Day: November 5, 2026

Briefings

Background Briefing: November 5, 2026

On By admin

The Origin Story of Trump’s Disastrous War Against Iran and Why MBZ and MBS are Furious With the “Deal Guy” Jared Kushner

We begin with the origin story behind the current war with Iran and how and why Jared Kushner and Trump undid Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran and his support of the democratic aspirations of the Arab Spring, siding with anti-democratic military-led and medieval monarchical Arab states in alliance with Israel against any future Palestinian state. To prevent this strategic realignment to sell out the Palestinians, Iran’s proxy Hamas executed a bloody provocation murdering and capturing Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023 resulting in the destruction of Gaza and a shift away from support for Israel making the Abraham Accords untenable. Now due to Netanyahu and Trump’s hubris, the best-laid plans of the Middle Eastern potentates have made Iran stronger and the Gulf States weaker to the point MBZ and MBS are furious with Kushner and may have to beg for mercy from the Ayatollahs. Joining us is  Matthew Cole, an investigative journalist and the author of Code Over Country: The Tragedy and Corruption of SEAL Team Six. He has covered national security for more than two decades, much of it focused on America’s clandestine wars and covert programs. He was previously an investigative producer for ABC and NBC News, and a longtime national security reporter for The Intercept. We will do a deep dive into Matthew’s explosive new book, just out, Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East.

 

 

With Big Oil the Winner of the Iran War, Will the Price of Gas Continue to Dominate and Decide Our Elections?

Then with Big Oil the only winner of the Iran War so far, we look how long the price of gas will dominate and decide our politics and whether our dependence on this destructive drug we are addicted to can be broken before our planet is irreversibly damaged. Joining us is Jeff Colgan, the Richard Holbrooke Professor of Political Science and Director of the Climate Solutions Lab at the Watson Institute For Public and International Affairs at Brown University where his research focuses on international order, especially as related to energy and the environment. He is the author of Petro-Aggression: When Oil Causes War and Partial Hegemony: Oil Politics and International Order and leads the Climate Solutions Lab’s Iran War Energy Tracker which has found US oil companies have reaped over $150 billion in profits since the start of the war.