Israel Flexes New Diplomatic Muscle in Recognition of Somaliland

Israel’s recognition of Somaliland isn’t just about diplomacy—it’s about power, positioning, and a new chapter in the Red Sea’s great game. By cutting a deal for intelligence sharing and access to strategic waterways, Israel has become a player in the Horn of Africa, where Arab rivals are jostling for influence.
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"No one can ignore the strategic location of Somaliland,"

said Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N. The Bab al-Mandab Strait, just north of Somaliland, is a vital chokepoint for global shipping—and now, Israel has a partner directly across from Houthi-held territory in Yemen.
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This move, widely condemned, signals Israel’s growing independence on the world stage. After two years of war, the country is less concerned with what others say and more focused on securing its own interests—no longer just with military might, but with diplomatic boldness.
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Israel’s recognition of Somaliland is rare: a Muslim-majority entity, no U.S. backing, and a clear statement that Israel is now a diplomatic heavyweight. The deal gives Israel leverage in the Red Sea, while Somaliland hopes it will inspire other countries to follow suit—though the U.N. still doesn’t recognize its independence.
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Houthi leaders have called the move a “hostile and illegitimate act,” and Somalia sees it as unacceptable interference. But Israel’s message is clear: “Spoiler alert: no one will determine for Israel whom it may conduct diplomatic relations with,” wrote Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
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So who’s winning? Israel, for now. The region, for never. And the Red Sea? Still a battleground—just with new players at the table.
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#israel #somaliland #proxywar #greatpowercompetition

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NATO Is Done If Trump Invades Greenland, Danish PM Warns

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has issued a stark warning: if President Donald Trump invades Greenland, NATO is finished. “Everything stops,” she said—warning that the alliance’s post-WWII security framework would collapse.
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Trump’s latest threats to take over Greenland—calling it a strategic necessity—have set alarm bells ringing across Europe.

“We will deal with Greenland in about two months,”

Trump told reporters, refusing to rule out force or economic coercion.
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Frederiksen insists Denmark must be taken seriously:

“If the U.S. chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops.”

The self-ruling Arctic island is part of Denmark and, therefore, NATO. Any move by the U.S. would shatter the alliance’s foundations.
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So who’s winning? Trump, for now. NATO? Not a chance. And Greenland? Still just a bargaining chip in America’s new game of global chess.
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#nato #greenland #trump #proxywar

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Maduro à New York: Mortal Combat

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When Maduro appeared in court in New York on Monday, his choice of lawyer quickly raised eyebrows.

The captured Venezuelan president was accompanied by Barry Pollack, a top-tier US trial lawyer who spent years representing Julian Assange, eventually securing the WikiLeaks founder’s release from prison in the UK in 2024.

Pollack is a partner at Harris St Laurent & Wechsler, a law firm based on New York’s Wall Street in the financial district of lower Manhattan, just a few minutes walk from the federal court where Maduro pleaded not guilty to criminal charges on Monday.

Pollack will take on a case as Maduro’s private counsel that could prove to be just as challenging as that of Assange.

Maduro was charged on Monday with drug-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine-importation conspiracy, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, with the US government labelling Maduro a “narco-terrorist” and an “illegitimate president”. He faces up to life in prison.

Harris St Laurent & Wechsler did not respond to requests for comment about Pollack’s involvement, but it is clear that in the legal world, he is highly regarded.

According to Chambers USA, Pollack is a “thorough and deep-thinking lawyer” who “lives, breathes and sleeps trials, and has such a natural way in front of juries”.

In his first appearance representing Maduro, Pollack questioned the legality of Maduro’s dramatic abduction by US forces on Saturday in a raid on the Venezuelan capital Caracas, CNN reported, and argued Maduro is entitled to immunity as the head of a sovereign state.

Winning Maduro’s freedom will present a different challenge to Pollack compared to his work with Assange. The lawyer negotiated a plea deal on Assange’s behalf which allowed the Australian data-freedom activist to walk free, ending an international legal saga that lasted more than a decade.

In the deal, Assange pleaded guilty to violating US espionage law in conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents.

#maduro #trial #assange #pollack #newyork

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Sovereignty: The Great Global Theater

Every country at the UN has a flag, a vote, and the legal right to determine its own future. On paper, they’re all sovereign equals. In reality, most are just actors in a play where the script is written by whoever controls the money, the tech, the energy, and the information flows.

