L’ultima ondata di caos globale scatenata dal presidente Donald Trump è iniziata con il nome della sua guerra in Medio Oriente. Instead of going with the obvious choice: The Donald J Trump War for Reasons Too Numerous to Mention but that Definitely Make Sense and are Legal if I Say So, Trump personally selected Operation Epic Fury from a list of options and by doing so made his first mistake.
L’epica, per definizione, richiede una scala grandiosa. Operation Epic Fury, which began as an Israel-US attack on Iran, is living up to its name, exploding out to encompass Lebanon and the majority of the Middle East, and pushing up global fuel, fertiliser and food prices. Epic Fury’s tidal wave of consequences now includes not just the dead, injured and displaced in the sites of military action but Thai fishermen and Kenyan agricultural exporters, whose livelihoods are threatened without stable fuel supplies.
Le scuole pubbliche in Pakistan hanno chiuso nel tentativo di combattere la carenza di carburante e il razionamento del carburante potrebbe essere introdotto in Australia. Millions of Filipino, Indian, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Ugandan and Nigerian families now face financial ruin, as they are dependent on remittances sent home by family members working in the Gulf states. Sembra che l’unica posizione geografica che non sarà influenzata negativamente da Epic Fury sia l’isola di Epstein.
Queste conseguenze globali segnalano che l’Operazione Epic Fury ha lasciato il posto al suo seguito: Operazione Epic Fallout. In vero stile sequel, la posta in gioco continua a diventare più alta. Now NATO is in the firing line, after Trump’s request for international military assistance to secure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz è stato categoricamente respinto.
Il presidente dei social media è rimasto profondamente ferito dal fatto che paesi che pensava fossero suoi seguaci, se non suoi amici, si sono alleati contro di lui. On Wednesday he posted: “We no longer ‘need’, or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance – WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea. In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!”
Con le sue scorte missilistiche esaurite multimiliardari prezzo della guerra contro l’Iran. Unfortunately for the White House’s plans to retain control of Congress, the unplanned-for consequences of Operation Epic Fallout just keep coming.
Sabato scorso, La Corea del Nord ha lanciato 10 missili balistici nel Mar del Giapponean incident that coincided with news that the US had moved some anti-missile defence systems from South Korea to the Middle East. In yet another Epic Fallout subplot, after the Pentagon copped significant criticism for what appeared to be disastrously inadequate preparation for the totally foreseeable closure of the Strait of Hormuz, they sought to calm energy markets by lifting oil sanctions on Russia. Ciò fornirà a Putin una manna economica che influenzerà direttamente la sua capacità di continuare a fare la guerra all’Ucraina. Given that Trump seems genuinely outraged by Europe’s refusal to fall into line with Epic Fury, perhaps his next cognitive test could include a “join the dots” activity, which would test his ability to draw a straight line from the US directly supporting Europe’s nuclear-armed adversarial neighbour to the EU’s refusal to support his military action against Iran.
Trump has always assumed he can bend reality to his will, that his saying something will make it so, however outrageous the lie or the bluster. Attraverso la forza militare pensava di poter rifare rapidamente il mondo a suo piacimento. He forgot that the leaders of other countries also have agency and competing national interests and will pounce upon opportunities created by instability and chaos.
As the geopolitical dominoes continue to fall, it feels inevitable that, in the same way Operation Epic Fury has transitioned into Operation Epic Fallout, Operation Epic Insert-Your-Own-F-word-of-Choice can’t be too far away. Perché questo è l’altro problema dei sequel: sembrano non finire mai.
Melanie La’Brooy è una scrittrice che scrive di politica e questioni di giustizia sociale.
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