How the war in Iran has changed global politics | Glenn Greenwald, Seyla Benhabib, Sam Kiley

Quick Overview

The discussion concludes that while the current geopolitical environment shows similarities to the post-WWII era regarding international rules, the recent actions by the US and its allies, such as the Iraq War and the failure to curb Iranian aggression, demonstrate a pattern of hypocrisy and double standards, suggesting not an end to ideology but a shift toward a more explicitly power-based, less rule-bound global order, as exemplified by Donald Trump's less constrained approach compared to his predecessors.

Key Points: Glenn Greenwald argues that attempts to remove the Iranian regime, particularly under Trump, are hypocritical because previous administrations (Obama, Cameron) supported dictators and engaged in morally questionable foreign policy, citing the Iraq War as an example. Seyla Benhabib contends that the current world order (post-1995, non-state actors) is different, noting that Western powers often fail to apply international rules consistently, citing the difference in treatment between Israel's actions in Gaza and other international norms. Sam Kiley points out that US foreign policy, even under Biden, continues to exhibit double standards, citing the different reactions to Israel's actions in Gaza compared to the US's own past military interventions like the Iraq War. Roger Hearing suggests that the current era marks a shift away from a rules-based order toward one where raw power and resources dictate outcomes, contrasting it with the post-WWII consensus. Greenwald highlights that Trump's actions, while often criticized as impulsive, were sometimes more transparently power-driven than the hypocrisy masked by appeals to rules under previous administrations. Benhabib mentions the existence of an 'ethno-nationalist' or 'ethno-Christian' form of ideology emerging, contrasting it with the rules-based system established post-WWII. Kiley notes that the double standards applied by the US and UK regarding military actions (like Iraq) and support for allies (like Israel) are not new but are perhaps being prosecuted more openly now.