I am not saying it is, but it looks like a perfect storm. A puny state like North Korea has shown the finger to the “mighty” United States. But after being called “Dotard” not too long ago, Trump says Kim is his friend.
India and Pakistan are again at each other’s throats but this time no big power is supporting either (unless you want to call Israel which supports India, a major player), so a fizzling off is likely. Prominent and credible US media persons are openly calling Trump a liar and proving it. This means that other nations won’t trust the US under his presidency any more and that leaves a big vacuum in world affairs. Closer to home, the BJP Govt is also lying about important facts in the recent skirmishes. This is putting the Indian armed forces in an awkward position where it has to consider what effects its actions with have on Indian politics rather than on the enemy. Not to mention sending coffin box MIG 21s to thwart marauding Pakistan Air Force planes supplied by US intel which also feeds the Indian side. A kind of a US ‘no one should win’ strategy if you will. The Catholic Church is in deep soup with sex abuse cases which were so far on the boil, but is now overflowing the vessel. A Cardinal and the third most powerful Vatican official has actually been convicted in an Australian Criminal Court and the prospect of going to jail is very real. The Pope however is dithering on any actions to permanently solve the problem, rather than just punish the offenders which he is also not good at. A terminal end-of-life CM of Goa is, against all logic and good sense, clinging to his political office. Meanwhile the state’s administration is crippled and the rest of his cabinet like vultures, are already swooping to the ground to feed on the proverbial carcass. The biggest impeachment thorn in Trump’s side was pushed in by Micheal Cohen, once the president’s trusted fix-it man. Cohen himself is no paragon of virtue, but Trump’s opposition has decided that ‘It needs a thief to catch a thief’. Baby-face Justin Trudeau is facing his first big challenge that putting on an ethnic costume cannot solve. His former justice minister and solicitor general an indigenous woman of high principle and credibility who has a habit of keeping copious notes of all official activities, has now almost drowned the novice CM with accusations that through veiled threats she was forced into dropping off investigations into a Canadian Engineering Giant that resorted to all manner of shady dealings to get large contracts in the Middle East as well as in Quebec. The PM you see, is an MP from Quebec with the excuse that many jobs will be lost in that province if the company goes down. Saudi Arabia seems to be falling back with its ambitions for project 2030 which is heavily dependent on foreign investment for plans to build a new city that will diversify its dependence on oil revenue. After the Kashoggi affair few investors trust MBS whose brainchild this is. So he’s throwing some of the money in his kitty on Pakistani and Indian investments. The UAE is in deep financial straits due to the profligacy of one of its member states, Dubai. In 2008, Dubai’s near bankruptcy position was salvaged by 20 billion dollar loans from Abu Dhabi’s Emir who is not going to repeat that action in similar 2019 circumstances even though the Dubai Emir’s wife is his sister. Showing that marriage has a limited financial value. Britain and its Prime Minister are running like chickens with their heads cut off when having to deal with the consequences of the Brexit decision. The EU would be laughing if they did not think that they would be better off with Britain than without it. Somebody has to eat humble pie. Roland. Toronto.
