Is This the End of American Empire? Iran, Israel, & the New Middle East w/ Wahid Azal

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around: https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, J.G. Michael speaks with returning guest Wahid Azal, an independent scholar of Islamic esotericism and commentator on the Middle East, Iran, imperialism, and geopolitics, about the Iran war, the changing balance of power in the Middle East, and what he sees as a potential turning point in the decline of American empire. Azal argues that the United States and Israel have encountered a strategic problem they were not prepared for, pointing to Iran's use of drones, missiles, artificial intelligence, asymmetric warfare, and what he describes as "fifth generation warfare." The conversation examines the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab al-Mandab and Red Sea, Ansar Allah (the Houthis), Saudi Arabia's vulnerability, oil markets, and the possibility of a wider global economic crisis. From there, we discuss what Azal describes as the "end of empire," including the limits of American military power, the credibility of U.S. alliances and international agreements, the changing position of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, and the growing importance of China, Russia, Iran, India, and BRICS in an increasingly multipolar world. Azal also weighs in on the Trump administration, the U.S. political system and what he sees as a deeper crisis of American plutocracy, the Democratic Party and the possibility of DSA figures being absorbed into the political establishment, as well as the question of whether political outsiders can actually transform the system they enter. The discussion also turns to Israel, Gaza, Zionism, the political future of Israel, Europe's response to the Middle East crisis, and the growing backlash against Israeli policy. Azal discusses his own experiences with attacks and accusations surrounding his criticism of Israel and introduces the concept of "parapolitical drift," his term for the way political narratives can migrate between otherwise disconnected or even opposing factions and become increasingly detached from their original context. We also discuss the Western media's coverage of the Iran war, the apparent information blackout surrounding the conflict, Telegram and X as alternative sources of information, propaganda, narrative manufacture, imperial hubris, and what a post-American Middle East might look like. Topics include Iran, Israel, Gaza, the Iran War, U.S. foreign policy, American empire, imperialism, fifth generation warfare, drones, missiles, artificial intelligence, Ansar Allah, the Houthis, Yemen, Bab al-Mandab, Red Sea, Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia, oil prices, BRICS, China, Russia, India, Trump, American politics, Zionism, multipolarity, information warfare, propaganda, parapolitical drift, Sufism, Islamic esotericism, and the future of the Middle East.