Alex Abella, reporter, screenwriter and author of Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the American Empire, discusses the origin and mission of the RAND Corporation, his access to the RAND archives in order to research its history, well known public figures that were once a part of RAND, how RAND brings its ideas into the attention of public policy officials, how instrumental RAND has been in formulating U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War, the foundation of rational choice theory in public policy, the problems with RAND’s studies on the Soviet Union’s nuclear and military forces, RAND’s effect on John F. Kennedy’s administration, RAND’s undermining of the policy of détente, the links between RAND, Ahmed Chalabi, and the Iraq War, Leo Strauss, the Project for the New American Century, and the culture at the RAND Corporation.

MP3 here. (15:52)

Alex Abella is a New York Times Notable Book author, Emmy-nominated TV reporter and screenwriter. He is the author of his new book, Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the American Empire. Abella’s non-fiction work includes Shadow Enemies, a non-fiction account of a plot by Adolf Hitler to start a wave of terror and destruction in the United States. Abella’s other writings include a legal thriller, The Killing of the Saints, featuring a Cuban-American hero, Charlie Morell, who’s a lawyer and private investigator. The novel, published by Crown in 1991, was a New York Times Notable Book. Paramount Pictures optioned The Killing of the Saints and commissioned Alex to write the screenplay. Alex’s second novel, The Great American, was published by Simon & Schuster in 1997. The Great American recounts the true adventures of William Morgan, a U.S. Marine who fought in the mountains of Cuba with Fidel Castro. The sequels to The Killing of the Saints, Dead of Night and Final Acts, were published in quick succession. The trilogy has won praise from critics and prominent writers such as Michael Connelly, T. Jefferson Parker and Robert Ferrigno.

Eric Margolis, foreign correspondent for Canada’s Sun National Media and author of War at the Top of the World: The Struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir and Tibet, discusses the new hype about Israel’s bombing of the supposed Syrian/North Korean nuclear facility in September 2007, the North Korean uranium enrichment program which still does not exist and which they still won’t fess up to, Israeli peace negotiations with Syria over the Golan Heights on the eve of further war, the two countries’ relative strength, the insane neocon “the Iranians want to be bombed and taken over by the MEK” theory, new war plans being drawn up, various ways that Iran could strike back, the bogus threat of the “Shi’ite Crescent,” the very real willingness of the Iranians to negotiate and do business with the U.S., the motivations which drive the al Qaeda movement, pro-Americanism in France and the NATO/EU Army question.

MP3 here. (42:17)

Award winning author, columnist, and broadcaster Eric S. Margolis has covered 14 wars and is a leading authority on military affairs, the Middle East, South Asia, and Islamic movements. He is the author of War at the Top of the World. See his website.