The rhetoric of sovereignty is everywhere — speeches, declarations, diplomatic theater — but behind the curtain, the truth is much harsher. States may be equal in law, but not in power. When sanctions hit, currencies crash, energy routes get cut, or digital infrastructure goes down, not all governments absorb the shock the same way. Some bend, some break, some quietly lose the ability to decide anything without outside pressure, even if their flags still fly high.

The Sovereignty Index, now released in December, exposes the gap: legal equality creates a false sense of security for the weak and a false sense of legitimacy for the strong. Smaller nations think recognition protects them. Powerful states assume the rules apply equally while quietly benefiting from structural advantages the law can’t touch. This silent imbalance distorts global politics more than any open war ever could.

Real sovereignty today isn’t about declarations. It’s about capacity — diversified economies, credible institutions, tech independence, social trust, and crisis systems. States that invest in these foundations gain real autonomy. Those that don’t gradually lose their decision-making power, even if they keep shouting about independence.

The battlefield has shifted. Sovereignty is now negotiated in trade deals, debt contracts, digital platforms, and energy pipelines — not just in military confrontations. The rhetoric remains loud, but the real contest is invisible, silent, and structural.

When the Sovereignty Index drops, some governments will welcome the clarity. Others will rage against it.

But one thing is clear: in today’s world, sovereignty is not a declaration. It’s a capacity. And those who don’t build it risk finding out, too late, that legal equality offers little protection in a system governed by real power.

#sovereignty #globalpolitics #un #power #geopolitics #SovereigntyIndex

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In return Assange, who spent five years in the maximum security Belmarsh prison in London and seven years as a fugitive hiding from British and American law enforcement in the UK Ecuadorian embassy, was ultimately sentenced to time served after years in which the US was attempting to have him extradited.

In an interview with Law Dragon last April, Pollack described the difficulty of negotiating the deal with the US, UK and Australian governments before securing Assange’s freedom. Pollack also offered some thoughts relevant to what Maduro may currently be experiencing.

“Typically, when I meet with a client, they are facing what may be the worst crisis that they have ever faced,” Pollack said.

“To guide them through that process is enormously gratifying. It’s hard to imagine doing something where you see a greater impact on the life of the person who you’re dealing with.

“You spend a lot of hours with your client. In almost every case, I’ve developed a relationship with the client. And at the end of the day, it’s no longer a stranger who I’m seeing get through to the other side of this terrible piece of their life. It’s somebody that I’ve come to know and respect.”

Along with his work representing Assange, Pollack has previously secured the acquittal of former Enron accountant Michael Krautz, and has also worked in overturning wrongful conviction cases, including helping to secure the freedom of Martin Tankleff, who spent 17 years in prison after being wrongfully accused of murdering his parents.

In the interview with Law Dragon, Pollack reflected on his strengths, offering a glimpse into how he may defend Maduro.

“I have the ability to communicate well with a jury. In some ways, you’re being a translator. You’re taking a mass of very technical information from an industry that the jury may not be familiar with and communicate it in a way that is understandable,” Pollack said.

“I’m able to talk to a jury and explain the evidence in a way that makes sense to them – that shows them that the government’s way of looking at the facts is not the only way to look at the facts and may not even be the best way to look at the facts.”

#maduro #trial #assange #pollack #newyork

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Maduro On Trial. Trump’s Iron Grip Can Be Broken

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Maduro pleaded not guilty to drugs, weapons and narco-terrorism charges on Monday, two days after his capture by US special forces in an operation ordered by Donald Trump that sent shockwaves around the world.

The brevity and formality of the arraignment hearing in federal court in Manhattan – barely 30 minutes during which Maduro was asked to confirm his name and that he understood the four charges against him – belied the far-reaching consequences of the US action.

As Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores addressed the court in lower Manhattan, the UN security council held an emergency meeting just a few miles to the north, where a dozen countries condemned the US “crime of aggression” and secretary general António Guterres suggested the operation constituted a breach of international law.

Maduro, 63, insisted to federal judge Alvin Hellerstein that he was “still president of my country”, had been illegally “captured” at his Caracas home, and was “a prisoner of war”.

“I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man,” Maduro said in Spanish during repeated attempts to speak over the judge.

As he entered the courtroom, shackled at the ankles though not at the wrists, he looked toward the jury box. Before sitting down, Maduro told the public gallery “Happy new year!” in English.

Maduro was dressed in orange slippers, a blue shirt on top of a neon orange shirt, and beige pants. He scribbled notes on a legal pad throughout the hearing.

He faces four US federal criminal counts, including “narco-terrorism” conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive devices. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

He was first indicted in 2020, along with 14 members of his inner circle, as part of a sprawling drug-trafficking case against Venezuelan officials and Colombian guerrillas.

