Rick Sterling brings an unusual résumé to geopolitical commentary: a retired electronics engineer with a 25-year career at UC Berkeley, who has spent his post-retirement years travelling to Syria, Russia, Crimea and China to see global events firsthand rather than through the filter of Western media. In this wide-ranging conversation with Kianistan Podcast, recorded just days after Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory, Sterling brings his engineer’s methodical approach to dissecting Middle East and Ukraine geopolitics.

Sterling traces his own political awakening back to hitchhiking through Central America as a young man in the late 1960s, witnessing the Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua firsthand, before a decade of activism supporting southern African liberation movements. That grounding in direct, on-the-ground engagement with global politics runs through the entire conversation, from his assessment of Trump’s likely cabinet picks to his firsthand impressions from a recent trip to China’s Xinjiang region.

The discussion covers Trump’s foreign policy signals, including the deeply concerning possibility of a Mike Pompeo cabinet appointment, the question of whether Ukraine could have remained a prosperous neutral buffer state absent Western intervention, and Sterling’s forceful argument, informed by his own book contribution and years of research, that Syria’s civil war was a foreign-backed ‘color revolution’ rather than a spontaneous popular uprising.

Sterling closes with a striking account of his recent visit to China’s Xinjiang region, directly challenging Western media narratives about Uyghur oppression based on his own firsthand observations, before offering a sweeping assessment of how BRICS, Russia’s resilience in Ukraine, and a broader multipolar shift are reshaping the balance of global power.

Key Topics Discussed

From Berkeley Engineer to Global Political Commentator

Sterling explains the unusual path that took him from a career in electronics engineering to writing about international politics for outlets including CounterPunch and Antiwar.com.

• Sterling describes his political awakening as a young man hitchhiking through the United States, Mexico and Central America, including witnessing Nicaragua under the Somoza dictatorship in 1969.
• He spent roughly a decade as a political activist supporting liberation movements in southern Africa, including Angola, Mozambique and South Africa, before Nelson Mandela became a household name.
• Sterling later built a 25-year career at the University of California, Berkeley, in electronics engineering, before returning to political activism and writing in retirement.
• His articles appear in publications including La Progressive, Antiwar.com and Dissident Voice, with a particular focus on Syria and, more recently, Nicaragua.
• Sterling emphasises firsthand travel as central to his approach, having recently visited China and, in 2023, Russia including Crimea.

Trump’s Return and the Warning Signs of a Pompeo Appointment

Sterling assesses what Trump’s early cabinet signals suggest about the direction of US foreign policy.

• Sterling notes US foreign policy tends to continue largely unchanged regardless of which party wins, even as domestic social policy differences remain significant.
• He flags Trump’s public embrace of Mike Pompeo just before the election as a troubling signal, given Pompeo’s record as CIA director, including alleged involvement in plotting against Julian Assange.
• Sterling notes Trump’s first term saw many of his stated policy instincts, including troop withdrawals from Syria, undermined by his own administration and advisors.
• He observes Trump’s simultaneous criticism of NATO and constant US wars resonated with voters, even as it remains unclear whether Trump will act on that instinct given the political risk of confronting the intelligence community.
• Sterling suggests the Biden administration may be deliberately expediting weapons shipments to Ukraine before Trump’s inauguration, drawing a direct parallel to the Afghanistan withdrawal collapse under Biden.

Ukraine: A Manufactured War and a Missed Neutral Path

Sterling lays out his case that Ukraine’s war was avoidable and driven by Western strategic calculation rather than necessity.

• Sterling argues Ukraine could have remained a prosperous neutral buffer state between Europe and Russia, benefiting from both relationships, had Western intervention not derailed the March 2022 negotiations.
• He cites political scientist John Mearsheimer’s decade-old prediction that turning Ukraine into a NATO tool would provoke Russian intervention, arguing events have borne this out precisely.
• Sterling attributes the war’s trajectory partly to political manipulation and corruption, noting Zelensky was initially elected as a peace candidate from eastern Ukraine before reversing course entirely.
• He argues the conflict was intentionally provoked by Western planners with the explicit goal of weakening Russia, citing Hillary Clinton’s comment days after the invasion comparing it to the Soviet-Afghan war as a deliberate strategy of imperial overextension.
• Sterling references Zbigniew Brzezinski’s ‘Grand Chessboard’ thesis on the strategic necessity of fragmenting Russia as the ideological backdrop to Western strategy.

The ‘Dirty War’ on Syria: Challenging the Color Revolution Narrative

Sterling makes a detailed case that Syria’s civil war was substantially externally engineered rather than a spontaneous uprising.

• Sterling argues Syria was deliberately targeted for a Western-backed ‘color revolution’, drawing direct parallels to earlier interventions against Libya and, going back further, Cuba.
• He describes the propaganda apparatus supporting the intervention, including the White Helmets, which he characterises as a political messaging operation rather than a neutral rescue organisation.
• Sterling states plainly that thousands of Uyghur fighters from China’s Xinjiang region were mobilised, travelling through Turkey to join jihadist factions controlling Idlib province.
• He argues ongoing US sanctions continue to prevent Syria’s economic recovery and reconstruction regardless of political outcomes on the ground.
• Sterling notes he personally visited Syria in 2021 and witnessed what he describes as genuine popular enthusiasm during elections, directly contradicting narratives portraying Assad as universally reviled.

Firsthand Observations from Xinjiang, China

Sterling offers a direct account of his recent travel through China’s Xinjiang region, challenging prevailing Western narratives.

