American Power Plunges Under Iran Shock | Prof. Radhika Desai

2026-04-05 — neutralitystudies — original

US power looks trapped, brittle, and in decline. In this episode, I speak with political economist Radhika Desai about Trump’s Iran war speech, a deepening Middle East quagmire, oil shock, NATO strain, lost US credibility, imperial decline, domestic decay, and the risk of an AI and debt crash.

Links:
Radhika Desai YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@RadDesai
Radhika Desai website: https://radhikadesai.com
Radhika Desai Substack: https://radicaldesai.substack.com

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Timestamps:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:49 Trump speech and war trap
00:05:00 Middle East quagmire and lost control
00:08:15 Gulf bases oil shock and allies
00:12:45 Iran war and imperial decline
00:16:37 US revolution capitalism and empire
00:24:51 Global backlash against US power
00:31:32 Trump antiwar brand collapse
00:39:14 AI bubble and crash risk
00:44:28 Where to follow Radhika