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Rania Khalek Breaks It Down: Resistance, Empire, and the Global Stakes
From the frontlines of media to the heart of geopolitical analysis, Rania Khalek brings clarity to the crises shaping our world. In these three must-watch videos, she exposes the realities of imperial aggression, regional resistance, and global economic upheaval. First, she confronts Piers Morgan with the powerful perspective of a Lebanese journalist facing the threat of Israeli expansion. Next, she sits down with Iranian scholar Mohammad Marandi to explore Tehran’s stance against U.S. pressure and the risks of escalation. Finally, she speaks with Marxist economist Prabhat Patnaik on how this conflict reverberates across the Global South, threatening economies, livelihoods, and the balance of power worldwide. Together, these conversations reveal why understanding resistance—and the consequences of empire—is more urgent than ever.
On the show, she said:
“As a Lebanese person, being asked to condemn resistance to a brutal settler-colonial regime is like asking a Jew in the 1940s to condemn resistance to Nazi Germany. My family and my people have lived under constant aggression, war crimes, torture, rape, and land theft by Israel. Over 1 million people have already been displaced, and now Israel’s finance minister is openly talking about annexing Southern Lebanon, depopulating it of Lebanese residents, and replacing them with Jewish settlers — just as happened in the West Bank.”
Must watch and share clip of Lebanese journalist @RaniaKhalek on Piers Morgan:
“As a Lebanese person asking me to condemn resistance to a brutal supremacist settler colony is like asking a Jew in the 1940s to condemn resistance to Nazi Germany. My entire life my family and my… pic.twitter.com/ggQZgJmPZt
— Power to the People ☭🕊 (@ProudSocialist) March 26, 2026
Tensions in the Middle East are rising as the United States and Israel appear to be escalating pressure on Iran, targeting energy infrastructure and even hinting at the possibility of a ground offensive.
Yet Iran remains defiant.
As conflict spreads through the region and ripples through the global economy, the threat of a broader war grows each day.
What is the strategy behind these moves? Is this calculated brinkmanship, or could it mark the beginning of a conflict that spirals out of control? Have the U.S. and Israel underestimated Iran?
Rania Khalek speaks with Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran, to unpack the situation and examine what’s at stake.
The Fate of the Global South Hinges on Iran: Prabhat Patnaik Warns of a New Era of Imperial Recklessness
As the world reels from cascading crises, Marxist economist Prabhat Patnaik delivers a sobering verdict: the U.S.–Israeli assault on Iran isn’t just another Middle East conflict. It’s a turning point that could reshape the global economy—and threaten the political future of the Global South.
In a wide-ranging conversation with Rania Khalek on BreakThrough News, Patnaik argues that the war has exposed the limits of American power and the desperation of a waning empire. At the same time, he warns: if Iran falls, the consequences will ripple far beyond West Asia.
“If Iran falls, the whole of the Global South is in danger of being completely recolonized.” —Prabhat Patnaik
Iran Turns the Global Economy Into a Battlefield
Iran’s strategic moves—shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, taxing shipping, and targeting Gulf oil infrastructure—have made the global economy itself a theater of conflict. The effects are already being felt worldwide.
Patnaik calls this war “entirely predictable” — and entirely disastrous. Washington’s decision to attack a nation controlling one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints was reckless, he says, and structurally suicidal.
The Strait of Hormuz channels roughly a third of global seaborne oil, and disruptions there have already:
Sent oil prices soaring
Triggered fertilizer shortages
Pushed shipping costs to crisis levels
Placed tens of millions at risk of hunger
“Oil rises, then everything oil touches rises, then everything those things touch rises.” —Prabhat Patnaik
Even the U.S., Patnaik notes, is politically vulnerable: rising gas prices resonate at home, making war a domestic liability.
The Global South: First to Suffer, Last to Recover
Patnaik doesn’t mince words: the worst impacts will fall on Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Countries in the Global South are already confronting:
Currency collapses as oil imports spike
Ballooning current account deficits
Capital flight to the U.S. and Europe
IMF-driven austerity
Deep recession and mass hunger
“The Global South is already reeling under debt, inflation, and unemployment. This war pushes all of that into an even more acute crisis.” —Prabhat Patnaik
India is already seeing LPG shortages, hotel closures, and a collapsing rupee—a preview of the widespread fallout to come.
Gulf States: Fragile Stability Exposed
Iran’s attacks on Gulf oil and gas infrastructure have shattered the myth of stability in U.S.-aligned petro-monarchies.
Tourism is collapsing. Events are canceled. Migrant workers are fleeing. Air travel is disrupted. Even the presence of U.S. military bases, once marketed as security guarantees, has become a liability.
Patnaik warns: these economies, long dependent on stability and foreign labor, face their first real recession in decades.
Israel Feels the Strain
Even heavily subsidized by Washington, Israel is facing economic stress from its own wars:
Airlines cancel flights
Reservists pulled from the workforce
Tourism collapses
Daily life constantly disrupted
Yet Patnaik notes that 80% of Israelis still support the war, limiting the ability of economic pressure to influence public opinion.
U.S. Power Under Challenge
Patnaik points out that the U.S. is losing its monopoly on economic coercion.
China and Iran are deploying alternatives: currency bypasses, mineral restrictions, and trade in non-dollar currencies. U.S. sanctions are backfiring, teaching the world to operate independently.
The real threat to the dollar isn’t the yuan—it’s inflation and commodity-based alternatives.
A Global South Caught Between Fear and Resistance
Despite public outrage, governments across the Global South remain largely muted or intimidated. Even BRICS members respond inconsistently.
Why? Trump’s unpredictability—tariffs, sanctions, threats—creates a climate of fear, a “disjunction between governments and their people,” Patnaik says.
The Stakes: Resistance or Recolonization
Patnaik issues a stark warning—and a sliver of hope:
If Iran falls, the U.S. may target Cuba, Venezuela, Lebanon, and other nations resisting imperial pressure.
If Iran withstands the assault, it could embolden resistance across the Global South.
Lebanon and Cuba’s survival, he argues, may depend on Iran standing firm. This war is not just regional—it’s a historic hinge point for the world.
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