UPDATED ON:
Monday, November 24, 2008
12:45 Mecca time, 09:45 GMT
 
Programmes RIZ KHAN
Howard Zinn on Barack Obama



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His campaign slogan was, "Yes we can." Now the question is "Will he?".

President-elect Barack Obama faces a daunting list of challenges on the political, social and economic horizons.

Now that the celebrations in the United States, and around the world, have quietened down, reality has set in.

America is involved in two ongoing wars and is suffering from a major financial crisis at home. Obama has a mandate for change, and a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress.

But the questions remain: How much change can we expect? And just how much has America been renewed with these elections?
 

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Send us your feedback on Howard Zinn


On Thursday's Riz Khan we speak to great American thinker Howard Zinn.

In the closing days of the election race he endorsed Barack Obama, after initially urging voters to vote for third-party candidate Ralph Nader in states that were solidly Democratic.

Zinn is an award-winning historian, political scientist, playwright, activist, lecturer, and prominent anti-war critic.

He is also Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Boston University, a prolific writer, and author of 20 books including, A People's History of the United States.


You can join the debate.  Send your questions and comments for Howard Zinn.

Watch the show live at 0030GMT, with repeats at 05:30GMT and 2030.

 Source: Al Jazeera
 
Feedback Number of comments : 12
 
Adam Haji Ali
Somalia
07/11/2008
question
there is high hope, for the world to Obama, will you believe that Obama will fulfill that hope Especially in economic mess to the entire world?

Joel
Canada
07/11/2008
Future Elections
In your view, what are the first steps toward making 3rd-party candidates for the US presidency "viable"?

Jesse Strauss
United States
07/11/2008
Question for Howard Zinn
I've heard many (maybe too many) comparisons between Barack Obama and J.F. Kennedy. What do you see as similarities/differences in the Presidents themselves as well as the popular reactions to them, more specifically the mobilization and empowered feeling of young folks (which some argue later led to a more radical outcry by those empowered by the elections people of color, students, etc.)?

Annelies Kamran
United States
10/11/2008
for Howard Zinn on Obama
Prof. Zinn, What is the future of civil liberties in the Obama administration? I am concerned about the abridgment of civil liberties by both the government and by private actors (such as hospitals that deport the uninsured).

David Kattenburg
Afghanistan
10/11/2008
Palestinians
How can the Obama administration better address the interests and needs of the Palestinian people? Should the Obama administration remove Hamas from its "terrorism" list?

Joe
United States
12/11/2008
Zinn
Very nice changes started already, this could be the best time to be alive. Going from worst to best overnight is right in front of us. Everyone I talk to or hear from including Zinn has this feeling of something better in the future and less violence. Awesome....

Sebastiao Nascimento
Brazil
12/11/2008
American isolationism and global commitments
America's skills in refurbishing its myths of internal cohesion, while finding ways to project its interests abroad, has proven once again very effective, mesmerizing the world in its wake. Now that the ever resurgent idea of America's innocence moves from a clumsy denunciation of evil towards a more amiable hope of change, is the American public ready to engage in the global conversation and live up to its commitments without resorting to poorly planned action justified by best intentions?

Harris Pohl
Afghanistan
09/11/2008
Howard Zinn on Robama
We will have millions of people disappointed, frustrated and impoverished. We will have a one world currency and massive environmental destruction. Has Zinn been threatened? Look at who is who in the Robama dream team and you will see that he already started with the wrong foot. From Rahmbo Emannuel to Vocker, Summers and other facists, Robama has already doomed his "presidency". He is like Blair in 1997.

Tariq
United States
09/11/2008
Do we have a chance?
Obama started out as a anti-war candidate, but then contradicted himself in one of his debates with John McCain, saying that if Pakistan does not cooperate in tracking down terroists, we "America" might have to. Do you have any insights in this issue, and about the issue of war and Obama in general?

Rand
Qatar
09/11/2008
Obamas team is scary
Apart from Rahm Emmanuel, major Indian dailies Hindustan Times and Times of India have disclosed that his financial advisor Sonal Shah is close to VHP, the Indian fascist group, responsible for the muslim genocide in Gujarat. If she is given the financial advisor position, its a terrible situation for the minorities in India.

Scott
United States
11/11/2008
Howard Zinn
After white America was ready to give up on the cities and flee to suburbia, only then did they surrender control to black leaders. Now that they are ready to give up on the disasters they have created in the world, now again they turn to the black leaders to clean up the mess. The key now is maintaining a balance of power and embracing the shift towards caring about people, not their background.

Amelia Conte-Russian
United States
11/11/2008
B.Obama
Obama is more dangerous than MacCain, in this moment when finally the American people were starting to insurge aganst capitalism, Obama was intentionally put there to stop them.

 
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