to discuss new directions for the middle east i'm joined by harold wrote in washington he's an expert on islam and the middle east also in washington we have you know one gal till he is rector of the international trance and peace university and author of fall of the us empire and then what and another member of our crosstalk team on a hunger or a gentleman you have difference of opinion this is crosstalk so you can jump in anytime you want harold if i can go to you first we've all been watching the events going on in north africa first that we had it in tunisia egypt and now very bloody ended it appears going on in libya here let's look forward what kind of middle east is coming into being in north africa how do you see it in reflecting upon the events of the revolutions as it were. well it is absolutely wonderful that people should have the opportunity to be themselves claim to be free of our autocratic and dictatorial rule which is bend the case that most of the middle east with the exception of iraq for some time now there's only one problem democracy is not the natural state of m

asia east asia and the middle east in each case there is a country that unnerves the neighborhood and if that the contrary you seeing very little in the way of major weapons purchases in latin america where by and large none of the neighbors are terribly concerned about any of the other neighbors ok there's some purchases i speak but yeah i mean paul and i mean i was brought up here i guess iran indirectly i mean if you didn't have countries like saudi arabia that were buying state of the art and i mean in huge amounts dollar amounts in some of the other smaller smaller neighbors to saudi arabia then why that is why iran wants to build up its military i mean it is doing it for at least defensive purposes i mean if someone is militarizing your border your neighborhood you don't have much option but to react and i'm not justifying or or agreeing with the iranians here but just on that on a principle basis of someone's arming their your border you have to react. well one could raise that as a proportionality aspects and is what is being supplied and discussions on more than sixty billion

greeks protest against the measures it comes as billions of dollars of aid go to the middle east the expense of europeans down your bushel for all the details. plus ukraine is hit with accusations of corruption and mismanagement. blame the health ministry for delays in the supply of lifesaving drugs. global news. you with. well it's early fears an immigrant exodus of up to three hundred thousand libyans and the ongoing revolt the country's southern most point of lampedusa is the closest european shore to north africa and ultimately the getaway for arab refugees from the troubled region thousands have already flooded the european island after the overthrow of its author terry and regime in january. as this story. they don't call them to do so they get into europe for nothing you see this tiny italian island in the mediterranean is located just around eighteen miles off the coast of north africa and over the past decade many refugees came here looking for a better life and while we were sent to other european countries nevertheless this place still managed to remain a peaceful isolated

to discuss democracy in the middle east i'm joined by ramsey by root in seattle he's the editor in chief of the palestine chronicle in jerusalem we go to israel made out he is the director of information resources at the manakin bagan heritage center and in london we go to come out and he is the chairman of the center for the study of terrorism and another member of our cross talk team yelena hunger all right gentlemen crosstalk rules in effect you have differences of opinion and i do encourage you to jump in here ok if i could go to ramsey first in seattle i think you know looking over the events that have happened in egypt and tunisia and as we're sitting down doing this program there are hundreds of thousands of people in the center of cairo protesting and demanding the end of the mubarak regime but over the last two weeks or so has the discourse of these dictators supported by the west they're the only things they did they're the only people that are a barrier to extremism in the arab world isn't that that that dichotomy that that discourse in tatters right now is we look at the peop

the middle east could shatter into pieces the situation is extremely tense. but of warns of decades of turmoil if the protests continue in the arab world as the government sends planes to pick up hundreds of russians working in libya. plus the red planet seen its last guess for the time being with a six man crew making their final walk on a mock martian surface as part of a simulated mission to. its midnight moscow time live from the russian capital you're watching our team my name is kevin now in a warm welcome the main news this hour thousands of refugees fleeing their homelands in search of a safe haven in europe as the political unrest escalates across the arab world faced with a deluge of immigrants italy is raising concerns about security at its borders has come off as it's one island struggling to cope with the influx right now. no home no job and no guarantees the life of a refugee. i had to leave i couldn't even my should i have no money. a familiar story here. a tiny italian island in the mediterranean around eighteen miles away from the coast of no

