Smoke and Mirrors: Trump's Trade Deal with China

https://apnews.com/article/trump-china-trade-tariffs-rare-earth-minerals-cbd2482bd2b3a7ce8d47030c4ff1c3d4

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-china-2672360236/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/27/trump-says-us-has-signed-trade-deal-with-china

Trump will tout everything he does as supreme, the greatest ever. Every move is a triumph, a victory - but he's saying very little about the trade deal with China. For all the noise he made about China, his tariff plan, and all the rest, one would think he would want to trumpet this 'success'. And yet like his plan to annex Greenland - he's moved on it would seem.

Welcome to Age of BRICS+

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-66525474

The world is changing, a new order is forming. This has been in the air for sometime but a milestone was passed on 1 January 2024 with the expansion of BRICS.

The 2023 Gaza War – Some Initial Thoughts and Observations

In reference to the recent attacks based out of Gaza, I found it very interesting that a Hamas spokesman mentioned a movement to re-establish the Solomonic Temple as one motivation among others. That's not something you're going to typically hear in the mainstream media.

A Harbinger of US Decline

https://consortiumnews.com/2023/04/11/saudis-arent-afraid-of-us-anymore/

These are noteworthy developments to say the least. Riyadh still maintains close ties with Washington and yet it's clear as the linked author indicates – the Saudis are no longer afraid of America or of earning its displeasure.

The Saudi Alliance and the False Claims of the American Establishment Regarding Autocracy and Authoritarianism

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/03/09/lockheed-military-manufacturing-saudi/

Biden and others in the American Establishment have sought to cast the new Cold War in terms of the Liberal Democracies versus the Authoritarian States. This claim is as farcical as the Capitalist Free World versus the Communist Bloc of the first Cold War. The truth is always far more complicated.

Red Flags in Israel: A Tectonic Shift in Palestinian Politics

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/After-15-years,-Fatah-and-Hamas-agree-on-Palestinian-elections-51128.html

The recent US-motivated Arab peace deals with Israel, the so-called 'Abraham Agreements' have inadvertently healed old wounds. Hamas arose in the 1980's in response to Yasser Arafat's compromises – a perceived sellout that would eventually lead to the Oslo Accords in 1994.

Peace in the Middle East?

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Trump-announces-a-'peace-agreement'-between-Bahrain-and-Israel-51018.html

This Catholic news article seems to catch the right air of cynicism with regard to the recent Trumpite peace accords. Various Arab nations have been signing on to the pro-Israel axis so aggressively advocated by Trump and his Likud allies. An era of peace is about dawn on the Middle East or so we're told.

Questions Surrounding Coverage of the Saudi Nuclear Programme

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_energy_in_Saudi_Arabia

https://www.eurasiareview.com/19042020-saudi-arabias-nuclear-reactor-nears-completion-bringing-prospect-of-saudi-wmd-oped/

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/27/us-approved-secret-nuclear-power-work-for-saudi-arabia-reuters.html

https://www.npr.org/2019/05/06/719590408/as-saudi-arabia-builds-a-nuclear-reactor-some-worry-about-its-motives?t=1586993595561

After receiving some press a few years ago, the first phase of the Saudi nuclear project is (as of April 2020) nearing completion and yet many are expressing the warranted fear that the kingdom is going to pursue a weapons programme. While they have signed on to the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, the treaty increasingly has no teeth. Undermined decades ago by Israel, India, Pakistan, South Africa and in recent years by Libya, Iran and North Korea, the international community's commitment to Non-Proliferation is becoming a quaint but largely meaningless commitment.

French Arms in the Era of Trump

https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence-and-security/news/frances-weapons-exports-see-sharp-increase-on-european-market/

Nervousness surrounding US commitments to NATO continue to drive the EU to look inward. From the Franco-German Aachen Treaty signed in January 2019, to talk of creating a European Army, many of the nations within Europe are re-thinking security and strategy.

France and Germany have an increased standing in light of Brexit and France which has long served as a Western 'alternative' when it comes to arms is profiting handsomely as a result.