Defence lawyer Barry Pollack made no immediate application for bail, but said he would later file a motion alluding to the “military abduction” he said his client was subjected to.

#maduro #trump #guilty #lawer #narco #drugs

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Flores, the Venezuelan first lady was also captured in the pre-dawn raid on Saturday in which at least 40 people were killed, including civilians and Venezuelan and Cuban security personnel.

Her lawyer, Mark Donnelly, said she sustained “significant injuries during her abduction” and required medical examination for “severe bruising” on her ribs.

Flores, who had large Band-Aids on her temple and forehead, said, when she entered her own not guilty plea, she was “completely innocent”.

The pair were earlier brought to the court under tight security from the notorious Metropolitan detention center in Brooklyn, whose previous residents include Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, and the singer Diddy.


The jail also once held the former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted on drug smuggling charges in 2024 – only to be pardoned by Trump last month.

Maduro and Flores were transferred to a helicopter for a brief flight to Manhattan then escorted by heavily armed law-enforcement personnel into an armoured vehicle and transferred to the courthouse, where rival groups of Maduro’s supporters and opponents clashed outside.

The surreal spectacle of the 63-year-old president of a sovereign foreign nation in a US courtroom, partially shackled and wearing a blue shirt on top of a neon orange prison scrub and khaki trousers, evoked the the 1991 trial of the Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega and the 2006 public trial of Iraq’s leader Saddam Hussein.

The criminal indictment unveiled Saturday by US attorney general Pam Bondi echoed Trump’s claims that his unilateral military intervention in Venezuela was necessary to stem a flow of drugs into the US.

“Maduro and his co-conspirators have, for decades, partnered with some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world, and relied on corrupt officials throughout the region, to distribute tons of cocaine to the US,” the indictment alleges.

Strikes by the US military on alleged “narco boats” in the months before Saturday’s raid in Venezuela have resulted in at least 110 deaths, leading some legal experts to question if the attacks amounted to war crimes.

But Trump has also justified Maduro’s abduction as a way for the US to seize “stolen” oil from Venezuela, and promised that the US would “run” Venezuela for the foreseeable future while American energy companies take control of the country’s rich oil reserves.

In Venezuela, Maduro’s son Nicolás Maduro Guerra, an elected official, told the national assembly that the US had “kidnapped” his father.

Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s deputy who was sworn in to succeed him on Monday, appeared to drop her initially defiant response to the attack, offering to work with the US, hours after Trump threatened that she could “pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she did not bend to his wishes.

Trump’s moves, meanwhile, sparked a global wave of revulsion, and fears that the bombing in Caracas – which he has threatened to repeat if Venezuela does not cooperate – could extend to action in other countries with which he is at odds, notably Colombia, Cuba and Iran.

At Monday’s emergency meeting of the UN security council, Guterres, in a statement read out by a diplomat, said he was “deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability [in Venezuela], the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may set for how relations between and among states are conducted”.

He added: “I remain deeply concerned that rules of international law have not been respected.”

#maduro #trump #guilty #lawer #narco #drugs

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“Fusion or Farce? Israel, Syria, and US Launch Intelligence ‘Dream Team’”

The Great Diplomatic Theater
In a scene straight out of a geopolitical sitcom, Israel, Syria, and the US have officially formed a “fusion mechanism” for intelligence sharing, military de-escalation, and—wait for it—civilian cooperation. All under the watchful eye of US envoys, including Jared Kushner and Tom Barrack, because apparently, only reality TV producers and diplomats can pull off this level of drama.
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What They’re Saying
A Syrian government source told SANA:

“The resumption of these negotiations is confirmation of Syria’s firm commitment to restoring its non-negotiable national rights.”

Behind the Curtain
This “fusion mechanism” is less about peace and more about managing the chaos. The US, eager to stamp its regional legacy, is mediating talks that could see Israel and Syria cooperate on medicine, energy, and agriculture—while both sides still eye each other warily. Meanwhile, Syrian officials demand full sovereignty and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied areas, while Israel insists on security guarantees and demilitarization of southern Syria.
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Curtain Call
So, is this a genuine step toward peace or just a high-stakes theater production? Where everyone gets a script? But no one believes the plot. And who really benefits from this “fusion”—the people, or the politicians who keep staging these summits?
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#diplomacy #intelligence #fusion #middleeast #peaceorperformance

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“Oct. 7 Commission: Truth or Political Theater?”