democracy throughout the world i think the middle east needs our help it's called to. question transition that's the moment and yes i think. despite our problems that we just we have to look at the world we live in but it may not be as simple as unlike europe after the second world war egypt and. the developing economies going through revolution and it's very unclear at this point who is going to end up in charge and who would take receipt of any aid package the government's made extensive attempts to build relations build up regimes which. being destroyed whether we're looking out. we're looking out it's a big deal i was shaking hands on just a few years ago in libya was gadhafi. be really careful particularly when we don't know what the. final government. but we don't want the job. so if the muslim brotherhood takes over in egypt do we want them to be taking over was institutions which were built up with western money westminster has been the scene of ugly demonstrations against government proposals to cut funds to some of the u.k.'s most vital services while some be

for hopefully no use in the greater middle east how do they feel about it. well we wouldn't have any problem because we are transparent i mean i have used recently both superdad and the un registry and of course the u.s. is. reports to both and provides all the information you want in the state department publishes data defense department publishes data customs department publish it that you just commented about the package to saudi i mean congress is notified of every major purchase that's put in the federal register congress reviews it so i mean that there is no secret about what we provide anybody. with a couple of exceptions probably actually dealing with the u.k. and our nuclear stuff but in terms of the countries here and arrested in what we do is is highly public and of course no company does anything without as i just pointed out a license from the state department or a sail through the defense department who in turn makes this one i guess i don't have any problem at all joe i guess i kind of missed something in this conversation when we go back to p

east except for really insightful people like robert fisk and other writers on the middle east if c.n.n. and fox and everybody all thought everything was hunky dory you know and all our great dictator friends are are are still in power for stability reasons but i mean i bring up the saudi card because the unexpected has happened and who knows what the future consequences of what we're seeing happening right now will be. well let's go back ten years to when condi rice and the bush administration introduce the greater middle east in the g. eight in two thousand and four and seven years and. this is part of a long planned scenario the pentagon is involved in it the state department is involved in it i think the reason that we're seeing these these are riots the i.m.f. cause the food crisis in tunisia just at the time that the hedge funds and wall street were pushing prices up using the biodiesel in the harvest failures in russia and such things but the there's a geo political trigger to this that is coming out of washington they're trying is there one person in washington turned it creativ

less in danger the world security obviously events in the middle east are top of mind. to discuss global military spending i'm joined by joel johnson in washington he's from the teal group corp an american aerospace and defense consulting company in stockholm we have paul holt i'm he is a senior researcher with the stockholm international peace research institutes arms transfer program and in oxford to go to d.p.i. in bass or a he is a policy advisor for oxfam and another member of our cross talk team yell on the hunger for a gentleman this is cross talk means you can jump in anytime you want i to go to very broadly and then go very specific to the middle east and i to go to joel first the united states accounts for two thirds of all. exported arms in the world are more arms creating a more stable world or a more destabilized world or you don't have it you don't see a direct correlation between the two well i don't see particularly a direct correlation i would that would note i know one of the common arguments is gee sometimes you supply both sides well where we have su

i think the middle east needs our help it's going to. question transition that's the moment. to despise our problems are told we can't just close up we have to look at the world this place we live in but it may not be as simple as that unlike europe after the second world war egypt and tunisia our own rule toward their developing economies going through revolution and it's very unclear at this point who is going to end up in charge and who would take receipt of any aid package the governments made extensive attempts to build relations build up regimes which are now being destroyed by a revolution is whether we're looking at military aid over the years to egypt so what we're looking at its big deal was shaking hands on just a few years ago in libya with gadhafi so we need to be really careful particularly when we don't know what the what shape or form for the final government in service will be but we don't wind up with resources when we have the right one so if the muslim brotherhood takes over in egypt do we want them to be taking over with institutions which we've built up

having a skewness foreign policy to sawley revolver the middle east. not solely but predominantly around the issue of israel i think if you're dealing israel which some of the new foreign policy establishment like j. street new america foundation are trying to do that actually a democratic egypt is not so misaligned with u.s. interests i think that's something that other people in the media and foreign part in the foreign policy community need to push at the same time i need to emphasize this both the pro-american and anti american regimes in the middle east or anti democratic syria and iran are by no means pro us but they're still anti-democratic so i think we just need to keep that in mind so we don't lose the nuances of the situation in the region hiring it that you know but nonetheless i mean it's i mean you can you can you can dislike hamas or hezbollah and things like that but by by international definitions they do practice democracy the people voted for them ok maybe there needs to be new elections but nonetheless i mean again you know to go ba