The Raw Power of the Military-Industrial Complex on Display

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-saudi-thaad/lockheed-gets-1-billion-down-payment-for-saudi-thaad-missile-system-idUKKCN1QL28R

This is why the murder of Jamal Khashoggi doesn't matter. The Saudis are not only in an informal alliance with the United States and Israel, they are pursuing US interests in Yemen and vis-à-vis Iran.

This is not to say that there aren't Saudi and American interests upset with the recent turn in Saudi politics under bin Salman. Nevertheless the pressure is great to 'let it ride'.

When billions of dollars are at stake, there's a lot of pressure and influence that come to bear and since there are 101 ways to bribe and payoff people and with plenty of money to spare.... the people who sit atop the Wall Street-Defense industry-political-military nexus... the Military Industrial Complex have a lot of power. They get their way and get rich at the same time.

The US and Bahrain: The War Machine Marches On

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/One-billion-euros-from-Bahrain-for-latest-generation-US-helicopters-45493.html

Bahrain, viewed by some as a Saudi puppet state is certainly less than autonomous. The nation hosts the US Fifth Naval Fleet and thus is closely allied with and influenced by Washington.

Dispensationalists and Evangelicals Dripping in Blood

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/saudi-arabia-hosts-evangelical-christians-israel-supporters-181102005038899.html

American Evangelicals love Faustian bargains. The trade-off with the world has been at the core of the movement since its post-WWII inception. Bit by bit the movement has dismantled the theology and ethics of the New Testament in order to seek power and influence.

The Khashoggi Affair

First let it be stated that there's little doubt that agents of the bin Salman government killed Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. The dissident journalist had angered the Saudi regime and clearly was targeted for assassination.

The Western media Establishment has gone haywire and the coverage has been relentless....

And yet consistently shallow and as a result misleading.

Geopolitics and the Petroleum Markets

https://www.upi.com/Energy-News/2018/06/07/A-lack-of-oil-pushes-key-benchmarks-higher/3171528378559/?utm_source=sec&utm_campaign=sl&utm_medium=8

Geopolitics affects prices. Who can dispute it? But rarely are the consequences so blatant.

French Arms, Riyadh and the Yemen War

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/03/france-faces-legal-risks-saudi-arabia-uae-arms-sales-180320160840888.html

France is behaving irresponsibly and helping to foment war.

Of course the same could be said for the British and Americans who have also engaged in rather lucrative arms sales agreements with Riyadh.

The (Tel-Aviv – Riyadh – Washington) Triple Alliance and the Dangerous Game

http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/middleeast/2017/11/saudi-arabia-game-thobes-171105162806956.html

This is another story which seems to change by the day and the hour. This link while interesting is already outdated. Hariri is back in Lebanon and has rescinded his resignation and Saleh who broke with the Houthi's is now dead.

False Narratives Regarding the War in Yemen

The War in Yemen has taken some radical turns in recent days. The death of Saleh represents a possible watershed in the larger war. The war is but a facet within a larger geopolitical puzzle which encompasses not only the Middle East but the entirety of the globe.

The Cold War was simple by comparison.

The India-Israel Alliance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnGXkYsTcIA

This episode of Inside Story is noteworthy in that the relationship between Israel and India is beginning to become more overt. A longstanding reality it is based on mutual interests.

Iraqi Kurds Betrayed Again: A Quick Summary

The Kurds of Iraq were backed by the US through the Shah of Iran during the 1970s. This was when Tehran was a close US ally and Saddam Hussein had been pushed into the arms of the Soviets and thus had become Washington's enemy.

Hezbollah's Victory, the Fall of ISIS and Principles of Historical Interpretation

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/ISIS-Threat/Hezbollah-leader-boasts-We-defeated-ISIS-in-Syria-504896

This story has received almost no coverage in the West but it's significant. And though it undoubtedly vexes a good number of people in both Israel and America, it is nevertheless true.

Hezbollah, born of the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, shocked everyone in 2006 by presenting a serious challenge to Israel on the battlefield. Since then it has grown even stronger and has recently scored significant victories in Syria. Hezbollah, a Shiite paramilitary organisation allied with Iran, waged a fierce war against the Sunni extremists of ISIS.