Captain Chaos definitely does not have the cards – which as even South Pacific penguins know, are all made in China. SHANGHAI and HONG KONG – So, predictably, Captain Chaos did blink first. As much as he – and his sprawling media circus – could not possibly admit it. It all started with “tariff exemptions”... Read More

SHANGHAI - There could not be a more strategic place to spend these past Trump Tariff Tizzy (TTT) heady days than in Shanghai – China’s trade, commercial and cultural capital. From the top of the Jin Mao tower in the world class Lujiazui financial district in Pudong, an elegantly discreet art deco companion to the... Read More

Three wise monkeys are perfectly aware of what a pigeon posing as eagle is really up to. The Toddler Temper Tantrum-style Trump Tariff Tizzy (TTT), now accelerated to 145% – and counting – is yet another thunderous trademark pigeon smashing the chessboard gambit. It won’t work. Trump claimed that China would call him to “make... Read More

Global Majority, rejoice! And step on the high-speed rail de-dollarization train. Circus ringmaster Trump’s Tariff Tizzy (TTT), christened by himself as “Liberation Day”, is being largely interpreted around the world – Global North and Global South alike – as Slaughterhouse Day. This de facto uncontrolled economic demolition gambit starts with the warped fantasy that launching... Read More

SAADA, northwest Yemen – It’s 2 pm on Wednesday, March 26, and I am standing in a deserted boulevard in Saada during Ramadan, in silence, surrounded by mountains, and watching a road sign telling me the Saudi border is only a two-hour drive away. We had arrived in northwest Yemen – the birthplace of the... Read More

The Two Sessions, part of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, held last week at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, were a pretty serious deal. Not only because the sessions set the framework for Beijing to confront serious economic challenges ahead. But also because of the stellar performance by Foreign Minister Wang... Read More

The Empire of Chaos will not take the competition lightly. The Middle Kingdom is unfazed – and ready to rock’n roll. When President Xi Jinping hosted a recent – rare – meeting with an array of Chinese tech superstars, including a “rehabilitated” Jack Ma, Alibaba’s founder, he urged them to “show their talent”, code for... Read More

For those who keep track of the slings and arrows crossing the broader geopolitical chessboard non-stop, it’s an immensely powerful – and humbling – experience to one day be contemplating the devastated Avdeyevka, in the heart of the war in Donbass, and a week later struggling to understand the devastation inflicted on villages in southern... Read More

No one ever lost money betting on the batshit crazy “policies” of the ferociously yapping Baltic chihuahuas. No one ever lost money betting on the batshit crazy “policies” of the ferociously yapping Baltic chihuahuas. Their latest power play of sorts is a drive to turn the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake. The notion that... Read More

This was never meant to be Yalta. Although Yalta 2.0 may eventually happen. This was never meant to be Yalta. Although Yalta 2.0 may eventually happen. On the Victory Day parade in Moscow next May 9, celebrating 80 years of the end of the Great Patriotic War and the defeat of Nazi Germany, Putin as... Read More

AVDEYEVKA – It’s a snowy noon in Avdeyevka this past Saturday – exactly one year and two days after the liberation of the now completely destroyed city, and I am talking to two survivors of the ordeal, Nadezhda and Elena, both in their 60s, exhibiting the willpower of giants, in their rebuilt apartments. Avdeevka. One... Read More

MOSCOW – The 14th Middle East Conference of the Valdai Club in Moscow was hit by a geopolitical bunker buster bomb right in the middle of the proceedings: the announcement, by US President Donald Trump himself, of some sort of future Trump Gaza Riviera Resort and Casino in Palestine. Even before international outrage started to... Read More

European chihuahuas, enjoy your “strategic defeat” fantasies! Let’s start with the tale of an Empire bragging to the wind. Mr. Disco Inferno orders OPEC and OPEC+ to lower the price of oil, because, in his mind, that may solve the war in Ukraine – as in forcing Moscow to the table because of dwindling energy... Read More

On the table, a geopolitical banquet – served by some of the best independent analytical minds from Bursa to Diyarbakir. ISTANBUL – The scene is a Circassian restaurant off fabled Istiklal street in historic Beyoglu. On the table, a geopolitical banquet – served by some of the best independent analytical minds from Bursa to Diyarbakir.... Read More

In the late 1970s Donald Trump, in his early thirties, cocky as ever and recently married to Ivana in 1977, could be seen on and off hitting the electric New York City night life especially at glamour/hard partying disco dive Studio 54. A certified dancefloor killer at Studio 54 was Disco Inferno by The Trammps,... Read More

Only the U.S. can rebrand a genocide into a great real estate opportunity in a “phenomenal location”. Let’s start with the key take away: Manifest Destiny reaching the stars. Literally. Trump 2.0 – the greatest show on earth – did start with a (big) bang: “We will pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars.” And... Read More

No wonder Trump had to come up with a seductive, but still fraught with danger, larger than life psy op to imperatively change the narrative. It’s the greatest show on earth – unleashing a double bill of New Paradigm and Manifest Destiny on crack. We are the greatest. We will rock you – in every... Read More

All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Sun Tzu, The Art of War The... Read More