has played a role in the events that have transpired in the middle east every time u.s. president barack obama went to the podium calling for this that there must be reform political social and economic reforms that meet the aspirations of the egyptian people and calling for egyptian president hosni mubarak's resignation he was calling for an end to the status quo which means a ride in uncertainty and rich region so did leaders weigh the toll it could take on their own economy some argue they don't have the power to kind of winning back up trying to push them back against an avalanche and i don't think we're going to hear a lot of success that may not stop the u.s. from trying to take control some observers believe the u.s. may intervene militarily in libya or oil reserves are massive under false pretenses of helping protesting people has nothing to do with interest or people it has everything to do with the interest of the u.s. corporate oil corporations military. profits either way analysts say the price of fuel going up will simply fuel public rage and the government

this violence spreads all rich middle east the world faces a surge in fuel prices threatening to drag economies into a new meltdown. that we can expand our slams british justice for handing him over to sweden sparking accusations of hypocrisy over how the u.k. has those facing far more serious challenges. plus not one but three candidates they win the race for the hearts and minds as a limpid fans as an all russian vote concludes for the mascot for the twenty fourteen winter games in sochi. brings up to date for them now the president of russia's institute of the middle east help shed some light on the turmoil in the middle east and north africa in our interview program spotlight and that is coming up next here on alt. hello again well welcome to spotlight the interview show on our state i'll bring up and today we're talking about the iranian turmoil after a relatively peaceful change of power into nation popular spreading over the arab world the long standing regime in egypt after weeks of bloodshed the regime of gadhafi is fighting violently to keep power in libya what's behind thes

thousands flee from political unrest in north africa or the middle east but i was there arrive in european countries looking for safety there accused of bringing violence of instability with them. to. the middle east could shatter into pieces the situation is extremely tense moment there is going to be to revet of wars of decades of turmoil if the protests continue in the outer world as the government sends planes to pick up hundreds of russians working in libya. the red planet see this last guess for now where the six man crew making their final walk on a mock martian surface as part of a simulated mission to la. moscow time live from the russian capital watching the t.v. news channel with me kevin owen and the main news this hour thousands of refugees are fleeing their homelands in search of a safe haven in europe as political unrest escalates across the arab world faced with a delicate of immigrants italy is now raising concerns about security on its borders can off southern island struggling to cope with the influx. no home no job and no guarantees the life of a refugee. i had to leave

arms deals with countries in the middle east at this very sensitive time we've seen just. very recently embarrassment for the u.k. after it was forced to revoke arms licenses to both bahrain and libya amidst fears that british arms had been used against protesters during the trouble they david cameron is now trying to ascertain that they weren't that british arms weren't used in the suppression of protesters one just can't have that kind of control if one is an arms selling country we've also seen in the past accusation of the u.k. selling arms in exchange for oil in relation to saudi arabia and we've also seen it over a number of years a very in relationship between storage area and gulf governments and the military and police forces of this country in fact which is police have frequently gone to help train police forces in countries like libya bahrain abu dhabi and qatar and saudi arabia and these are all police forces that have a propensity towards violence and some of them have shown violence towards process that in recent days the u.k. has also number of years authori

the middle east could shatter into pieces the situation is extremely tense with president medvedev warns of extreme volatility in the arab world as the government pulls hundreds of russian workers out of libya. and a moscow a mock moscow version of the red planet has seen its lots of visitors for an hour after researchers take their final space walk as part of a simulated mission to mars. two am in moscow good to have you with us here on r t our top story thousands of refugees are fleeing their homelands in search of a safe haven in europe as political unrest escalates across the arab world faced with a deluge of immigrants italy is raising concerns about security on its borders or he visits an island struggling to cope with the influx. no home no job and no guarantees the life of a refugee. i had to leave i can do my should i have no money. a familiar story here. a tiny italian island in the mediterranean around eighteen miles away from the coast of north africa it's always been the main route for refugees but since the recent revolution in tunisia it's become swamped by thousands despe

east again supply is the president of the institute for middle east based here in los spotlight will be back after we take a short break we'll continue this interview in the studio in less than a minute so stay with their. place. well into the. period in a blizzard of winter blues get to slow sin try out some ten snowshoes got a little caliber excitement in its southern melting. trainers to keep you in top form and watch you walk on the goal line carving the trail to sochi twenty four to one technology update here on our we've got the future covered. close up to us dangerfield protean republish. center of russian defense production . now was he heads to central russia. country crops of become an industry. the harsh winter makes pollution even more enjoyable. and west everyone can train to be a stomach. if the other small fish. russia close up on the hot seat. would be soon which rises if you knew about sums from funniest impressionists. least from the stunts on t.v. don't come. visit. welcome back to spotlight our hour of in just a reminder that my guest in the studio today is eve gu

