The John Batchelor Show

SHOW 12-11-25 CBS EYE ON THE WORLD WITH JOHN BATCHELOR JUNE 1957 THE SHOW BEGINS IN THE DOUBTS ABOUT THE TRUMP COROLLARY FIRST HOUR 9-915 Ukraine-Russia Conflict and the Transformation of Warfare: Colleague Anatol Lieven discusses the Ukraine-Russia conflict, noting that drone warfare has fundamentally changed battle tactics, analyzing Trump's influence on peace negotiations and suggesting Ukraine risks losing support without concessions, while explaining that EU membership is being offered as a prize in exchange for territorial losses. 915-930 Anatol Lieven 930-945 Chris Riegel 945-1000 Jonathan Sayeh SECOND HOUR 10-1015 Andrea Stricker 1015-1030 Veronique de Rugy 1030-1045 1045-1100 American Universities Have Abandoned Liberal Education: Colleague Peter Berkowitz argues that American universities have abandoned liberal education, replacing the study of Western civilization with narrow specialization and political agendas, lamenting that students are no longer taught about historical heroes or the realities of the Revolutionary War, depriving them of national identity. THIRD HOUR 1100-1115 Clare Jackson 1115-1130 Clare Jackson 1130-1145 Clare Jackson 1145-1200 Clare Jackson FOURTH HOUR 12-1215 Evan Ellis 1215-1230 Evan Ellis 1230-1245 Evan Ellis 1245-100 A China's New White Paper on Latin America: Colleague Evan Ellis details China's new white paper on Latin America, which ignores US pressure and asserts a "full speed ahead" diplomatic and economic approach, emphasizing expanding infrastructure, technology, and security cooperation while securing access to critical commodities like copper.

China's New White Paper on Latin America: Colleague Evan Ellis details China's new white paper on Latin America, which ignores US pressure and asserts a "full speed ahead" diplomatic and economic approach, emphasizing expanding infrastructure, technology, and security cooperation while securing access to critical commodities like copper. JAN 1963

Electoral Chaos in Honduras and Chile's Stark Choice: Colleague Evan Ellis describes electoral chaos in Honduras, where US-backed candidate Asfura leads amidst claims of irregularities and potential unrest, contrasting this with Chile's election where voters choose between conservative Kast and communist "Hara" due to fears of communism or desire for social rights. MARXH 1951

Caribbean Reactions to US Military Operations Against Venezuela: Colleague Evan Ellis analyzes Caribbean reactions to US military operations against Venezuela, noting support from the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago, explaining that islands like Curacao and Aruba fear becoming targets, while political shifts in St. Vincent offer new cooperation opportunities. OCT 1958

Venezuelan Opposition Leader Accepts Nobel Prize in Oslo: Colleague Evan Ellis reports on Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado accepting a Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo after escaping her country, outlining a new US national security strategy increasing military presence in the hemisphere and the seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker. 1954

Clare Jackson

Clare Jackson MARCH 1960

James I's Sea Voyage to Denmark and Dynastic Tragedies: Colleague Clare Jackson details James I's decision to travel by sea to marry Anna of Denmark, viewing it as a dynastic duty despite the risks, also discussing the death of his heir Prince Henry and his daughter's involvement in the conflicts sparking the Thirty Years' War. 1933

James I, Mary Queen of Scots, and the English Succession: Colleague Clare Jackson explains how James I managed the tension between his imprisoned mother, Mary Queen of Scots, and Queen Elizabeth I, noting James protested his mother's execution but prioritized his claim to the English throne, maintaining a compleTE correspondence with Elizabeth to ensure his succession. AUG 1932

American Universities Have Abandoned Liberal Education: Colleague Peter Berkowitz argues that American universities have abandoned liberal education, replacing the study of Western civilization with narrow specialization and political agendas, lamenting that students are no longer taught about historical heroes or the realities of the Revolutionary War, depriving them of national identity. JULY 1953

MICHAEL BERNSTOM, HOOVER INSTITUTION, RUSSIAN FROZEN ASSETS & WHAT IS TO BE DONE? JAN 1961

Credit Card Interest Rate Caps Would Harm Low-Income Borrowers: Colleague Veronique de Rugy criticizes proposals by Senators Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent, arguing price controls will force companies to reduce risk, ultimately denying credit to the low-income borrowers the bill aims to protect SP 1954.

Warnings Against a US-Saudi Nuclear Deal: Colleague Andrea Stricker warns against a US-Saudi nuclear deal that allows uranium enrichment, advocating for the "gold standard" of non-proliferation, arguing any agreement must include the Additional Protocol for inspections and ensure the US retains a right of return for nuclear materials.

Iran's Currency Collapse and Legitimacy Crisis: Colleague Jonathan Sayeh reports that Iran's currency has collapsed to historic lows, fueling inflation and social dissatisfaction, explaining that while the regime uses repression and temporary social loosening to maintain control, it faces a legitimacy crisis and difficulty recruiting loyal security forces. N 1961

Chris Riegel 1955

Anatol Lieven

Ukraine-Russia Conflict and the Transformation of Warfare: Colleague Anatol Lieven discusses the Ukraine-Russia conflict, noting that drone warfare has fundamentally changed battle tactics, analyzing Trump's influence on peace negotiations and suggesting Ukraine risks losing support without concessions, while explaining that EU membership is being offered as a prize in exchange for territorial losses. 1951

PREVIEW — Peter Berkowitz — Classical Liberal Arts Education and Roman Republic Heroes. Berkowitz argues that modern liberal arts education has systematically severed its intellectual connection to Roman Republic heroic figures including Cato and Cicero, classical exemplars of republican virtue and liberty who profoundly inspired the AmericanFounding Fathers and shaped their constitutional vision. Berkowitz laments that few contemporary university students or faculty members possess the requisite cultural heritage, classical education, or imaginative capacity formed by engagement with these ancient standards of philosophical liberty, political virtue, and republican governance, thereby depriving new generations of the intellectual and moral foundations that undergirded American constitutional democracy and republican principles. 1789 NEW YORK

PREVIEW — Evan Ellis — Honduras: Poverty, Corruption, and Migration Crisis. Ellis details the severe structural poverty and endemic corruption plaguing Honduras, characterized by institutionally weak governance frameworks systematically infiltrated by drug trafficking organizations and violent gangs including Mara Salvatucha and Mara 18, which exercise de facto control over substantial territorial jurisdictions. Ellis documents that despite significant recent reductions in homicide rates reflecting improved security conditions, Honduras remains fundamentally unstable, functioning as a major source of Central American and Caribbean migration toward Northern Triangle transit routes to the United States. Ellis notes that domestic Honduran political constituencies are increasingly demanding law-and-order governance and institutional reform to address gang violence, territorial control by criminal organizations, and the dysfunctional state capacity that perpetuates irregular migration and humanitarian crises. 1930 CARACAS

PREVIEW — Anatol Lieven — Baltic States Fortifications and the Improbability of Russian Invasion. Lieven discusses Baltic state border fortification initiatives responding to legitimate security anxieties generated by Russian military operations in Ukraine and historic patterns of Russian territorial expansion and sphere-of-influence assertions. Lievenargues, however, that an actual Russian military invasion of NATO member states remains strategically improbable because attacking alliance members would catastrophically ruin Putin's geopolitical objectives by forcibly uniting Western powers in collective defense and risking direct great-power nuclear confrontation, rather than achieving Putin'sapparent goal of dividing European cohesion and fractioning the transatlantic alliance through coercive diplomacy and limited military operations short of direct NATO engagement. 1913