Byron Reese illuminates how today's technology can solve many of our biggest global challenges. He speaks with the authority of high-tech trailblazer, inventor and entrepreneur, and the wisdom of a life-long historian. Byron combines his talent for deciphering our common destiny with an inspiring sense of optimism. Renegade Economist catches up with him at PICNIC 2012. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IhluJcc7e8

Afghanistan is known as the graveyard of empires. After a 20-year war that has cost tens of thousands of lives and over $2 trillion, the US is the latest country to retreat from the country after a failed invasion. In light of the Biden administrations withdrawal from the country, host, Ross Ashcroft met up with Former Marine Corps Intelligence Officer, Scott Ritter, and Founder of Krainer Analytics, Alex Krainer, to discuss the disastrous two decades-long US intervention in Afghanistan and its possible geopolitical implications. - Broadcast 13 September 2021 - 7 key points 1.Scott Ritter mainly attributes the blame for America's disastrous 20 year long intervention in Afghanistan on the shoulders of the US generals. Ritter argues that the defeat of the Taliban in 2001 was the catalyst for the generals to trick the US public and Congress into believing they had won the war and were making progress in the long-term, when in reality they had only won a short-term battle. 2. The reason why the deception lasted so long is because the military who instigated it had a vested economic interest in ensuring that this state of affairs continued. In other words, military careers depended upon the perception of victory. 3. According to Ritter, the US political and military establishment refused to accept the possibility that the Taliban could be negotiated with and claims they were ignorant of the Pashtun people's tribal code - the Pashtunawali - which if successfully tapped into, could have given the US leverage over hearts and minds. 4. Potentially viable solutions to ending the war early on through negotiations were undermined, according to Ritter, because of the public's lack of respect for Afghan culture as well as their intent for retribution. 5. Ritter posits that a sensible strategy going forward would be for the United States to recognise that the Taliban in power today is not the Taliban of two decades ago. However, as long as a successful Taliban is perceived to be a threat to the US, Ritter says that Washington will continue to implement destabilisation policies. 6. Analyst, Alex Krainer, notes that Washington's geostrategy aligns with Sir Halford Mackinder's Heartland Theory. This theory formed the geopolitical bedrock for the British Empire's assertion of hegemony over the Eurasian landmass which holds the majority of the world's resource wealth. 7. Krainer posits that the main beneficiaries of Western policy in the region are the military-industrial complex and those that place orders with it as well as the systemically important network of the world's banks. However, the analyst argues that the falling of the US-Afghanistan domino that marks the US withdrawal is a mortal wound to the empire. It's a process that Krainer says is unsustai ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjtAuvQFps8