A comprehensive global survey found that people in most countries see the United States as the biggest threat to the world, and they prefer China over the US. Ben Norton analyzes the results of the Democracy Perception Index. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UhHqPGFGos Topics 0:00 Shifting global political order 1:35 Democracy Perception Index 3:08 USA is biggest threat to world 4:25 US military bases unpopular 5:36 Negative perception of USA 6:25 China more popular than US 8:07 US war against Iran 9:06 Israel-Palestine 9:40 Ukraine war 10:14 Taiwan 11:14 Greenland 11:54 Countries progressing 13:15 Democracy 17:33 USA is an oligarchy 20:20 End of end of history 21:15 Outro

The US government is desperate to create a new supply chain that cuts out China, through its Pax Silica initiative. To do so, the Trump administration plans to colonize the territory of the Philippines, a supposed "ally" run by corrupt leader Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, with a 99-year colonial concession. Ben Norton explains the controversy. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=302uQhql3kY Topics 0:00 Intro 0:35 Cold War Two 1:50 US-India critical minerals deal 2:55 Pax Silica 3:41 US meddling in Philippines 4:55 Corrupt Marcos dynasty 6:36 US military bases & missiles 8:38 US colonial plan 10:37 Colonial 99-year leases 12:11 US colonialism 13:31 China "threat" narrative 14:34 Exploiting natural resources 15:39 US official Jacob Helberg 16:16 Silicon Valley oligarchs 17:39 US official freaks out 19:57 Neocolonialism 23:58 Comprador leaders 25:21 Poverty & development 28:31 Outro

It has become so widely accepted that the US lost the war with Iran that now even American neoconservative hawks admit it. Ben Norton explains why major neocons like Robert Kagan and Bill Kristol have turned against the war. They lament that Iran's victory reflects the decline of the US empire and the transition to a more multipolar world order. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrlXNHSCfoQ Topics 0:00 USA lost war with Iran 1:47 Poll: war is unpopular 2:42 Media admits USA lost 3:32 Iran still has most missiles 4:39 Iran withstands US blockade 5:21 Iran destroyed US bases 6:03 US hawks admit the truth 7:25 Neocons and PNAC 9:13 George W Bush admin 9:55 Neoconservatism 11:30 Rise of Donald Trump 12:00 Hillary Clinton 12:44 Victoria Nuland 13:41 Coup in Ukraine 15:29 (CLIP) US-backed coup 16:14 US "checkmate" in Iran 17:05 Decline of US hegemony 18:26 Iran has major leverage 19:22 US defeat 20:34 Neocons abandon ship 22:14 Poll: Americans oppose war 22:44 Poll: Americans say US lost 23:30 Crisis of US imperialism 23:57 Outro

Donald Trump said his visit to China was a success, but he failed to pressure Beijing to make any significant concessions. Ben Norton fact-checks the claims of the White House, showing how Washington's trade war backfired, hard, on the US economy. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtuYVMrXmAM Topics 0:00 Trump's visit to China 0:41 US trade war 2:01 The trip was a failure 3:17 CEOs of US corporations 4:24 Iran & Strait of Hormuz 7:42 Trade & investment 9:14 Rare earth elements 11:58 Trade war failure 12:42 Boeing airplanes 13:52 Agricultural products 15:05 Nvidia & chips 18:19 USA failed 20:05 Trump's empty threats 20:35 Problems in US economy 22:38 Outro

Donald Trump took a trip to China to meet President Xi Jinping. He was joined by the CEOs of a dozen top US corporations, including billionaires Elon Musk, Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Tim Cook of Apple, Larry Fink of BlackRock, and Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone. Ben Norton explains how Beijing won the trade war that was started by Washington, how China has significant leverage (in manufacturing, supply chains, critical minerals, and rare earths), and how the US economy is in a very bad state. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7MnTzKOANg Topics 0:00 Trump's visit to China 0:27 US trade war backfired 1:25 Trump joined by top CEOs 1:56 Elon Musk 2:20 Jensen Huang of Nvidia 2:47 Tim Cook of Apple 2:58 BlackRock and Blackstone 3:22 More CEOs with Trump 4:17 US CEOs meet Xi Jinping 5:31 USA is an oligarchy 6:23 China's massive market 6:57 Nvidia lost Chinese market 8:02 China's self-sufficiency drive 9:15 Manufacturing superpower 10:50 Tesla EVs made in Shanghai 11:25 US tariffs on Chinese EVs 12:21 China has the upper hand 13:00 US trade war 14:42 China-US trade 16:08 Rare earth elements 17:07 Critical minerals 18:18 New supply chain efforts 18:59 Pax Silica 19:41 Why US rhetoric changed 20:40 Iran war 22:51 US sanctions on China 24:20 Inflation in USA 25:41 Trump is very unpopular 26:33 K-shaped economy 27:25 Inequality 28:05 China exported deflation 29:31 US tariffs boost inflation 30:27 China in stronger position 31:07 Outro

Donald Trump claims Iran has been "militarily defeated", but many reports have come out showing this to be a lie. Tehran destroyed the majority of US military bases in West Asia (aka the Middle East), and Iran still maintains most of its missile capabilities. Meanwhile, experts estimate the USA's war against Iran will cost $1 trillion. Ben Norton reviews the evidence, showing how Washington is clearly losing this war that it started. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_wC4KuEcWI Topics 0:00 US government narrative 0:23 (CLIP) Trump: Iran is defeated 1:20 Reality: USA is losing the war 2:34 Reviewing the evidence 4:34 Iran destroyed US bases 5:37 US troops expelled from region 6:54 US military bases in rubble 7:37 Donald Trump lied 8:11 USA running out of missiles 9:33 War will cost $1 TRILLION 10:38 Iran still has most missiles 12:38 US government is lying 13:05 Saudi Arabia gets cold feet 14:00 Huge economic damage 15:44 Gulf "safe haven" myth 16:28 USA is losing the war 18:04 USA failed to achieve goals 19:57 Outro