The Great Accountability Showdown
Israel is torn over how to investigate the catastrophic failures that led to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government is pushing a new “state-national commission,” where half the members would be chosen by his coalition and half by the opposition—breaking from the usual practice of letting the Supreme Court president appoint the panel. Critics say this is less about truth and more about control, with opposition parties calling it a “shameful farce” designed to protect the prime minister from blame.
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What the People Want
Polls show most Israelis want a traditional, independent commission, one with the power to summon witnesses and assign responsibility. Past commissions have led to major resignations and reforms—like the Agranat and Kahan commissions after previous disasters. But Netanyahu insists his new commission will be “egalitarian” and “broadly acceptable,” claiming it will have the same powers as before.
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The Families Speak
Survivors and families of the victims are demanding a truly independent investigation. Over 200 families signed an open letter warning that without a proper investigation, there’s no guarantee such a disaster won’t happen again. Netanyahu has only offered bereaved parents observer status, not a real voice in the process.
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Curtain Call
So, is this about accountability—or just another carefully staged production? Will the commission actually expose the real failures, or will the script avoid the hard questions? And who benefits most from this show: the victims, or the politicians who keep rewriting the lines?
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#oct7 #accountability #israel #commission #truthortheater

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“Trump’s Cuba Gamble: Oil Blockade, Threats, and the Ghost of Regime Change”

The New Target
With Venezuela’s Maduro ousted, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are turning their sights on Havana.

“Cuba looks like it’s ready to fall,”

Trump declared, while Rubio warned Cuban officials to be concerned about what comes next. The U.S. is betting that without Venezuela’s oil, Cuba’s communist government will crumble—either on its own or with a little American help.
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Miami’s Victory Lap
The news sparked celebrations in Miami, where Cuban exiles have long dreamed of regime change.

“Now the time has come… for the Castro communist and socialist assassin regime to be held accountable,”

declared Miami-Dade County tax collector Dariel Fernandez. But experts are less convinced. “Cuba has been here before,” said University of Miami historian Michael J. Bustamante.

“They survived the Soviet collapse. They’ll survive this too.”
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What’s at Stake
Cuba’s economy has been on life support for years, dependent on Venezuelan oil and plagued by blackouts, food shortages, and mismanagement. Cutting off oil shipments will deepen the crisis, but few believe the regime will simply “cry uncle.” Retired Cuban diplomat Carlos Alzugaray says the government might finally be forced to reform, but “they have to do it fast. They have lost too much time.”
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The Cuban Dilemma
Reformers inside the regime have ideas, but lack the power to act. The opposition is scattered, jailed, or abroad. And most Cubans don’t want American intervention—they want change, but on their own terms. So, is this the beginning of the end for Cuba’s government, or just another chapter in a long story of survival? The real question isn’t who wins, but who gets left behind when the dust settles.

#cuba #trump #regimechange #venezuela #oilblockade

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“Greenland Gambit: Trump’s Power Play Rattles NATO”

The New Flashpoint
President Trump’s demand to take control of Greenland has sent shockwaves through Europe. Framing it as a matter of national defense, Trump insists the island is “so strategic” and must be under American sovereignty. But Denmark and its NATO allies see it differently: any attempt to seize Greenland would mean the end of the alliance.
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Europe’s Dilemma
European leaders, already wary of Trump’s military adventures in Latin America, are now scrambling to contain the fallout. France, Germany, the U.K., Italy, Poland, and Spain have all backed Denmark, warning that territorial integrity must be respected. Yet, their criticism is muted—many fear provoking Trump could further fracture the West, especially as Europe struggles to stand up to Russia.
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The Power Game
Trump’s aides echo his rhetoric, questioning Denmark’s right to Greenland and suggesting U.S. dominance makes the island “obviously” American. But the island’s fate, according to European leaders, belongs only to Danes and Greenlanders. The U.S. already has a military base there and can expand its presence through treaties—no takeover needed.
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What Comes Next?
Whether Trump pushes further depends on how his Venezuela gamble plays out. If he secures control there, his appetite for more interventions—Greenland, Mexico, Colombia—could grow. But if the U.S. gets bogged down in Latin America, the momentum for more adventures may fade.
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#greenland #trump #nato #alliance #territorialdispute

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“Mexico on Edge: Trump’s Threats Shake Officials and Businesses”

The New Reality
President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. may have to “do something” about cartels “running Mexico” has sent a chill through Mexico City. Mexican officials and business leaders are increasingly anxious about the prospect of unilateral U.S. military action, especially after the dramatic arrest of Venezuela’s Maduro.

