Mike and Marshall are joined by Ahmad Obali, founder of GunazTV, which broadcasts via satellite into Iran and primarily services the Azerbaijani ethnic community. Obali discusses how the Iranian regime’s hardline leaders rule a culturally and ethnically diverse population, and what the rise of the newly-installed President Raisi means for Iran and the world.
About Counterbalance:
Counterbalance is a foreign policy podcast that embodies Hudson’s tradition of challenging conventional wisdom. The Trump era attacked the elite consensus regarding several key issues, including the rise of China, American policy toward the Middle East, and the compartmentalization of domestic and foreign policy. Many observers in the media and in establishment foreign policy circles are presenting the advent of a Biden presidency as a total repudiation of President Trump’s policies and a return to “normalcy.” But, regardless of how one feels about the Trump era or any of his specific policies, there is no turning back the clock. The elite foreign policy consensus will never be the same. Counterbalance will reckon with what’s next.