Tag United States

UPDATE – US AND ISRAEL ATTACK IRAN – May 20, 2026

Trump says he was “one hour” away from launching a new large-scale strike on Iran - then called it off. Not because the crisis was resolved, but after appeals from Gulf leaders and under the continued threat of renewed attacks. As Tehran repeats its core demands, Washington counters with terms close to surrender, and the US Senate shows its first visible cracks over the war, another case moves to the center: the US strike on the Minab girls’ school. This update traces a week in which the war did not fully escalate - but the underlying power structures became clearer: in Washington, in Beijing, in Lebanon, and in the unresolved shadow of a strike whose investigation may reveal more than a single operational failure.

A World in Flames – Part 9

What happens when the world does not collapse through one great war, but through many smaller fires that no one can extinguish?
In the final part of the series “Europe Prepares for War”, Michael Hollister examines a scenario built not on fantasy, but on existing fault lines: Korea, Taiwan, India and Pakistan, Iran and Israel, Turkey and Greece, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Myanmar, the South China Sea, and Africa.
Until now, many of these conflicts have been contained by great powers - through pressure, mediation, deterrence, or military presence. But what happens when the United States, China, and Russia are all tied down by their own major conflicts? A global power vacuum emerges. And in power vacuums, states rarely act according to morality. They act according to opportunity.

Three Levers, Four Counters

On April 24, 2026, Washington sanctioned a Chinese Fortune Global 500 company over Iranian oil purchases - triggering an escalation that reaches far beyond Iran. Three US pressure levers, deployed weeks before a planned Trump-Xi summit: a naval blockade, an OFAC designation, and a Strait of Hormuz toll trap. Beijing's response came without press conferences - but on four structural levels simultaneously. An analysis of the invisible escalation between Washington and Beijing, using Iran as a stage while the real decision falls elsewhere.

GAZA-Made in the USA – Part 2 – The End of Accountability

Part two shifts the focus from the rubble in Gaza to the centers of power in Washington and Berlin. It shows that the central question is not only which weapons were delivered, but why the political and legal mechanisms of control failed - or were deliberately dismantled. From National Security Memorandum 20 to the Leahy Law and the Arms Export Control Act, a picture emerges of a system in which the relevant rules do exist, yet are not enforced when it matters most. The removal of reporting obligations, the bypassing of congressional scrutiny, and the institutional silence of the responsible agencies do not merely suggest bureaucratic failure, but a possible transition into a new phase: the end of accountability.

Follow the Oil -Part 2- Europe Without Oil

Europe didn’t suddenly stumble into an energy crisis - it sidelined itself step by step. With the destruction of Nord Stream, the political decoupling from Russia, and the simultaneous escalation in the Middle East, two of its key energy lifelines collapsed at once: East and South. What remains is a continent stripped of strategic agency - militarily unable to secure resources, economically dependent on costly imports, and politically trapped in contradictions it can no longer reconcile.
As Hormuz is blocked, Bab al-Mandab comes under pressure, and the United States openly states that Europe should “secure its own oil,” a new reality is emerging: energy is no longer just an economic factor, but a geopolitical weapon. Part 2 of this series examines how Europe has drifted into structural dependency - and why other actors are capitalizing on it.

Iran Insight: “Rescue Mission”

Was the celebrated U.S. “rescue mission” in Iran in fact a failed covert nuclear recovery operation? Michael Hollister reconstructs the inconsistencies, military patterns, and operational clues surrounding the downing of an F-15E, the destruction of special operations aircraft near Isfahan, and the trail of 200 kilograms of missing highly enriched uranium. The article challenges Washington’s official hero narrative and points toward a far more consequential mission that may never have been about rescuing a stranded colonel at all.

GAZA-Made in the USA – Part 1

American bombs in Gaza are not an abstract accusation, not an indirect implication, and not merely a political narrative - they are identifiable, traceable, and documented in the rubble itself. A forensic investigation of 79 geolocated strikes reveals which US-made weapon systems were used, where they hit, which civilian sites they struck, and how many people were killed. Schools, homes, medical facilities, mosques: this text reconstructs the material chain of evidence behind a war reality that is often politically softened but becomes increasingly difficult to deny on a technical level. What emerges is not the full picture of the war, but the verifiable lower bound of what can be publicly proven - and that is precisely what makes it explosive.

Germany as a Protectorate

Germany is considered a sovereign state – but does it act like one?
This analysis examines why the Federal Republic has operated with limited autonomy in foreign, security, and economic policy since 1945.
From U.S. military bases and intelligence dependency to the Nord Stream sabotage: a sober assessment of German sovereignty beyond official narratives.

Iran’s Nuclear Poker – Part 1

After coordinated U.S.–Israeli strikes on Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan, Iran retreats into strategic ambiguity: no inspections, no transparency, shifting narratives. But is this opacity a calculated bargaining tactic – or the opening move toward nuclear breakout? This analysis dissects Iran’s nuclear poker game between deterrence, internal pressure, regional escalation, and a global nuclear revival, revealing why Tehran is far more vulnerable than it wants its adversaries to believe.

The United States Declares War on Europe

The new US National Security Strategy marks a historic rupture: Europe is no longer seen as a partner, but as a liability. Energetically detached, economically weakened, and politically downgraded, the continent is being strategically discarded. This is not a misunderstanding — it is a silent declaration of war.