8

things he wants to accomplish can be accomplished.

1:51.8

I'm kind of with you on the pessimism, and I think a great place to start would maybe

1:57.8

to set the overarching context would be your latest op-ed published just a few days ago

...

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