GD—The conversation begins by addressing the escalation between Saudi Arabia and Ansarallah (the Houthis). Ambassador Freeman explains that the conflict is devastating Saudi energy infrastructure and military assets (0:50, 2:51), noting that a military solution is non-existent. He suggests that Saudi Arabia must seek mediation, specifically through Iran (7:10, 14:13).
Collapse of U.S. Primacy: Freeman argues that the long-standing security bargain between the United States and Saudi Arabia—dating back to 1945—has effectively ended (8:08-9:13). He highlights a growing trend of indigenous security arrangements in West Asia, such as a tripartite pact between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey (9:48), which signals a shift away from U.S. management of the region.
Israel’s Geopolitical Situation: The discussion touches on the state of Israel, with Freeman describing it as increasingly isolated and self-destructive (29:48-30:06). He notes that Israel has become an international pariah, losing support even in the West, and argues that the “Greater Israel” project is becoming unfeasible

PL—Yemen’s Houthis are on the march in a big way. Meanwhile, the US-Israeli war with Iran is expanding. Is this other front changing the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East? Also, could the AfD’s electoral victory in Germany affect the politics of all Europe?

CrossTalking with Mark Sleboda and George Szamuely.

OBB—he Houthi blockade of Saudi tanks and vessels in the Red Sea is a robust, constraining force on Saudi traffic, especially given the mountainous nature of the Yemeni’s Red Sea coastline that affords the Houthis, now in control of the entirety of that coastline, an excellent vantage point from which to survey and if necessary attack. The US dare not make the situation worse because it is a very small step for the Yemenis to expand their blockade from applying only to Saudi vessels to applying to all international traffic. Further, the US was badly thrashed when, in March 2025, it attacked the Houthis on behalf of the Saudis and lost 9 Reaper drones worth $60 million a piece.

PE—There were always shams and shows used to some effect by the late royal and imperial absolutisms, to promote the illusion on the part of hoodwinked hoi polloi that the ruling grandees took some generous, humane interest in their people. They didn’t.

Those tactics were observed by incipient democracies and, when empires broke in war, under the enormous accumulated weight of their insanities, the new elites adopted and improved them.

Our history, based on genocide and slavery, is one of cynical manipulation of an ignorant population through refinement of formulas long used to insure the authority of ruling classes.

JUDGE NAP—A significant portion of the conversation focuses on the Houthis’ strategic actions in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Crooke explains this is not merely as a sectarian conflict, but as a major shift in the regional geopolitical paradigm. He argues that this movement is inverting the influence held by the Gulf States (specifically Saudi Arabia) in favor of a rebalancing reminiscent of earlier regional power structures.