U.S. Empire Makes Its New Pitch. No One’s Buying It.

At the Munich Security Conference, Marco Rubio said the quiet part out loud.

No more “rules-based order.” No more liberal pretense. Just open coercion.

After Gaza — after a genocide livestreamed for the world — U.S. empire isn’t even pretending anymore.

In this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined by Dylan Saba — attorney with Palestine Legal and co-host of Turbulence — to unpack what this moment represents:

• Gaza as the capstone of the War on Terror
• The return of gunboat diplomacy
• Why imperial “decline” means escalation, not collapse
• Fascist consolidation at home under Trump
• The Democratic Party’s containment of dissent
• Why the U.S. still lacks a real left foreign policy

This isn’t a deviation in American foreign policy. It’s its logical endpoint.

They escalate.

After Gaza, the U.S. has abandoned liberal pretense and embraced open gunboat diplomacy — and Western elites are applauding.

@RaniaKhalek is joined by Dylan Saba @shaabiranks of @Turbulence_pod to discuss