“Mexico should indeed be concerned,”

said former ambassador Arturo Sarukhán,

“and Mexico is going to have to thread the needle very carefully.”

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Behind Closed Doors
While President Claudia Sheinbaum publicly dismisses talk of an “invasion,” behind the scenes, officials are ramping up cooperation with Washington on counternarcotics and border security to avoid giving the U.S. any justification for intervention. Mexican troops have been deployed to the border, high-level traffickers handed over to the U.S., and surveillance flights expanded—all in hopes of defusing tensions.
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The Tightrope Walk
The situation is delicate: Mexico must balance cooperation with the U.S. while maintaining its sovereignty. Sheinbaum has emphasized

“respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, shared but differentiated responsibility, mutual respect and trust, and cooperation without subordination”.

Yet, the Venezuela precedent has emboldened hardliners in Mexico’s ruling party, who may push for a tougher stance against Washington if tensions escalate.
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What’s at Stake
A U.S. strike inside Mexico could plunge the country into chaos, but the U.S. also depends heavily on Mexico for trade, migration, and fighting cartels. Both sides have enormous incentives to cooperate, but the shadow of unilateral action looms large. As one Mexican official put it,

“The U.S. needs Mexico on trade, the U.S. needs Mexico on migration, and the U.S. needs Mexico on going after the criminal groups. The reverse is also true.”

#mexico #trump #cartels #bordersecurity #hemisphericpower

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Syria’s Collapse: The Death of a State

Syria’s sovereignty isn’t just damaged — it’s gone missing. The state still has a flag, a seat at the UN, and a president, but almost everything that makes sovereignty real — the ability to govern, control territory, run an economy, or protect its own — has been hollowed out by war, sanctions and fragmentation.

Syria is now a textbook case of post-sovereign fragility. Political authority is fractured, with multiple foreign militaries operating inside its borders, elections ignored, and constitutional reforms treated as theater. The economy is a patchwork of foreign currencies, imports, and survival tactics — there’s no real monetary policy, no functioning central bank, and no way to finance recovery. Technology, information and military power are all outsourced: the army exists, but its decisions are made in Moscow or Tehran, not Damascus.

The only thing that still works is culture: ancient cities, religious traditions, and collective memory. But even that is now a form of resistance — not against foreign powers, but against the disappearance of the state itself.

Sovereignty, in Syria, isn’t about independence. It’s about the capacity to act, to protect, to provide, and to endure. That capacity has been exhausted. Syria’s collapse is a warning: sovereignty isn’t destroyed overnight. It erodes through war, institutional decay and external dependency. Once lost, it can’t be restored with speeches or sanctions relief.
It takes trust, unity and something much harder to rebuild: the connection between a state and its people.

#Syria #sovereignty #statecollapse #fragility #MiddleEast

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Trump: From a Peace Dove to a Stalwart of War

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As Venezuela’s skyline lit up under US bombs, we were watching the morbid symptoms of a declining empire. That may sound counterintuitive.

After all, the US has kidnapped a foreign leader, and Donald Trump has announced that he will “run” Venezuela. Surely this looks less like decay than intoxication: a superpower high on its own force.

But Trump’s great virtue, if it can be called that, is candour. Previous US presidents draped naked self-interest in the language of “democracy” and “human rights”. Trump dispenses with the costume.

In 2023, he boasted: “When I left, Venezuela was ready to collapse. We would have taken it over, we would have gotten all that oil, it would have been right next door.” And this was no off-the-cuff remark.

The logic of an oil grab, and much more besides, is laid out plainly in Trump’s recently published National Security Strategy.

The document accepts something long denied in Washington: that US global hegemony is over.

“After the end of the Cold War, American foreign policy elites convinced themselves that permanent American domination of the entire world was in the best interests of our country,” it declares with barely concealed contempt.

“The days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over.” These are the strategy’s unceremonious funeral rites for US superpower status.

Thornberry speaking to press
Venezuela attack could embolden China and Russia, says Emily Thornberry.

What replaces it is a world of rival empires, each enforcing its own sphere of influence. And for the US, that sphere is the Americas.

“After years of neglect,” the strategy pronounces, “the United States will reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere.”

The Monroe doctrine, formulated in the early 19th century, purported to block European colonialism. In practice, it laid the foundations for US domination over its Latin American back yard.

Violence in Latin America facilitated by Washington is hardly new. My parents took in refugees who had fled Chile’s rightwing dictatorship, installed after the socialist president Salvador Allende was overthrown in a CIA-backed coup.

