BRICS IS A SPECTACULAR FLOP, UNLESS IT RISES TO GEOPOLITICAL CHALLENGES
When BRIC incorporated South Africa in 2010 and added “S” at the end of its acronym – turning it into BRICS – many in International Relations believed something formidable was being birthed by the Global South in order to finally counter Western hegemony. The initial members of BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South […]
WASHINGTON YANKS IRAN’S OIL WAIVER AS THE CEASEFIRE UNRAVELS
The fragile U.S.–Iran ceasefire came apart this week at its economic seam. On July 7, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control revoked (with a ten-day grace period) “General License X”—the waiver, barely two weeks old, that had lifted U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports and the banking, insurance, and shipping services around them. […]
NATO SUMMIT HOSTS ARMS SALES JAMBOREE; GLOBAL MAJORITY CALLS FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE AT UNGA DEBATE ON CUBA
As NATO opened its two-day yearly summit in Ankara on July 7, two major conflicts in which member countries are deeply involved, Russia-Ukraine and Iran, could quickly escalate to a point of no return. The United States today resumed strikes on Iran targets in the area of the Strait of Hormuz. On Ukraine, the NATO […]
WILL TRUMP SELL THE F-35 TO TURKIYE?
Will President Donald Trump sell the F-35 stealth fighter to Türkiye? He was expected to make such an announcement at the NATO summit in Ankara, but didn’t do so during a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “Well, it’s a decision we’re going to make,” he said in response to a […]
MILLIONS MORE COME OUT FOR KHAMENEI FUNERAL IN QOM
Huge crowds, estimated at 3-4 million people, filled the streets leading to the Jamkaran mosque in the holy city of Qom, today, to participate in the funeral procession and prayer service for the late leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to Iranian social media postings, the mosque was already packed […]