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'll begin with Israel calling up reservists as its military chief, General Herzi Halivi,

tells his troops that they should prepare for a ground entry into Lebanon.

Joining us to assess whether the pounding of Lebanon is a prelude to a wider war,

is Asher Kaufman,

director of the Crock Institute for International Peace Studies,

and a professor of history and peace studies at the University of Notre Dame.

Prior to that, he taught at Hebrew University of Jerusalem,

and was a research fellow at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace,

where he headed its Middle East unit. Asher Kauffman is the author of Reviving Phoenicia, the Search for Identity in Lebanon, and his latest book is Contested Frontiers,

Cartography, Sovereignty and Conflict at the Syria-Lebanon-Israel tri-border region.

Then we'll look into activities at the United Nations with Biden's speech yesterday,

calling out leaders who cling to power to a general assembly comprising a lot of

autocrats, kleptocrats and dictators, as well as today's speeches with Ukraine's

President Zelensky seeking attention for the plight of his country under attack by a powerful neighbor, while much of the global attention is on Gaza and a looming war in Lebanon.

Joining us is Dulcy Limback, the founder of Pass Blue, which she edits and writes covering primarily the United Nations,

West Africa, peacekeeping operations and women's issues.

Previously, she was an editor for the coalition for the UN Convention Against Corruption,

was the Publications Director of the United Nations Association of the USA,

and was an editor at the New York Times for more than 20 years. Then finally we'll assess President Zelensky's efforts in his UN speech

today to educate the global South about Russia being a brutal colonial power, as was the Soviet Union.

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