Judging Freedom - Pepe Escobar : The Fate of the Gulf Cooperation Council

Episode Date: April 1, 2026

Pepe Escobar : The Fate of the Gulf Cooperation CouncilSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Undeclared wars are commonplace. Pragically, our government engages in preemptive war, otherwise known as aggression with no complaints from the American people. Sadly, we have become accustomed to living with the illegitimate use of force by government. To develop a truly free society, the issue of initiating force must be understood and rejected. What if sometimes to love your country you had to alter or abolish the government? Jefferson was right? What if that government is best which governs least? What if it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong? What if it is better to perish fighting for freedom than to live as a

slave? What if freedom's greatest hour of danger is now? Hi, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here for judging freedom. Today is Wednesday, April 1st, 2026, the great Pepe Escobar joins us now. Pepe, thank you very much. Thank you, Judge. Pleasure. Are the Americans and the Iranians negotiating directly or indirectly? No. No. And we know that from Galibati himself. We know that from Arachi. We know from top political leaders in the Iranian parliament.

Once again, messages. And, of course, what happened in the beginning of this week, which was quite something, the quad meeting in Islamabad, with the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Indirect. I want to ask you in some detail about the quad, about who controls the quad. But before we get there, you know, the president is peddling this nonsense.

This morning, he said the president, Peseschkin called him up. And said, if we want a ceasefire, I mean, that is just a really... Why would Iran want a ceasefire before any of its demands have been met? Absolutely. So it's the new narrative. We should always remember, this is the empire of creating, twisting, and discarding narratives. So the latest narrative is the Iranians are desperate for a ceasefire. And this might open the pass for Trump to pull off.

a mission accomplished, they said, okay, I'm leaving, which is quite possible. It's one of the things he might say tonight, or the other one would be, okay, we're launching a ground invasion, and then wow.

Wow. I don't know where he's going to go tonight. None of us knows. What is our gut feeling, Judge, if you allow me? What is her gut feeling? My gut feeling is that he's going to bring the troops home because he's suffering. bring so exquisitely in the polls, his disapproval, disapproval rating is north of 60.

His approval rating is south of 26. That is radical, whether his party controls the Congress or not. When he makes these statements, it is just de rigour that people laugh at and say, well, it's only the president who believes him. So what is your gut feeling? He's trying to, desperately trying to find an off-ramp. And all the signs, as of everything about him is contradictory, volatile, incandescent. We all know that.

But he's trying to find an off-ramp because he's looking at the oil market. He's looking at the bond market. He's looking at his numbers, as you just mentioned correctly. And he's looking at the political disaster approaching in the midterms. Let me make. Let me make another suggestion. This is a three-day weekend coming up because of Good Friday. The markets are closed.

He made me making a statement tonight, oh, we're leaving, so don't worry about it. And then plan a massive invasion on Friday morning. Massive invasion, where, Judge? That's where? In Kashm Island, he can't. In Karp, he can't. In Istanbul, he's town.

He can't. All of these possible landing sites have been gained to death, and all of them are suicidal. There's no possibility whatsoever. And Iranians on top of it, they are ready from the northwest of the Strait of Ormuz-In-Carg, all the way to the Iran-Pakistani border, including both Balochistan. The Pakistani-Balutistans, which is just desert, and Sistan Balochistan, which is used by the Balochistan Liberation Movement,

which could be instrumentalized by the CIA and MI6 and help the Americas in case of a land invasion. But all of that has been gained to death. So, with all the results. What has he gained? The same government is intact. Ballistic missiles are in use. He doesn't have the nuclear material. It's in storage. and the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before the war is now closed. What has he gained? Well, he gave to the whole global south on a silver platter

the actual beginning of multipolarity, with Iran emerging as a huge regional power and one of the world's most important powers, not only regional but all across Asia, capable of influencing the global, economy plus the Petro-Ewan in effect at the Strait of Hermuz, which the Iranian Parliament, the Majlis has already approved the legislation, organizing, okay, let's put it mildly, some sort of nationalization of the Strait of Hermuz, just like 1956 in Suez, what the

Egypt did, starting 1957, and they start They start their toll bulls. There was a lot of scandals for a few months, and now it's absolutely normal. This is exactly what's going to happen to the Strait of Hormuz. So Trump gave that to Iran and to Eurasia integration. So thank you. He also gave the Iranians a lot of income on the sale of oil, and he gave the Russians a lot of income on the sale of oil.