• Sterling travelled through China including Shanghai and Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi in October 2024, specifically motivated by his interest in the Uyghur fighters who had travelled to Syria.
• He reports observing thriving cities, low unemployment, and active instruction of the Uyghur language and script in local schools, contradicting claims of cultural suppression.
• Sterling notes he and his travel companions were not restricted in their movement or interactions with local residents during the visit.
• He acknowledges not every resident is necessarily content, but assesses the majority of the population as functioning well within a thriving regional economy.
• Sterling connects his Xinjiang observations to the broader pattern of Western media narratives he believes systematically exaggerate ethnic separatism in China, Russia and Syria alike.

BRICS, Multipolarity and the Declining Credibility of Western Power

Sterling closes by assessing the accelerating shift toward a multipolar world order.

• He reports Chinese media coverage of the 2024 BRICS summit in Kazan was notably positive, with thirteen new partner countries added to the bloc, including Cuba.
• Sterling assesses China as confident the world is moving toward multipolarity, while deliberately avoiding direct confrontation with Western institutions such as the SWIFT payment system.
• He argues the West’s declining credibility stems partly from believing its own propaganda, citing miscalculations about Russia’s military strength in Ukraine and Israel’s assessment of a weakened Hezbollah.
• Sterling notes speculation that Trump may pursue a pragmatic deal with Russia partly to concentrate US strategic focus on economic competition with China.
• He assesses time as favouring Russia, China and Iran strategically, given their willingness to absorb short-term costs in pursuit of long-term multipolar realignment.

Major Takeaways

• Sterling’s firsthand travel to Syria, Russia, Crimea and China informs a consistently skeptical view of mainstream Western narratives about each region.
• Trump’s embrace of Mike Pompeo ahead of the 2024 election is flagged as a significant warning sign for US foreign policy direction, given Pompeo’s hawkish record as CIA director.
• Sterling argues Ukraine’s war was avoidable, citing Mearsheimer’s decade-old prediction and Hillary Clinton’s own comparison to the Soviet-Afghan strategy as evidence of deliberate Western strategic calculation.
• He presents a detailed case that Syria’s civil war constituted a foreign-backed color revolution, citing the White Helmets, Uyghur fighter mobilisation, and ongoing US sanctions as key elements.
• Sterling’s own recent visit to Xinjiang directly challenges prevailing Western narratives about Uyghur cultural suppression, based on firsthand observation of thriving cities and active language instruction.
• He assesses global momentum as favouring a multipolar order, with BRICS expansion and Western strategic miscalculations accelerating the shift away from unchallenged US dominance.

About Rick Sterling

Rick Sterling is a retired electronics engineer who spent 25 years at the University of California, Berkeley, before dedicating his retirement to political writing and activism. His articles on Middle East geopolitics, Syria, Nicaragua and international affairs appear in publications including La Progressive, Antiwar.com and Dissident Voice.

Sterling’s analysis is distinguished by his commitment to firsthand travel and observation, including recent visits to China, Russia, Crimea and Syria. His areas of focus include:

• The Syrian civil war and the ‘color revolution’ thesis
• Ukraine’s war and Western strategic calculations toward Russia
• China’s Xinjiang region and Uyghur political narratives
• Nicaragua and broader Latin American political movements
• The rise of BRICS and multipolar global realignment

About Kianistan Podcast

Kianistan Podcast, hosted by Tafhim Kiani, seeks out voices willing to challenge prevailing media narratives with firsthand experience rather than secondhand assumption. The show consistently prioritises guests who have travelled to the places they analyse, bringing direct observation to bear on some of the most contested geopolitical questions of our time.

This conversation with Rick Sterling, recorded in the immediate aftermath of the 2024 US election, exemplifies that commitment, pairing an engineer’s methodical analytical approach with years of on-the-ground travel across Syria, Russia, China and beyond. Kianistan Podcast remains dedicated to giving listeners perspectives grounded in direct experience rather than distant speculation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Rick Sterling?

Rick Sterling is a retired electronics engineer who spent 25 years at UC Berkeley and now writes on Middle East and international politics for publications including La Progressive, Antiwar.com and Dissident Voice, drawing on firsthand travel to Syria, Russia, China and beyond.

What does Rick Sterling argue about the origins of the Syrian civil war?

Sterling argues Syria’s civil war constituted a Western-backed ‘color revolution’ rather than a spontaneous uprising, citing the propaganda role of the White Helmets, the mobilisation of Uyghur fighters through Turkey, and the ongoing impact of US sanctions on Syria’s economy.

What did Sterling observe during his trip to China’s Xinjiang region?

Sterling reports observing thriving cities, low unemployment, and active instruction of the Uyghur language and script in local schools, which he says directly contradicts Western media narratives of systematic cultural suppression.

What does Sterling say about the origins of the war in Ukraine?

Sterling argues Ukraine could have remained a prosperous neutral buffer state absent Western intervention, citing political scientist John Mearsheimer’s decade-old warning and Hillary Clinton’s own comparison of the strategy to the Soviet-Afghan war.

Conclusion

Rick Sterling’s conversation with Kianistan Podcast offers a distinctive perspective shaped by decades of firsthand travel rather than distant analysis, challenging prevailing Western narratives on Syria, Ukraine and China’s Xinjiang region alike. His engineer’s methodical approach to dissecting propaganda and strategic calculation provides listeners with a consistently skeptical, evidence-based counterpoint to mainstream coverage.

As Trump prepares to take office facing an unusually crowded field of global flashpoints, Sterling’s warnings about a potential Pompeo appointment, combined with his broader assessment of accelerating multipolar realignment through BRICS, offer a valuable framework for understanding where global power may be headed next. His firsthand observations, from Nicaragua in the 1960s to Xinjiang in 2024, underscore the enduring value of seeing global events directly rather than solely through a media filter.

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