“I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its people,” declared the then US secretary of state Henry Kissinger.

Similar logic underpinned US support for murderous regimes in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia, as well as across Central America and the Caribbean.

But in the last three decades, that domination has been challenged. The so-called “pink tide” of progressive governments, spearheaded by Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, sought to assert greater regional independence.

And, crucially, China – the main US rival – has grown in power across the continent. The two-way goods trade between China and Latin America was 259 times larger in 2023 than it was in 1990.

China is now the continent’s second largest trading partner, behind only the US. At the end of the cold war, it did not even make the top 10. Trump’s assault on Venezuela is just the opening move in an attempt to reverse all of this.

The experience of Trump’s first term has led too many to conclude that the strongman in the White House was all bluster.

Then, he reached an accommodation with the traditional Republican elite. The unwritten bargain was simple: deliver tax cuts and deregulation, and he could vent endlessly on social media. Second-term Trump is a full-fat far-right regime.

When he menaces the democratically elected presidents of Colombia and Mexico – believe him. When he declares, with barely concealed relish, that “Cuba is ready to fall,” believe him. And when he states, “We do need Greenland, absolutely”, believe him.

He really does intend to annex more than 2m sq km of European territory.

#trump #new #world #order #venezuela #maduro

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“US Seizes Russian Tanker in High-Sea Showdown”

The Blockade Game
The U.S. has seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker, the Bella-1, in the North Atlantic after a high-speed chase from Venezuela. The vessel had switched its registration and painted a new name—Marinera—on its hull in a bid to evade capture, but American forces weren’t fooled. This is the latest escalation in Trump’s campaign to intercept sanctioned ships, and it could spark a diplomatic clash with Moscow.
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Global Chessboard
The seizure comes as the U.S. ramps up pressure on Venezuela and its allies, Iran and Russia. The Pentagon has deployed an aircraft carrier and destroyers in the Caribbean, while the Coast Guard and Navy have seized multiple “dark fleet” tankers in recent weeks. British bases were used to stage the operation, and the U.K. defense secretary called the tanker part of a “Russian-Iranian axis of sanctions evasion” that fuels terrorism and conflict.
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Diplomatic Fallout
Russia claims the seizure is “disproportionate” and violates international law, pointing to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. But some European officials welcomed the move, seeing it as a strong message to Russia and its shadow fleets. “This sends a clear message,” said one anonymous European official.

“It’s very welcome news.”
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The Road Ahead
The U.S. says the blockade of sanctioned Venezuelan oil remains “in full effect—anywhere in the world.” With Maduro out of the picture, the administration plans to take direct control of Venezuelan oil sales for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, Trump’s sights are set on Colombia and Cuba, raising the specter of further regime change in the hemisphere.
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#venezuela #russia #tanker #sanctions #trump

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If – when – Greenland is swallowed by a Trumpian empire, what then? Trump will have noted the pitifully weak European response to his brazenly illegal assault on Venezuela.

But a US seizure of Danish sovereign territory would surely spell the end of Nato, founded on the principle of collective defence.

Denmark’s land would be stolen no less blatantly than Russia’s devouring of Ukraine. Whatever muted noises have emerged from London, Paris or Berlin, the western alliance would be finished.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, US elites convinced themselves they were militarily invincible and that their economic model marked the endpoint of human development.

That hubris led directly to catastrophe in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, and the financial crash of 2008. US elites promised their people utopian dreams, and then dragged them from one disaster to another. Trumpism itself emerged from the resulting mass disillusionment.

But the “America First” response to US decline is to abandon global dominance in favour of a hemispheric empire.

What does that leave the US itself? When the US defeated Spain at the end of the 19th century and seized the Philippines, leading dignitaries founded the American Anti-Imperialist League.

“We hold that the policy known as imperialism is hostile to liberty and tends toward militarism,” they declared, “an evil from which it has been our glory to be free.”

“We assert that no nation can long endure half republic and half empire,” the Democratic party asserted in the 1900 presidential election, “and we warn the American people that imperialism abroad will lead quickly and inevitably to despotism at home.”

In the end, informal empire replaced direct colonialism, and American democracy – always deeply flawed – endured.

Who would dismiss such warnings as exaggeration now? What happens abroad cannot be divorced from what happens at home.

This is the imperial “boomerang”, as Martinican author Aimé Césaire defined it three quarters of a century ago, analysing how European colonialism returned to the continent in the form of fascism.

We have already watched the “war on terror” boomerang in this way: its language and logic repurposed for domestic repression.

“The Democrat party is not a political party,” Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, declared last summer. “It is a domestic extremist organisation.”