So lots of prizes for the... It's a lottery for the Global South judge in the end. Talk about unintended consequences. This is what happens when you launch a war with less than zero planning. I want you to listen to our friend Foreign Minister Lavrov, whose views are very similar to yours, Pepe. Now, here he is yesterday, March 31st, Chris number 22. We can say that we are in the middle of a really,

reshaping of the world order that will hopefully lead to the formation of a stable and fair multibolous world. But right now this restructuring looks more like disruption in all spheres and the power, the fight for power, across the world, is fierce and political scientists in Russia and in the world point at a whole number of manifestations that indicate the very challenging history of today's situation. I don't think Trump and Hegset and Rubio and General Kane had any idea of the changes that they would be bringing about. How do you read Sergei Lavrov right there, Pepe?

The Grandmaster speaks, Judge, in a little over a minute. That's exactly what's happening. These are, okay, quoting that woman again, but okay, it's an alpha. The birth pangs of the multipolar world, this is what we're actually living now. So that's why I made a bold claim in one of my articles these past few weeks. This is the war that is defining the 21st century, geopolitical. We never expected a month ago that, of course, it would have to be a war. Multipolarity would never be born in a brick's room with people in suits, deliberating.

No, you would have to be born in the battlefield, under fire, against all odds. And that's exactly what's happening now. Wow. What is happening to the GCC, the Gulf Cooperation Council, which was probably instigated by the war. Yes, it's already fractured, Judge. Very, very important. Two of them, two important members, because one of them is traditionally neutral, and the other

one is a gas monarchy and an economic powerhouse. Qatar and Oman now on the record, they say, no, we need a diplomatic solution, and they are not antagonizing Iran by any stretch of the imagination, not anymore. more, Qatar in the beginning was. And now we have the warmongers, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, still, Bahrain and Kuwait, who had been instigated until literally yesterday, Trump to go all the way to smash Iran. Saudi Arabia now is a completely different story after the Kiss My Ass gambit. because MBS was publicly humiliated.

Did the President of the United States say that to and about Muhammad bin Salman? And if he did, how egregious an insult is that in the Arab world? I mean, in America, you know, you say that all the time in locker rooms and particularly in athletic contest. But what does that mean in the Arab world? It's the ultimate insult. And don't forget, these are very conservative tribal societies, hierarchical. And when the leader is disrespected in front of public opinion like that, that's going to be blowback.

Blowback already started, in fact, little by little. Don't forget that NBS's ego is as huge as the baboon of barbarians. So that's a very strong competition. He already said that we are not buying America. American weapons anymore. Okay. Wow. Is it going to buy them from Russia?

From Europe? Europe doesn't have practically anything to sell. So you have to be from Russia. And we should not forget that MBS and Putin have very good relations and Putin respects MBS. Do we know what prompted President Trump to issue that Barnyard statement about Muhammad bin Salman? psychological imbalance. There's no rational explanation, Judge. It's impossible.

He's alienating one of his one of America's historical allies in the Persian Gulf with three words. It's completely upset. Wow. He obviously doesn't think about the consequences of his words. And because he is

a talking machine non-stop. And obviously, considering the mediocrity of the people around him, the psychophants, vassals, etc. There's nobody there just said, Mr. President, please refrain yourself. No. They are terrified of him.

Yeah. I want you to take a listen to Professor Mirosheimer. Yes. Serious, serious academic Never heard a four-letter word out of his mouth using some very, very strong language yesterday, particularly at the very end of this minute and a half clip. Chris?