crosstalk this time they're going to be debating how to achieve democracy in the troubled middle east and north african region stay with us. hungry for the full story we've got it from the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers. following welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle days of rage in revolution in the arab middle east is the era of dictators coming to an end in this vital region and as the west learned it is far better to put space into the people on the ground instead of tyrants intense. discuss the middle east revolutions i'm joined by david morse are in washington he's a former senior adviser to vice president dick cheney in irvine we go to mark le vine he is a professor of modern middle eastern history culture and islamic studies at the university of california irvine and in brussels we have read brody he is counsel in spokesperson for human rights watch and another member of our crosstalk team on the hunger all right if i can go to mark first in irvine i'd like to look at a trend the last ten years and then since the time of the statehood of

down light of the unrest in the middle east the u.s. has come forward with statements were guarding all of these protests except for those going on in iraq so we want to know why the u.s. has been so quiet when it comes to iraq in particular maybe it has something to do with our several year involvement and war in this country well as author michael o'brien next the richest of banker turned prisoners seeks out bernie made off made several claims in his latest interview including one saying of the entire government is a ponzi scheme so is he just spreading the blame or is this con artist right we'll talk about it with richard also how much will the u.s. be directly affected by the conflicts in libya do americans realize that supporting democratic revolutions may end up hurting their wallets we're going to hash it all out with our team financial correspondent lauren lyster then the hacktivists have struck again after concentrating their efforts on defending weekly anonymous has expanded and recently they attacked a web site for the koch b

but first let's see whom russians blame for middle east instability one of the arab world's longest and most entrenched leaders and a stopped choice over the past week the world has seen a popular movement phase doll egypt what will come after president mubarak is open to question the public opinion agency about us and ask russians who's responsible for middle east instability twenty percent cited the united states fourteen percent blame islamic fundamentalists eight percent believe it's israel and six percent see western countries at fault with the rest all around the region what does the future hold for. the bill i think it's really quite interesting isn't it we've all kind of hinted it's either been direct or indirect in this program everybody's surprised about a democratizing arab world why you know it is if you know you know we've been told repeatedly that it's not possible they have to be helped to they have to go through these stages a straw man you know all of this we've been fed in dictatorships in in pursuit of american foreign policy and for american foreign policy interests

and more now on the ongoing unrest across the middle east and north africa r.t. speaks with you have any primakov former russian foreign minister an expert on the arab world about the implications of the unfolding events. thank you very much for finding time to talk to us. speaking of the recent up presence in north africa and in the arab world how possible is it in your opinion that they might have been incited from outside. i think we can safely discard foreign involvement as a factor in these purely internal affairs after they began however other countries definitely became concerned about what was happening i was in washington d.c. when the rights in egypt began meeting with state department officials we had a bilateral meeting on the middle east settlement i saw that my american counterparts were really shocked by the scale to which the events in egypt had escalated and incidentally the cia and other intelligence agencies were quickly criticised for not predicting the possibility of such an rest almost immediately though they became very active president oba

they have been playing a very important role in the middle east peace process. president mubarak himself has been praying a cure-all in this process, and, therefore, i would urge that the egyptian government leaders and people discuss their reform measures and transitions according to their own rules and regulations and political suggestions. at the same time all very strategic role, which egypt has been praying and overall middle east peace process should also be preserved. that is why i'm asking that all of this transition should be orderly and peaceful so that this should not be any sudden impact. >> so rather carefully calibrated response there of ban ki-moon. we heard an awful lot about the demands washington is making on egypt but what about egypt, what is it saying about all of this? >> well, you're right. the americans, the vice president joe biden have called his counterpart in egypt and asked for very specific steps. for example, he's asked for more opposition people to be involved in negotiations and he's also asked for an end to the emergency laws wh