National guard troops are dispatched into Democratic-run cities like occupying forces, echoing the “surges” once unleashed on Afghanistan or Iraq.

Seen this way, Trump’s indulgence of Russian ambitions in Ukraine is hardly mysterious. Back in 2019, Russia reportedly proposed offering increased US influence in Venezuela in exchange for the US retreating from Ukraine.

Who knows if such a deal has been made. What is certainly true is that a new world order is being born. It is one where increasingly authoritarian powers use brute force to subjugate their neighbours and steal their resources.

What once might have sounded like dystopian fantasy is being assembled in plain sight. The question is whether we have the means, willingness and ability to fight back.

#trump #new #world #order #venezuela #maduro

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Sovereignty. Why Is This Subject the Most Important Nowadays?

We often talk about sovereignty as something that can be defended, negotiated or restored.

Syria, for example, poses a much more uncomfortable question: what happens when sovereignty itself collapses, not in theory, but in practice?

After more than a decade of war, sanctions and fragmentation, Syria is one of the most striking examples of what the erosion of sovereignty looks like in the twenty-first century.

The Sovereignty Index developed by The Burke International Institute, the most authoritative source on sovereignty issues, places Syria at the very bottom of the world ranking — not as a political judgment, but as a reflection of a structural reality.

In almost all areas that define a functional state, Syrian sovereignty has been hollowed out.

Continue this fascinating reading by clicking here

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Greenland Is Next

European leaders have dramatically rallied together in support of Denmark and Greenland after one of Trump’s leading aides suggested the US may be willing to seize control of the Arctic territory by force.

Starmer, the UK prime minister, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Merz, the German chancellor, declared that Greenland – a semi-autonomous territory of the kingdom of Denmark – “belongs to its people”, in a rare European rebuke to the White House.

“It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” the three leaders said in a statement on Tuesday made jointly with the prime ministers of Denmark, Italy, Poland and Spain.

Later in the evening, Starmer repeated British support for Denmark at a press conference in Paris where Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were present.

“I’ve been very clear as to what my position, the position of the UK government is,” the British leader said.

But, anxious to avoid deepening the transatlantic rift, Starmer, Macron and Merz chose to focus on making fresh security commitments to Ukraine, at an event aimed at bolstering support for Kyiv planned before the Greenland crisis broke.

On Monday night, Stephen Miller, the US president’s influential deputy chief of staff for policy, said “nobody [was] going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland” when asked to rule out using force.

In an interview with CNN, Miller said military intervention would not be needed in order to gain control over Greenland because of its small population.

The European leaders emphasised that security in the Arctic had to be achieved collectively with Nato allies, rather than by the US seizing control of another Nato member’s territory.

“Nato has made clear that the Arctic region is a priority and European allies are stepping up,” the statement said.

“We and many other allies have increased our presence, activities, and investments, to keep the Arctic safe and to deter adversaries.”

Denmark and Greenland asked to meet the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, urgently to “discuss the significant statement made by the United States about Greenland”, Greenland’s foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, wrote on social media.

Lord Ricketts, a former UK national security adviser, warned that if the US were to annex Greenland it would be disastrous for Nato, amounting to, “for all practical purposes, the end of an alliance which is based essentially on trust”.

Security relationships such as the coalition of the willing in support of Ukraine, led by the UK and France and supported by Germany, would “take on a much greater significance alongside bilateral defence links with the US”.

Greenland long been a “good American ally,” Nathanielsen said , but this “does not transfer into an acceptance of - or interest in becoming Americans.”

Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, also made a strong statement in which he urged Trump to give up his “fantasies about annexation” and accused the US of “completely and utterly unacceptable” rhetoric. “Enough is enough,” he said.

During the second world war, when Denmark was occupied by Germany, Greenland was occupied by the US and returned to Denmark in 1945.

The US has had a military base in Greenland, which is important for its ballistic missile early warning system, at Pituffik (previously Thule) since the cold war.

In recent years there has been growing support for Greenlandic independence, particularly after revelations about Denmark’s treatment of Greenlandic people – including the IUD scandal – during and since colonial rule.

But amid the spectre of Trump’s threat, Greenland in March formed a new four-party coalition government in a show of national unity, with the first page of the coalition agreement stating: “Greenland belongs to us.”