We didn't even make any attempt to argue that the Iranians had done something militarily to precipitate our attack on Iran. There's no provocation here. We just decided we were going to go out And we were going to whack the Iranians, both last June and again this time. Furthermore, both the Israelis and the Americans are running around the world assassinating leaders. This was not something that the United States engaged in in large part, or certainly in an overt way in the past. And here we are.

And furthermore, there's the Gaza genocide, right? The Israelis. Here's an apartheid state executing a genocide in Gaza, and we're complicitous in that genocide. If there were Nuremberg trials, right, where the Israelis and the Americans were brought before the court, President Trump, along with President Netanyahu, and many of their advisors would be hanged, right? This is a genocide. Is it not? It is a genocide. What did we do in 1945 with those Germans who executed a genocide in? Europe and who were not only accused of executing a genocide, but those German leaders were accused of launching a war of aggression. There's remarkable resemblance to what we and the Israelis

have now twice done against Iran. He is the first national figure to say that if there were a Nuremberg-like tribunal, Netanyahu, Trump, Hegseth, and the others would be hanged. Absolutely, of course. If the same standards of Nuremberg, there's no question about that. Right, right. Aren't these GCC, the Gulf Corporation Council, aren't they all ultimately under the thumb of the U.S.? I mean, take a look at Egypt? Would Egypt even have a government if we didn't give them $4 billion in cash every year?

That's why the squad judge was particularly intriguing. Because it's, in a sense, it was already a post-GCC. In some aspects, maybe it was a trial balloon for post-American West Asia. It was a sort of budding Muslim coalition. There was a lot of spin that this was a Sunni accent. was a Sunni axis, bullshit. These are four Muslim countries with extremely diverse, but in this case, Pakistan sees the opportunity.

And Pakistan now, as we all know, they have a horrible military junta for all practical purposes. The leader, by the way, field Marshal Munir, he has Trump on a speed dial. But we can also say that Sisi in Egypt, And this military junta in Islamabad, essentially, these are Zionist-aligned administrations, governments, or whatever you want to tell them.

Turkey is always hedging. And Saudi Arabia now could be a loose cannon after the Kiss My Assamette. If no, we are sure that MBS will exact his revenge. But how? But what they discussed in Islamabad was not good enough. And that's why the next day, the foreign minister of Pakistan, had to rush to Beijing to talk to Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister,

explain to Wangyi what they discussed in Islamabad. Because the idea, the Pakistani idea originally, okay, we have this Muslim quad, we come up with some sort of plan, Then we present to the Chinese and we bring the Chinese in as guarantors of our plan. The Chinese from the beginning saw that there was no plan to start with, and they will never risk being a guarantor of a known plan. Consider they on the other side, they have a president that changes his mind every 10 seconds.

So this was the conversation yesterday in Beijing between the foreign minister of Pakistan and Wang Yi. And the Chinese and the Pakistanis in the end, this was fascinating. They have a joint statement, a five-point plan, which would be, let's say, the beginning of a peace plan for the war and the beginning of an entente between the US and Iran. But when you read it, it's a collection of cliches. But that's Chinese diplomacy. They release this collection of cliches,

that is more or less appeases everybody, but certainly they are now in the background working out with Iran and with Russia. Can we come up with something really solid without trusting the Trump administration? But then we can have the whole of West Asia and the whole of the global South behind us. And then it's going to be practically the whole world against the Trump administration trying to form. some sort of understanding and the end of aggression against Iran over and over again. So that's why this process that initiated Islamabad is extremely interesting. It can go to places where we don't even suspect. But the key is not Pakistan and this quad-four. The key is what China is going to do.

What will Russia and China do if things start to go south in the Iran war? Right now, it's advantage Iran by every measurement except where the Pentagon is willing to admit. But suppose the tide turns, what will or can Russia and China do? The tide won't turn, Judge, because they still have unlimited retaliation and this way is. capacities. The latest generation missiles, their newest drones, the invisible cities that most of them, the Americans don't even know where they are. They are bombing Isfahan this past two or three days, non-stop with bunker busters because they are bombing the entrances to two underground missile cities that they identified. But this is only the entrances. And then the Iranians

go there and they start all over again and they disobstructing entrances. The other ones, they don't even know where they are. So Iran is ready for a long war lasting months, which is exactly what Trump does not have. He cannot allow himself even to go over his self-imposed deadline of two four weeks. And in May, very important, there's the trip to see. He cannot go to China in the middle of a war. He needs to go to China with some sort of leverage. Well, he's already delayed that trip by a month.

