272 - Michael Hudson: Iran, Israel, and World War III

About this episode

Michael Hudson discusses the implications of US foreign policy on global conflicts and economic trends.

Michael Hudson is Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and President of the Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends. He researches domestic and international finance, the history of economics, and the role of debt in shaping class stratification, among many other topics. This is Michael’s sixth appearance on the show. On past episodes, including with Richard Wolff, he and Robinson have neoliberalism, industrial capitalism, the rentier economy, Marxism, and the role of economics in political history. In this episode, Michael and Robinson talk about Donald Trump, the war in Iran, Russia and Ukraine, Israel, China, and the possibility of World War III. Michael’s most recent book is Temples of Enterprise (ISLET, 2024). Michael’s Website: https://michael-hudson.com Temples of Enterprise: https://a.co/d/a3c53dm OUTLINE 00:10 How Oil Controls US Foreign Policy 10:44 How American Foreign Policy Is Leading to World War III 31:03 Trump’s Neocon War Strategy 34:56 Why Does the United States Need Israel for its Iran War? 41:26 Does the US Finance Terrorism in Ukraine and Israel? 44:16 How the West Provoked Russia’s War in…

People in this episode

Host: Robinson Erhardt

Guest: Michael Hudson

Topics covered

• US Foreign Policy
• World War III
• Economics
• Geopolitics
• Debt and Class Stratification
• Energy Policy

Keywords

• Michael Hudson
• US Foreign Policy
• World War III
• Economics
• Geopolitics
• Debt
• Energy
• China

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Missouri, Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends, Temples of Enterprise

Places: Iran, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, China

More episodes of Robinson's Podcast

• 278 - Priyamvada Natarajan: The Mystery of Dark Matter · May 31, 2026 · 1h 31m
• 277 - Tim Maudlin: What Is Philosophy? · May 17, 2026 · 2h 1m
• 276 - Craig Callender: Lab-Grown Meat, De-Extinction, and the Tolman-Ehrenfest Effect · May 3, 2026 · 1h 31m
• 275 - Nate Soares: AI Will Kill Us All If We Don’t Change Course · April 19, 2026 · 2h 4m
• 274 - Norman Finkelstein: Trump, Netanyahu, Putin, and the War in Iran · March 29, 2026 · 1h 35m
• 273 - Richard Wolff: Iran, Israel, and the End of the American Empire · March 22, 2026 · 2h 5m