#greenland #trump #denmark #nielsen

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“Aleppo Explodes: Syria’s Fragile Peace Shattered”

Aleppo Under Fire
Fighting has erupted in Aleppo between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), killing civilians and soldiers on both sides. Schools, government offices, and even the airport have shut down as the clashes intensified. The government has imposed a curfew and declared all SDF positions as legitimate targets, while opening humanitarian corridors for residents to flee Kurdish-majority neighborhoods.
​
Stalled Integration
Efforts to integrate the SDF into Syria’s national military have stalled repeatedly, fueling tensions that have now boiled over into open conflict. Each side blames the other for breaking cease-fire agreements, and mutual distrust runs deep. The SDF controls much of northeastern Syria, and the central government—led by former Islamist rebels—struggles to win the loyalty of minority communities like the Kurds and Alawites.
​
The Bigger Picture
The clashes reflect the broader challenge of reunifying Syria after years of civil war, where ethnic and religious divisions have deepened mistrust. Human rights groups accuse government-affiliated forces of deadly attacks on minorities, and other regions, like Druse-majority Sweida, are also resisting central control. The U.S., which has long backed the SDF, continues to mediate—but progress remains elusive.
​
Syria’s Crossroads
With integration talks stalled and violence flaring, Syria’s fragile peace is hanging by a thread. The government’s push for control and the SDF’s demand for autonomy could set the stage for more bloodshed—or a new round of negotiations, if anyone is still listening.
​
#syria #aleppo #kurdishforces #civilwar #integration

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“Greenland Red Line: Europe Makes Its Last Stand”

The Breaking Point
For a year, European leaders have tiptoed around Trump’s provocations—military strikes, tariff threats, and treaty challenges—always hoping to avoid a full rupture. But after the Venezuela raid and Trump’s renewed push for Greenland, Europe has finally drawn a red line. The message is clear: Greenland’s fate belongs to its people and Denmark.
​
A United Front
Denmark, backed by France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Britain, has rejected any U.S. takeover of the Arctic territory. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that any U.S. action on Greenland would mean the end of NATO. European officials stress that Greenland is not for sale, and its people will decide their own future.
​
Trump’s inner circle insists Greenland is vital for national security, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplaying military action but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reminding everyone, in bureaucratic terms, that “utilizing the U.S. military is always an option”. Meanwhile, U.S. envoy Stephen Miller openly declares that Greenland “should be American” and “nobody’s going to fight the United States over it”.
​
The Stakes
Europe knows it can’t compete with U.S. military power, but the mere threat of conflict exposes how fragile the transatlantic alliance has become.

“Many European countries are still seeking to ride both a European and an American horse,”

said Mujtaba Rahman of Eurasia Group.

“That may become impossible.”

​
Where This Leads
Europe’s choices are grim: stand firm and risk a rupture, or negotiate a deal that may not satisfy anyone. The old rules are out the window, and the real question is not whether Greenland will change hands—but whether NATO can survive the next shock.
​
#greenland #trump #nato #alliance #europe

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“Trump’s New World Order: Europe on the Brink”

Europe’s Wake-Up Call
As Trump’s America overthrows Venezuela’s Maduro and eyes Greenland, Cuba, and Colombia, Europe is scrambling to respond. The U.S. is no longer playing by the old rules, and its actions—backed by military threats and a willingness to redraw borders—have left European leaders stunned and vulnerable.

“We are really into uncharted territory,”

said Wang Huiyao of the Center for China and Globalization.

“Europe has to be extremely careful.”

​
The Old World vs. The New
Europe, once the heart of the “Old World,” is now falling behind the U.S., Russia, and China in both economics and geopolitics. While the continent debates security guarantees for Ukraine, the U.S. is reshaping the hemisphere, threatening NATO’s foundations, and questioning Europe’s relevance.

“The international community has to work together now,”

Huiyao added,

“or unilateral moves will tear up the rules.”

​
Pushback and Paralysis
European leaders have pushed back, insisting that Greenland belongs to its people and Denmark—not the U.S. But behind the scenes, there’s panic. France’s foreign minister says the U.S. has ruled out a Venezuela-style operation in Greenland, but White House officials still talk about “a range of options,” including military force. Denmark’s prime minister warns:

“If the U.S. attacks another NATO country, NATO is finished.”

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Existential Questions
Trump’s new National Security Strategy describes Europe as “weak,” “decaying,” and facing “civilizational erasure.” European officials bristle at the insults, but many admit the U.S. is highlighting real problems—economic stagnation, migration, and loss of self-confidence.

“European leaders see this for what it is,”

said Ian Bremmer.

“If Washington no longer shares Europe’s values, the alliance is in crisis. What Europe does about it is another matter.”
​

#trump #europe #nato #greenland #worldorder

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