Israel is not an outpost of the West

Veteran Israeli journalist and author Caroline Glick interviewed Asia Times Deputy Editor David P Goldman on her popular podcast on August 30. The interview is available on YouTube. An abridged transcript follows here:

Glick: Welcome to another episode of the Carolyn Glick Show. One of the more disturbing developments in recent years has been the rising up of an apparent axis now that Iran enjoys with two superpowers, Russia and China.

And although, you know, it seems to be a real axis, nobody’s really spent that much time talking about it, what its strengths are, what drives these three countries together, what can drive them apart, what separates them.

How we’re supposed to look at the rising alliance between China and Russia and Iran from an Israeli perspective and from an American perspective. And I think on all things related to Russia and related to China, their interests, how they see the Middle East and how they see their competition with the United States.

My go-to guy has always been David Goldman, my friend and frequent visitor on the show, the Carolyn Glick Show. David is an expert in these areas. He’s written about these things prodigiously at the Asia Times where he also serves as deputy editor. And so I’m very glad to welcome back to the Carolyn Glick Show, my friend David Goldman. Thanks for coming back, David.

Goldman: Thank you, Carolyn. It’s always a pleasure to talk to you even about depressing things.

Glick: When you think about this burgeoning alliance that Iran is enjoying with China and Russia, where you have China buying around 90 % of Iran’s oil every year, according to a Reuters story that I looked up, they said that China is importing around 140,000 barrels of Iranian oil per day.

Iranian oil