to reconfigure how it views the middle east not to try to reshape the middle east to fit its own and i think that's a perfectly every nation you know wonderful valid id or it happens because israel our closest ally whom we protect at the same time his camp will leave that the u.s. has turned its back on the bar well i think that's that's not completely true sammy but these are the statements that are coming out of syria and some of the talking heads and pundits that in israel are saying things to that effect but others are saying it's time for israel not to trust and uncle sure. as you would say in hebrew to trust in the almighty so i think there's a problem that the perception is that israel and america are too close and it's not advantageous to israel or america israel can and or regularly says we can defend ourselves just just let's not they don't necessarily even need us foreign aid but you're going there only the biggest recipient was a really good thing about israel being appalled that the u.s. isn't stepping in to do something about keeping them but it can please what that say

as bond and spreads across the oil rich middle east the world faces a surge in fuel prices threatening to try to economies into a new meltdown. not one but three mascots have been chosen as the symbols of a soldier twenty going to the winter olympics a stroke that put one of the most but followed by a code of back and a nationwide public followed but across russia. the wiki leaks founder sounds british justice by handing him over to sweden stocking up musicians of the book you say over how do you take shelter facing the most serious charges julian assange plans to appeal a court ruling to extradite him fairly he will not get a fair trial and start. as the headlines up next and following to be transported with al gore no and today in this shooter's you get me such a no escape president of the institute of the middle east in moscow is discussing the current turmoil in the region. hello again and welcome to spotlight the internship an r.c. i'll bring up on today we're talking about the iranian turmoil after a relatively peaceful change of power in tunisia popular unrest started spreading

yes of dealing with the new middle east. but first let's see what russians think north african countries may achieve after their revolutions the social firmament in the middle east is changing the region many argue it will also change the world order however the transformation period is not yet over the public opinion agency lovato's and also question what can be the ultimate outcome of the public outrage in egypt thirty two percent said no progress forces will take power in the country thus improving people's living standards seventeen percent believe radical elements might take over thirteen percent see care and destruction of the government as a prospect and another seventeen percent think nothing will significantly change still the us has to liberate its new approach in dealing with this new arab world. ok you know and if i go back to you i mean we've heard a lot of rhetoric coming out of western capitals during these revolutions these uprisings of what the west wants to do. with a kind of a big red face because it reall

doesn't have eyes here nancy coming up the president of russia's institute of the middle east how sad some light on the turmoil in the region and north africa and the factor will have on the region and the world. hello again the welcome to spotlight the interview show on our state i'll bring up and today we're talking about the i radiant turmoil after a relatively peaceful change of power in two nations popular undressed started spreading over the arab world the long standing the regime in egypt fell after weeks of bloodshed the regime of gadhafi is fighting violently to keep power in libya what's behind these riots and what may the changing regimes mean for the rest of the world let's ask to give guinea sat down last night the president of the institute for the middle east. after forty years in power libyan dictator killing a gadhafi he's very close to defeat the military machine launched against his own people has left hundreds dead yet the demonstrators are standing firm a libyan revolt is part of the unrest which rippled through north africa and the middle east in russia the leade

with a wave of violence political unrest sweeping north africa and the middle east italy is warning of an exodus of biblical proportions it's calling for e.u. cash to help handle the influx of refugees but for now rome is planning to deploy its army to the island to help the gateway to europe was going off r.t. . italy. where the saving the libyan leader vowed to fight. so the end of die a martyr calling on his supporters to take back the streets from the opposition colonel gadhafi appeared on state t.v. in his latest attempt to cling to his forty one year rule amid the nationwide revolt of scented second week gadhafi said protesters have been bribed drugged and quote serving the devil is address comes after a day of reported army airstrikes against demonstrators in the capital tripoli more than two hundred have been killed and over four thousand injured in the first week of riots making this the bloodiest of all the arab revolts some libyan ambassadors have quit over the alleged use of force and want the u.n. to intervene world leaders repaving to the country's authorities to put a me

could be contributing to the middle east uprisings. well obviously it would have been great if we hadn't sold those arms to libya or to bahrain because then we could talk with a little bit more credibility about the importance of freedom and democracy and unfortunately the way the british government works and it's not just mr cameron's government of the former labor government as well is what the british state is set up to support in several avenues on the part of u.k. trade and investment their defense and security organization specifically there to promote arms sales and they have sold a lot of arms in the middle east including to saudi arabia which is one of the u.k.'s best customers so unfortunately it seems that you know no government has been willing to take the crunch and say we're going to be ethical we're not going to sow arms to dictators and should human rights abuses which is what these governments are why would britain try to make arms deals are more arms deals really at such a sensitive time like this when these uprisings