An American F-35 flies over Russia’s fifth generation Su-57E fighter jet, Aero India 2025, Bengaluru, India, February 13, 2025 Well-known author, fund manager and columnist for the Financial Times Ruchir Sharma wrote this week that the perception that the US President Donald Trump’s gambit with tariffs would have grave consequences have not really been borne …
Middle East in Crisis – 9
President Donald Trump, left, met Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a dinner in the White House, July 7, 2025. Trump secures Iran deal with eye on New Middle East Even in the darkest hour of the US-Iran standoff since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, it was never lost on perceptive observers that the acrimonious …
NATO’s mega spending pleases Trump
A large-scale NATO military exercise earlier this year. Credit…Davide Monteleone for The New York Times Viewed through the Cold War prism, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s decision at its recent summit meeting at the Hague to boost the defence spending by member countries to 5 percent of national income may appear to a naive onlooker as …
Middle East in Crisis – 8
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) with French President Emmanuel Macron in talks in Kremlin early February 2022, Moscow France seeks a role in Iran situation On July 1, did you hear the crunching sound of ice cracking on the frozen lake of Russia-France ties? President Vladimir Putin’s decision to take a phone call on …
Middle East in Crisis – 7
Funeral ceremony for military commanders and nuclear scientists martyred during Israel’s 12-day war, Tehran, June 28, 2025 Trump flip-flops on Iran, again. Why? The US President Donald Trump’s latest Truth Social post yesterday on Iran nuclear issue reads as follows: “Tell phony Democrat Senator Chris Coons that I am not offering Iran ANYTHING, unlike Obama, …
Middle East in Crisis – 6
America’s peacemaking president Donald Trump emerges out of White House after wrapping up a ceasefire in the war in West Asia, heading for the Netherlands for the 2025 NATO Summit that marks a consolidation of the western alliance system under US leadership, Washington, DC, June 23, 2025 Trump won’t brook opposition to peace talks with …
Middle East in Crisis – 5
Russian President Vladimir Putin received Iran’s foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Kremlin, June 23, 2025 The former President and Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev who is one of the most authoritative voices in the Kremlin, wrote on the Telegram channel on June 23 a critique on the Middle East crisis following the US attack …
Middle East in Crisis – 4
Russian President Vladimir Putin (3rd from left on top) met with heads of international news agencies, St. Petersburg, June 19, 2025 Putin in reflective mood muses on US-Iran confrontation The US President Donald Trump who sought President Vladimir Putin’s active help a fortnight ago to mediate in the negotiations over Iran nuclear issue has …
Middle East in Crisis – 3
Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility from where, according to Iranian reports, ‘plumes of smoke were rising’, June 17, 2025 Trump orders ‘unconditional surrender’ by Iran. Who’s listening? Israel’s blitzkrieg against Iran five days ago is failing spectacularly. The Russian media reported that: i) Israel’s Rafael weapons complex has been destroyed; ii) Haifa oil refinery is in …
Middle East in Crisis – 2
Scene of an apartment building destroyed by an Iranian ballistic missile impact, Bat Yam, Israel, June 15, 2025 Netanyahu’s war on Iran has no future An unnoticed undercurrent of the Israel-Iran war is that three Christian nations in Europe — UK, France and Germany — have joined the fray with alacrity on the side …