And some more background on the region's largest minority without their own state, the Kurds - from #TheGlobalJigsaw, now that some Kurdish groups say they are preparing to join the fight against Iran
1. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...
2. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...
3. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...
Hi Jake, I’ve been thinking about this too. It didn’t make sense to me either. I’m not usually conspiratorial, but has Putin thrown Khamenei under the bus a bus knowing that oil prices would shoot up? The Russian economy is in a bad way. He couldn’t defend Iran anyway. Is this a price worth paying?
Thank you! Made my afternoon. 😂
Great. I really hope you persuade more analysts to migrate here. But you need to find real incentives. For example, I’m losing income by not using the other place to promote my channel. I accept that. But many other creators just won’t move until they see tangible financial benefits. Happy to talk.
Indeed! But at the risk of sounding horribly flippant, all this has happened just as I am moving house! I prerecorded a few weeks of videos and packed up all my stuff. In some ways, maybe it’s better. These sort of things tend to encourage immediate commentary, rather than considered analysis. 🧐
And here’s one on the #Baloch in the southeast of #Iran. #Baluchistan #Balochistan 2/2
youtu.be/zVqgj0Kwhgc
There’s going be a lot of talk in the coming days and weeks about #Iran’s minority ethnic communities and how they could play a part in the current and future developments. Here’s a backgrounder on the country’s Azeris, located mainly in the northwest. 1/2
youtu.be/hzAYqjvgaU8
Full scale fighting has broken out between #Pakistan and #Afghanistan. After skirmishes along the border, Pakistan has bombed Afghan cities, with Pakistan’s defence minister saying the two countries are now in “open war”. But what sparked this conflict between two former allies?
youtu.be/YuIL6KIRE2U
Thanks so much, Bronwyn.
open.substack.com/pub/bronwynj... update on the “presidential campaign” in Kosovo and @jameskerlindsay.bsky.social full Novosti interview in English: Prishtina allows the Serbs No Autonomy.
The conflict in #Mozambique gets very little attention. However, it has now displaced over a million people. And US aid cuts have made matters worse.
youtu.be/SWwkDzRxXhk
He had one job!
And of course these people would also be the first to complain that the EU was usurping national sovereign democracies if you gave the EU Parliament the right to propose legislation. The current system is specifically designed to preserve the power of the member states.
Great point. Having been to a CoE Secondary School, the religion is certainly worn very lightly. However, one can only imagine what a religious public school in the US would be like. Probably better to oppose them!
Great phone in today. I remember talking to a senior American official a few years ago, who was extremely worried about what was coming. He said he’d didn’t think the Republic would survive a second Trump presidency. It has always stuck with me.
#Syria recently launched an offensive to retake the Kurdish-held areas in the north and northeast of the country. While a ceasefire is now in place, and the government has offered new political and cultural rights, what happens next? youtu.be/GN0CvEFoTmw
Still, well done, anyway! 👍😂
OK. Believe what you want. 🙂
It is not an “organisation”. It is an extortionate vanity project joined by Trump’s “hangers on” and those desperate to get in his good books. Most EU members see it for the joke it is. This will have done Kosovo’s standing more harm than good.
Maybe. But they could well be in for a very nasty surprise.
By going against the EU. When will Kosovo learn?
Yes, it was so disappointing to see Osmani there. Wrong on so many levels.
From my home village, no less. 😀
Great list. But just how many of these things do you think will actually happen?
For decades, #Morocco and #Algeria have been at odds, not least of all over #WesternSahara. But as the Trump Administration adds their dispute to its long list of conflicts to be resolved, could it really succeed in forging a new relationship between these North African rivals? youtu.be/WUB-Q4pMxA8
Great stuff. Happy Birthday, Dimo! I hope all is well.
I wonder what he’s advised on the subject of indiscriminate bombing? Many saw his deciding vote in the successful appeal by Ante Gotovina as a travesty after a lower court had defined a specific limit. TBH I hope no future Gaza case rests on his (lack of) reasoning! balkaninsight.com/2012/11/19/h...
Haha! What a great piece of nostalgia. I remember that ad. The Empire State reaction was priceless. Thanks. 🙏🏻😂
Haha! Looking back, I would have loved to do it. But I was a guest speaker at the event and still utterly shellshocked by the result. And then something in the universe threw me between these two. Needless to say, they were gloating away. I just couldn’t believe what had happened, in every sense.
Reminded today that a low point of my professional life was being stuck between Nadhim Zahawi and Kwasi Kwarteng for lunch the day after the Brexit result. Soul crushingly depressing.
(For Americans, think being stuck between Kristi Noem and Pete Hegseth the day after Trump’s election win.)
