In this episode of The Dialectic, Fair Observer Editor-in-Chief Atul Singh and Senior FOI Partner Glenn Carle (a reputed retired CIA officer) dissect US President Donald Trump’s dismantling of the federal government and its far-reaching implications. They examine Trump’s removal of key officials, including the governor of the Federal Reserve (Fed) Lisa Cook, the director of Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They note that the Trump White House is gutting federal agencies such as the Fed, the CDC, the IRS, the State Department, the CIA, USAID and NASA. Glenn traces Trump’s actions to decades of conservative thought. Ronald Reagan’s revolution and think tanks like the Heritage Foundation have added rocket fuel to American conservativism. Both Atul and Glenn focus on the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a radical blueprint calling for a 50% cut in the federal workforce and sweeping presidential powers. Glenn argues that the roots of the Trumpian revolution lie in the ideas of Carl Schmitt who was Hitler’s legal theorist. His doctrine of the unitary executive undermines checks and balances in favor of near-absolute authority of the executive, fuelling the fervor of Trumpists.

Atul and Glenn warn of a future where liberal democracy erodes into a conservative autocracy. They point out that many immigrants support Trump because of cultural conservatism and disdain for bureaucracy. Listen to this episode to make sense of our volatile, complex, ambiguous and complex (VUCA) world)!

In this episode of The Dialectic, Fair Observer’s Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief Atul Singh and retired CIA officer and FOI Senior Partner Glenn Carle talk about the history of the Iranian empire, the emergence of modern Islamic Iran under the Safavids, the instability that followed, the British domination of this proud nation and the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Atul and Glenn examine the ideological, religious and geopolitical imperatives driving Iran. They discuss the 1953 coup and the role of MI6 and CIA, as well as the emergence of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979. They discuss the Iran-Iraq War that followed, the Shia-Sunni divide and more. They end the podcast examining current developments such as the Israel-Iran military clashes and the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities as well as drawing up scenarios of what comes next.

In this episode of The Dialectic, Fair Observer’s Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief Atul Singh and retired CIA Officer Glenn Carle dive into the latest terrorist attack in Kashmir and the resulting escalation between India and Pakistan. They explore the deep historical roots of the conflict, the strategic calculus of both nations, and the dangerous interplay between religion, nationalism, and domestic politics. With terrorism once again destabilizing the region, they ask: Can cooler heads prevail, or is a larger conflict looming?