Iran and the US-Israeli Death Drive Economy

Today I am sharing a conversation I recorded with Elia Ayoub to discuss and analyze what is going on with the US-Israeli war on Iran. We recorded on Tuesday March 10, and events keep changing, but this conversation will still be relevant insofar as we look at the geopolitical causes and consequences. After Elia lays down the groundwork of the current situation, we discuss the complex politics among states, non-state groups, and civilians. One of the issues that I have continued to run into since the attacks on Iran first began is some people's utter confusion in how to place the state of Iran and its government in relation to anti-imperial struggle. It turns out you can be anti-Zionist and not pro-Ayatollah! Elia helps understand the authoritarian role of the Ayatollah, from the 1979 revolution onward, while also bringing us into similarly complex analysis of Lebanon and Hezbollah. Both Iran and Hezbollah have countered Israel with military force; and they have both done their own share of murder of populations and interventions on behalf of authoritarian regimes. We put all of this in the context of Israeli's continuing genocide of Gaza.

Elia provides some possible scenarios that could develop from the war continuing and also possible ways it might end or be stopped. As we experienced with Gaza, it seems to a certain extent that either the will of the US or a coalition of other European states is necessary to put an end to the violence. Iran has made some effective decisions that maximize its military and economic power against such terrible foes, and as Elia says, this whole scenario will likely end up realigning alliances in the region. As long as the US is willing to press on in this war, Israel will also deploy all of its might to continue its destruction with little regard for any life after. In the end, I think this is where we land: the war itself does not make much political or economic sense, and so for both Trump and Netanyahu it exemplifies a death drive that pairs genocide with ecocide and maybe even omnicide, as desalination plants are destroyed, for example. We don't know what the long ranging effects of this war will be on the people living in the area, but it won't be good—even if it ends now.

I'll stop there and let you listen to more of what Elia has to say.

If you don't know Elia already, I hope this conversation inspires you so seek more of his work out. Elia Ayoub is an anti-authoritarian historian, researcher and writer. He created The Fire These Times podcast, where he hosts conversations and provides commentary on the most important issues that we face in the anti-authoritarian struggle. He also offers masterclasses, such as his current course on Lebanon. He co-founded the worker-owned media collective From the Periphery, so Elia is pursuing similar aims as CAW. You may have already heard his collaboration with carla joy bergman on their anarchist Star Trek podcast, Resistance is Fertile. He holds a PhD in Cultural Analysis on postwar Lebanon and runs a newsletter on the region called Hauntologies. He is also the Encyclopaedia Lead at the Decolonial Centre. He can be found on Bluesky and Instagram.

Elia wanted to share some links to provide funds for Lebanon Emergency Relief. I will include them in the notes for the episode, along with all of the links to Elia's work.

The artwork I used for the episode image is "Iran-Iraq War" painted by the Kurdish former political prisoner and exile, Osman Ahmed in 1982.

Fundraisers:

https://www.chuffed.org/project/171933-lebanon-emergency-relief

BuJu https://www.instagram.com/p/DVovwUojIYq/?igsh=cHJoNTlxd2o3M29t

Before we get into the conversation, I'll do my usual rundown of ways you can support this project.

If you like this podcast, please rate it and follow it on the different apps where you listen to it. That does help boost the potential audience. Also, tell your friends too! I love hearing from people about their thoughts—but as always any questions you might want us to tackle on the show. You can leave us a message at (917) 426-6548 or using the form https://form.jotform.com/thebreakuptheory/stories. Or find me on Instagram @thebreakuptheory and DM me.

If you want to access more of my work, as well as the work of the wonderful carla joy bergman, Dani Burlison, and Vicky Osterweil, you can sign up for our newsletter at https://cawshinythings.com. If you subscribe, you will also get access to all of our articles, our discord server where we have discussion, movie nights, writing workshops, and book clubs, and more. Our podcasts, advice column, and zine and sticker library are always free. I am proud of the thing that we are building together, creating a support system for the lonely and often impoverished work of writing—and also finding new ways to engage with new people committed to collective thinking and writing.

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The Breakup Theory is a member of the Channel Zero Network of anarchist podcasts, which pulls together a wide variety of shows taking an anarchist perspective on culture, politics, actions, and more. Check them out at https://channelzeronetwork.com

The links:

https://thefirethesetimes.com/

https://fromtheperiphery.com/

http://hauntologies.net/

https://decolonialcentre.org/

https://bsky.app/profile/ayoub.bsky.social

https://www.instagram.com/eliajayoub