Exactly. The stated reason was the war. I happen to think that Xi didn't want to be seen shaking hands with Trump during the war. Exactly. So now it's postponed to May 1416 as it stands. It can be postponed again, of course. But this self-imposed deadline takes into consideration. the preparation for Trump's trip to China.

He needs to arrive there with some cards in his hand. And at the moment, he has literally none. Well, what about Moscow? We heard from the smartest man on the world, the smartest diplomat on the world on jail politics, who believes that this is going to produce a grand reset. but what is President Putin thinking? We don't know, Judge.

We don't know. And there's the rumor meal in Moscow these past few days is something, wow. You hear everything. There's a lot of well-informed and well-connected people. They are looking at the war in Iran and they are saying, why we cannot do the same thing in Ukraine? So these questions are being asked publicly, already. Of course, this is not the way Putin. Putin is cool, calm, calculating, things long-term,

legalistic, his things about all legal aspects. It doesn't want to lose support across the global south if it does something rash. But a Russian public opinion may be little by little turning because the sacrifices of the war are terrible. And these latest drone attacks against ports in the Baltic, they are serious. Okay, the oil refining capacity of Russia, maybe was hit 3%, 4%, 5%, but still they are very, very serious. And they will continue. And they come from the Baltics. And there's nothing Russia is doing to prevent,

it will have to be a direct attack on the Baltic chihuahuas, which Putin has refused so far. So the interconnection, of course, we all know, know, these wars are interconnected. But what Russia public opinion is understanding from what Iran is doing in their own war, their conclusion is, well, Russia should apply the same methodology. So something is going to change in the next few weeks and months. There's no question. Wow. Chris came across a rather hilarious clip. It's done by AI. but it's side splitting about America on January 21st,

2029. As soon as I started and we were laughing like hell, I said, we got to run this for Pepe. It's about a minute and a half long, but it's worth watching. Is this one of the Lego? Today, January 21st, 2021, 29,

America takes out the trash. We restore the name. of the Americans who actually earned them, and we tear down the propaganda of a man who mistook power for greatness. We erase the vanity projects, melt down the monuments to his ego, and give back what always belonged to the American people.

Welcome back. We reclaim our institutions, restore the dignity of the offices he disgraced, and scrub his name from every one From every wall, every hole, every stone he defaced. America was never his. It was never for sale. It was never a brand.

It is a republic. And today, we take it back. The restoration of the rule of law begins in. Three, two, one. Not that far fax, Pepe. Wow. If he watched this, Judge, he'll never be able to sleep again. And the worst part is that he brought it on himself.

Yes, none of this was necessary. So I don't know where this ends or how it goes. We'll all be watching what he says tonight, but most people won't believe what he says. If he says the troops are coming home, do you think the Iranians are going to stand down? Of course not. No, they're ready for war.

Exactly. Whatever he says, they're ready for war. they're ready for land invasion, whatever that is. And the national consensus, which is something that our friend Professor Marandi explained to you brilliantly. That's the national, it's everybody feels it in Iran. And now they have the sense of they are in the middle of a historic mission. Like, you know, the old glory days of the Persian Empire.

We are resurrecting. We are a big global power again. with our suffering, paying an horrendous price, but that's it. History rewards the bold, always. Yes, it does. Pepe, thank you. You are the boldest, although John Meershammer is a close second to you. Thank you, Pepe. Happy Easter to you, and we'll see you next week. Buddhist greetings from Southeast Asia.

Cheers. Thank you. All the best, my dear friend. If you're watching us live in 15 minutes, Colonel Karen Koukowski at 145, and at 3 o'clock, the great Phil Jorov. Judge Napolitano for judging freedom.