Kissinger’s Corruption and Palestinian Solutions
On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Matt Duss on moving on beyond war.

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Matt Duss and Jeet Heer on moving on beyond war.
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An Israeli soldier walks past a destroyed house in Kibbutz Be’eri, near the border with Gaza, on October 11, 2023.
(Menahem Kahana / Getty)This week, I talked with Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy, about the recent death of Henry Kissinger and how the violence in Israel and Palestine could realistically give way to diplomatic solutions.
We take up two pieces Matt has written. One is a New Republic essay on how Henry Kissinger trafficked his public service into a lucrative private career. Kissinger was a actually a pioneer in this type of self-enrichment through influence peddling.
With Nancy Okail, president of the Center for International Policy, Matt wrote an important essay in Foreign Affairs laying out a road map for a better future for Israelis and Palestinians. This path would require the United States to seriously push for a political settlement. We talk about the political obstacles to such a plan, including Joe Biden’s long held ideological convictions. But we also take note of the changing politics of this issue, particularly among progressive voters.

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
Writing in Foreign Policy, Matt Duss argues that Donald Trump’s rush to war is both
stupid and illegal. It is also wildly unpopular with the public. But he also observes that
congress has been reluctant to challenge Trump’s policy, although some progressives
have now forced the issue to a vote. Matt is a frequent guest of the show and foreign
policy expert. I talked to him about the dangers of a new war and also the larger
systematic problems of the imperial presidency.
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