Donald Trump boasted that the US government acts "like pirates", seizing Iran's ships and oil. "It's a very profitable business", he said. Meanwhile, Beijing is openly resisting Washington's sanctions against Chinese companies for trading with Iran. China has ordered all domestic firms to ignore US sanctions. Ben Norton explains these geopolitical developments. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfB8xQEZolk Topics 0:00 (CLIP) Trump: "We're like pirates" 0:14 US blockade of Iran 1:11 (CLIP) Trump on US piracy 1:57 US seizure of Iranian ships 2:43 AI memes of Trump as pirate 3:01 Multiple acts of US piracy 4:09 Venezuela 5:06 (CLIP) Trump on stealing oil 5:30 Pirates of the Persian Gulf 6:31 US sanctions on China 8:42 Hengli plant in Dalian 9:23 China challenges US sanctions 10:49 Secondary sanctions threat 11:38 USA crossed China's red line 14:17 US sanctions 1/3rd of world 14:47 Map of US sanctions 15:00 Sanctions are very deadly 16:21 Blockade of Cuba 17:19 US empire's goal 17:59 New sanctions on Cuba 19:02 Chinese solar panels help Cuba 19:47 Blowback: US sanctions backfire 20:45 Outro

Oil has been at the center of the war on Iran. Ben Norton explains how the United States became the biggest oil producer on Earth, and how the US empire uses petroleum as a geopolitical and economic weapon, pushing for monopolistic Big Oil corporations to dominate the global market. Ben also discusses why Trump pressured the UAE to withdraw from OPEC, and he debunks the myth that the USA is "energy independent". VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh-E3q6tGEw Check out our related video on the biggest oil crisis in history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUdyPJM_rOw Topics 0:00 Iran war and oil 0:36 Petrodollar 1:52 USA is biggest oil producer 3:39 US oil exports increase 4:32 Oil price skyrockets 5:03 Corporate profits rise 5:37 Strait of Hormuz 6:30 UAE withdraws from OPEC 7:31 Abraham Accords 8:37 OPEC history 9:14 Seven Sisters: Big Oil 11:01 OPEC members 12:13 OPEC+ participants 13:18 Goal of OPEC 14:25 State-owned oil companies 15:12 Why USA dislikes OPEC 16:56 Oil is political 17:18 Venezuela economic war 19:06 Big Oil execs in US govt 20:55 Cuba oil blockade 22:29 Energy and food crisis 23:36 US "energy independence" 25:06 US oil imports 26:12 Types of crude oil 27:26 US oil refineries 28:47 US imports by country 30:36 Oil benchmarks 32:47 Oil futures market 33:53 Price predictions 36:04 Economic crisis fears 37:02 Outro

The US-Israeli war on Iran has caused the largest oil supply shock in history, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Ben Norton explains how the attacks by Trump and Netanyahu, and the ensuing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, have unleashed an energy crisis that could destabilize the global economy. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUdyPJM_rOw Topics 0:00 Intro 0:23 Schrödinger's ceasefire 1:24 Energy crisis 3:11 Strait of Hormuz 5:14 Petrodollar 6:45 Blockade 7:35 Impact on Asia 10:46 Europe 11:29 Food crisis 13:38 China 16:20 Renewable energy 18:24 Trump's claims 19:41 Stagflation fears 21:34 Outro

There are growing signs that the United States may be on the verge of another major financial crisis, one that could start in the $3 trillion private credit market, which is already seeing significant turmoil, before spreading to other sectors. Geopolitical Economy Report editor Ben Norton interviewed economist Michael Hudson to discuss the serious problems on Wall Street. Hudson warned that the US economy is built on a Ponzi scheme that depends on continuing to pour money into a bloated, bubbly financial system based on unsustainable speculation, not industrial production. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blv49u3Q230 Check out our related short video about the private credit crisis on Wall Street: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1cx9Zk6WZk Topics 0:00 Introduction 1:37 Highlights of Michael Hudson 3:29 Interview starts 4:18 2008 financial crisis 5:04 Zero interest-rate policy (ZIRP) 7:31 Private equity 9:17 Lack of investment 10:34 Wealth inequality 12:08 Debt defaults 14:10 Depression fears 16:12 US govt supports Wall Street 19:07 Ponzi schemes 23:51 US economic problems 27:35 Iran war impact 30:16 Financialization of economy 33:46 Outro

The peace talks held between the US and Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan failed. Despite a temporary, two-week ceasefire Donald Trump announced a naval blockade of the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Ben Norton explains the USA's strategy, and how it is targeting China and Asian economies that import oil, natural gas, and other important commodities from the Persian Gulf. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDH5qMZSPm4 Topics 0:00 Peace talks in Pakistan fail 1:07 Trump blockades the blockade 2:53 Iran trolls the US 3:45 Trump's contradictory posts 6:12 Ceasefire 6:51 Israeli attack on Lebanon 8:17 Trump threatens Iran 9:45 Trump targets Cuba 10:38 Strait of Hormuz 11:41 Iran toll challenges petrodollar 13:12 Logic behind US blockade 14:01 Scott Bessent threatens China 15:31 USA targets China's oil supply 16:29 China condemns US blockade 17:06 Dangers of escalation 18:38 Chinese tankers 20:37 China's oil reserves 21:11 China's supply chain shocks 22:59 Trump wants leverage 24:09 The US is losing the war 26:25 Iran's message to Trump 27:45 Outro