U.S. Civil War

Atlantic writer Mike Giglio profiles the Oath Keepers, a pro-Trump militia group, in a new article. "They believe that there is a very strong likelihood of civil violence in America," he says.

Washington Post Beirut Bureau Chief Liz Sly has covered the Syrian civil war since it began in '11. "There is an inevitability that Russia is going to emerge as the dominant power in Syria," she says.

Polish writer Ryszard Kapuscinski died on January 23, 2007, at the age of 74. As a foreign correspondent, Kapuscinski covered coups and revolutions in the developing world for forty years. Many of his articles appeared in a series of books that made him famous: The Soccer War, Another Day of Life, and Shah of Shahs. This interview originally aired in 1/21/1988.

Michela Wrong's new book is I Didn't Do It For You: How the World Betrayed a Small African Nation. She presents a case study of the nation of Eritrea, but the problems she writes about, including colonialism and border wars, are prevalent on the entire continent. Wrong is also the author of the PEN award-winning book, In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo. She has been a correspondent for Reuters news agency, the BBC and the Financial Times of London.

Peter Singer's new book, Children at War, takes a look at the use of children as soldiers -- which happens much more than many of us would like to think. From Afghanistan, Thailand and Lebanon to Sudan, Kosovo and Sierra Leone, Singer examines how children are recruited and indoctrinated into warfare.

Mexican author Carlos Fuentes. Mexico is in flux. On New Years Day, a violent peasant uprising broke out in Chiapas, and thru negotiations, the Zapitistas (as they call themselves) reached a tentative agreement with the government. Then frontrunner presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio was assassinated as he campaigned in Tijuana. The Mexican government says at least seven people conspired in the killing. Fuentes will discuss recent events in Mexico and the history that shaped them.

Two interviews in this segment. First, Charles Tripp discusses the the stability of Saddam's government, and the current civil war in Iraq. Tripp's a lecturer at. the University of London. Next, we discuss Syria's role in the post-war Middle East with Patrick Seale, the author of "Asad: The Struggle for The Middle East."

Polish writer Ryszard Kapuscinski. His writing lies somewhere between history and journalism. He was a foreign correspondent for the Polish Press Agency. His books in English include The Emperor, about Ethiopian emperor Haille Selassie, Shah of Shah, about the Shah of Iran, and Another Day of Life, about Angola.

Dr. Walter Lear, President of the Institute of Social Medicine and Community Health, and Professor Jose Arias, a professor of economics and former Salvadorian Minister of Agriculture, join the show to discuss the political situation in El Salvador. (INTERVIEW BY RALPH FLOOD)