Etiket arşivi: Trump

The 81st UNGA

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September 28, 2026

On the first day of the 81st UNGA’s general debate, Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a remarkable speech underscoring today’s global and regional challenges. He started by pointing to the widening fault lines of the world. He mentioned that in the last decade, wars erupted with devastating consequences and dragged on with despicable cruelty.

He said that the global community’s path to a multipolar world is irreversible. He stressed his preference for a world built on interdependence – and sustained by a dense web of economic, political, social and technological connections; a world in which multiple centers of influence coexist within a common framework of international law and shared rules.

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A Narrowing Window of Opportunity

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September 21, 2026

In recent weeks, the Houthis, in a lightning offensive, have captured two key islands near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, giving them greater leverage over the critical maritime route. With two major maritime arteries nearly blocked, oil prices have skyrocketed, triggering worldwide anger. Moreover, a key Saudi Arabian pipeline to the Red Sea was shut down after being hit by drones launched from Iraq, creating further risks of disruption. Riyadh airport has been the target of a Houthi missile attack, and the US is unwilling to intervene. In brief, the Iran war is expanding into a broad regional conflict and the cost is rising.

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Gazans to “Voluntarily Emigrate”

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September 7, 2026

This is how I had concluded a post more than a year ago:

“Against the latest flurry of diplomacy, Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing government remains determined that all Palestinians be expelled from Gaza, a project endorsed by President Trump. Both know that after 661 days of bloodshed, the war in Gaza has swept away any hope whatsoever of peaceful co-existence between the two peoples. The only question is “where would they go?” Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Trump must have some ideas. After all, in today’s world, there is little that money can’t buy. However, that would not be all.

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Enough of the Bombast

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July 29, 2026

During the last two weeks, US forces kept striking targets in Iran. On July 20, the Houthis announced a complete maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia.  President Trump threatened a “major military punishment” for Iran and its Houthi allies. Iran rejected a US ceasefire offer delivered in Tehran by the President of Iraq, who had recently visited the White House. Oil prices topped 100 dollars a barrel.

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The Second-best Option: “No War, No Peace”

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July 20, 2026

The world remains occupied with the wars in the Middle East and in Ukraine, and their global repercussions.

With the sharp military escalation between Iran and the US and President Trump’s threats and conflicting remarks, it was another chaotic week in the Middle East. Before the war, tankers going through the Strait of Hormuz carried around a fifth of the world’s oil consumption. Today, countries are looking at alternative routes and considering building new pipelines. On top of Iran’s nuclear program, passage through the Strait has become a major issue.

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The NATO Summit

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July 6, 2026

Starting tomorrow, Ankara will host a two-day NATO Summit. Looking broadly at Türkiye’s relations with its allies, the problems are the country’s steep democratic decline and the AKP government’s Islamist agenda, including its relations with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Nevertheless, for the West, these are no longer an issue but a “given” that can be ignored in a strictly transactional relationship.

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The Iran-US MoU and the G7 Summit

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June 2, 2026

The Iran-US “Memorandum of Understanding” (MoU) was signed last Thursday by Presidents Trump and Pezeshkian in Paris and Tehran, respectively. Thus, the 60-day negotiation period started. The preceding days saw endless speculation about its contents. US Vice President Vance said the MoU is “a very general document,” with specifics to be worked out in further negotiations. Although not disclosed, the MoU may have understandings that go beyond those 14 paragraphs.

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The “Pause”

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April 13, 2026

Last Tuesday, Washington and Tehran agreed, through Pakistan’s mediation, to stop fighting for two weeks. The term used to define the “agreement” was “ceasefire,” often accompanied by the adjective “temporary.” Another word that goes a step beyond “ceasefire” is “armistice,” which refers to a formal agreement between two countries at war to stop fighting for a specific time to negotiate peace. Definitely, the parties in this Middle East war are far from that point.

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The West in a Leadership Crisis

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March 30, 2026

Last Saturday, the war in Iran entered its second month. During the past four weeks, the only European leader to object to the attacks on Iran was Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. He issued a clear and firm refusal on March 6, saying, “No to war,” and denying the US permission to use joint Spanish-American military bases against Iran. In the following days, he warned that the Iran war represents a “far worse” scenario than the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He said Israel “seeks to inflict the same level of damage and destruction” on Lebanon as on the Gaza Strip.

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