Do you think we could be on course for a world war three? It will the Iran-Russia-China axis continue to be limited to proxy wars?
Israel does have a right to defend itself. If it were our citizens being murdered like that we would be baying for blood. But we all know what’s going to happen here. Israel’s response will be completely disproportionate and will have no regard for human life. So whilst it’s right to condemn the attack without exception, the Palestinians taking to the media outlets do have a point about the hypocrisy of the west in their backing of Israel. It’s just a shame that people cannot make that point without being accused of excusing the recent atrocity or being anti-Semitic.
I wrote this earlier today for a different audience:
‘A hairball of geopolitical complexity, every bit as bit as intricate as the European alliance tangles in 1914, is now the crucible of Biden’s statecraft’. That’s Andreas Kluth, former editor-in-chief of Handelsblatt, writing for Bloomberg. He reminds us that Russia has a vested, or at least self-evident, interest in chaos and isn’t averse to widening the conflict. Iran, firmly in the frame as a significant malevolent actor on the Middle-Eastern stage, will be looking to Russia for payback for all the arms that have flowed from Teheran to Moscow. Saudi Arabia is a big player in what happens next with choices to be made about its ongoing rapprochement with Israel and its feuding with Iran. Turkey and Egypt are also players. Most of these countries have at least one thing in common: ambitious, authoritarian leaders.
It’s all very well throwing the geopolitical ball Joe Biden’s way - it’s an obvious thing to do, given the way the world has been run since 1945. ‘Pax Americana’ has by no means abolished war but it has kept a sort of peace unprecedented in much of human, particularly European, history. The problem is that only a cursory look at the state of Washington DC - the chaos, the dysfunction and the growing isolationism - might lead to the conclusion that Pax Americana is well and truly over. ‘Strong man’, authoritarian leaders are in the ascendant everywhere. Without an equally strong counterweight like an American global policeman, history’s lesson for what happens next is simple.
Meanwhile back in Moscow, sabre rattling in the form of threats to restart nuclear testing is accompanied by more calls on state media for the actual use of nuclear weapons. The head of RT, a major global news network funded by the Kremlin, argued for a detonation of an atomic bomb over Siberia, with the intended aim of encouraging - frightening - the West into ending support for Ukraine. While detonating nuclear weapons over or on your own territory might seem a little eccentric, it’s not the first time the suggestion has been aired on Russia’s chat shows. RT is also pushing the line that Ukriane has armed Hamas, a suggestion that has been treated with contempt by at least one representative of the Israeli military.
Worrying times.
Do you think we could be on course for a world war three? It will the Iran-Russia-China axis continue to be limited to proxy wars?
Israel does have a right to defend itself. If it were our citizens being murdered like that we would be baying for blood. But we all know what’s going to happen here. Israel’s response will be completely disproportionate and will have no regard for human life. So whilst it’s right to condemn the attack without exception, the Palestinians taking to the media outlets do have a point about the hypocrisy of the west in their backing of Israel. It’s just a shame that people cannot make that point without being accused of excusing the recent atrocity or being anti-Semitic.
I wrote this earlier today for a different audience:
‘A hairball of geopolitical complexity, every bit as bit as intricate as the European alliance tangles in 1914, is now the crucible of Biden’s statecraft’. That’s Andreas Kluth, former editor-in-chief of Handelsblatt, writing for Bloomberg. He reminds us that Russia has a vested, or at least self-evident, interest in chaos and isn’t averse to widening the conflict. Iran, firmly in the frame as a significant malevolent actor on the Middle-Eastern stage, will be looking to Russia for payback for all the arms that have flowed from Teheran to Moscow. Saudi Arabia is a big player in what happens next with choices to be made about its ongoing rapprochement with Israel and its feuding with Iran. Turkey and Egypt are also players. Most of these countries have at least one thing in common: ambitious, authoritarian leaders.
It’s all very well throwing the geopolitical ball Joe Biden’s way - it’s an obvious thing to do, given the way the world has been run since 1945. ‘Pax Americana’ has by no means abolished war but it has kept a sort of peace unprecedented in much of human, particularly European, history. The problem is that only a cursory look at the state of Washington DC - the chaos, the dysfunction and the growing isolationism - might lead to the conclusion that Pax Americana is well and truly over. ‘Strong man’, authoritarian leaders are in the ascendant everywhere. Without an equally strong counterweight like an American global policeman, history’s lesson for what happens next is simple.
Meanwhile back in Moscow, sabre rattling in the form of threats to restart nuclear testing is accompanied by more calls on state media for the actual use of nuclear weapons. The head of RT, a major global news network funded by the Kremlin, argued for a detonation of an atomic bomb over Siberia, with the intended aim of encouraging - frightening - the West into ending support for Ukraine. While detonating nuclear weapons over or on your own territory might seem a little eccentric, it’s not the first time the suggestion has been aired on Russia’s chat shows. RT is also pushing the line that Ukriane has armed Hamas, a suggestion that has been treated with contempt by at least one representative of the Israeli military.