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Global Affairs Session 101 30 September 2026 BYE-BYE MIDDLE EAST Middle East with no master America is not simply leaving the Middle East. Something larger may be unfolding: Washington is relinquishing its role as regional architect after decades of wars, bases and interventions that failed to create durable order. Iran's proxy network, Turkey and Israel are repositioning, Arab states face a strategic reckoning, and no outside power appears ready to replace America's security umbrella alone.

Global Affairs Session 100 28 September 2026 THE ORDER OF IMMORALITY How World Order Died The postwar World Order joined moral legitimacy, international law, sovereign equality, institutions, and Western economic power. Western traditions of human dignity, legal restraint, rights, and humanitarian protection helped shape its language. But colonial legacies, selective interventions, sanctions, financial coercion, and civilian suffering progressively damaged credibility. As trust weakened, money, technology, chokepoints, and deterrence gained importance. Eastern and Global South states increasingly seek security through strategic autonomy, resilient economies, diversified payments, regional cooperation, and credible defence capabilities.

Global Affairs Session 99 25 September 2026 WORLD WAR AT UN Age of Wars & role of UN UNGA 2026 reveals a world where military conflict, economic coercion, technological rivalry and institutional distrust increasingly overlap. Ukraine, Iran, Gaza, maritime chokepoints, sanctions, AI competition and demands for UN reform now converge in one diplomatic arena. The United Nations remains a meeting place, but consensus is harder as power becomes more multipolar. “World War at UN” captures this friction, not as a literal world war inside the chamber, but as a struggle over security, sovereignty, law, representation, technology and the rules of global order today.

Global Affairs Session 98 23 September 2026 GRAY ZONE WARFARE Europe versus Russia Gray-zone warfare describes coordinated coercion designed to remain below, blur, or complicate the threshold of open war. The methods are old: Cold War powers used espionage, propaganda, covert action, sabotage and proxies while nuclear deterrence discouraged direct superpower conflict. Russia’s 2014 operations in Ukraine revived attention to ambiguity and deniability; its 2022 full-scale invasion crossed into conventional war. Yet cyber operations, electronic warfare, influence campaigns, sabotage, proxies and infrastructure pressure continued. By September 2026, European governments increasingly treat these activities as a persistent security challenge requiring resilience, intelligence and deterrence.

Global Affairs Session 97 22 September 2026 ARTIFICIAL STATES CRUMBLING? From Pan-Arabism of Nasser to GCC of 2026 The six GCC monarchies emerged through different histories, but several modern Gulf sovereignties were consolidated only in the 20th century. British treaty systems shaped Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States (7 sheikdoms), while pan-Arabism supporter Gamal Nasser challenged imperial-era Arab fragmentation. Hereditary rule, migrant-heavy labor markets, hydrocarbon revenues, and external security partnerships remain important. The 2026 Iran war, Hormuz disruption, Houthi Red Sea blockade, island seizures, and attacks on Saudi export infrastructure exposed serious vulnerabilities, while fiscal buffers and adaptation preserved state continuity.

Global Affairs Session 96 21 September 2026 EUROPE WANTS WAR? Why the sudden war-cries against Russia Europe's rhetoric toward Russia has hardened sharply during August-September 2026. Russia intensified missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, while Ukraine expanded deep strikes against Russian refineries and Moscow itself. Poland, France, Germany and Switzerland raised security warnings, although NATO says no direct attack is imminent. Washington still mixes sanctions, negotiations and restraint. The central argument is whether stronger European deterrence lowers the risk of war, or whether accumulating military steps make NATO-Russia escalation easier.

Global Affairs Session 95 17 September 2026 WEST IS CRUSHED Limits of Western Power The West is entering a geopolitical squeeze. Wars, defence commitments, energy insecurity and industrial competition demand more public money just as borrowing becomes costlier. Advanced-economy debt is near 110% of GDP, while NATO is moving toward much higher defence spending. The US is also funding a trillion-dollar national defence request amid rising Treasury yields. The danger is not simply default. It is strategic compression: less fiscal room for deterrence, alliances, technology, energy security and the next crisis or war.

Global Affairs Session 94 15 September 2026 NEW MIDDLE-EAST RISING From Blocs to Networks By September 2026, the Middle East is no longer organised mainly through fixed blocs and an American security umbrella. Its power map is being redrawn by chokepoints, missiles and drones, armed networks, economic vulnerability and overlapping partnerships. Donald Trump’s US remains militarily central, but Mohammed bin Salman, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, King Abdullah II and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani are pursuing more autonomous strategies. Iran has a new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei; Syria has a new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa; and the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement links Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan. A more layered, multi-aligned regional order is emerging.

Global Affairs Session 93 14 September 2026 BIN SALMAN IN TROUBLE Yemen tests his leadership Saudi Arabia (KSA) has been integral to the US foreign policy in Middle East since 1940s. It is also crucial for maintaining the Petrodollar. Today, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) remains firmly in power, but Yemen is again testing Saudi strategy, influence, and leadership credibility. Recent Houthi gains around Mokha and Bab el-Mandeb have exposed the costs of fragmented alliances, Saudi-UAE rivalry, and an unresolved conflict. The central issue is not whether MBS is about to fall, but whether repeated setbacks in Yemen are weakening Saudi deterrence, complicating Vision 2030 ambitions, and expanding Iranian regional leverage today.

[SUMMARY] A comprehensive evergreen reference to the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi: 15 key takeaways, the New Delhi Declaration, official summit documents, ministerial outcomes, 2026 initiatives and primary Government of India / BRICS links. [/SUMMARY] Evergreen reference page 18th BRICS Summit India Chairship 2026 BRICS 2026, New Delhi A permanent study-and-reference hub inside Sandy Knowledge Resources: the New Delhi Summit, India’s 2026 Chairship, the New Delhi Declaration, major ministerial outcomes, and the official documents that matter. 12–13 September 2026 XVIII BRICS Summit, New Delhi, India Chairship theme Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability 20 years of BRICS 2006–2026: from BRIC dialogue to an expanded Global South platform 140-paragraph declaration The New Delhi Declaration is the summit’s principal consensus document 15-point summary Core documents BRICS at a glance Official document library Key 2...

Global Affairs Session 92 11 September 2026 ANSAR ALLAH VS SAUDI Gulf equations rapidly changing Yemen unified in 1990, but years of rivalry, civil war, outside intervention and regional competition have left it divided and fragile. By September 2026, Ansar Allah’s west-coast advances, Saudi energy-route vulnerabilities, Iran’s strategic support, UAE-linked networks and the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement have placed Yemen inside a wider Gulf security equation.

Global Affairs Session 91 08 September 2026 GERMAN POLITICAL CHURN Hitler returns? Germany’s political churn has revived an uncomfortable historical question: can democratic frustration again open space for radical politics? This session traces Germany from Weimar instability, Hitler’s appointment in 1933, dictatorship and war, through the postwar democratic safeguards built after 1945. It then follows reunification, regional disparities, migration politics, distrust of established parties, and the rise of the AfD. By September 2026, the AfD has become Germany’s strongest far right electoral force today nationally and won a historic state election in Saxony Anhalt. The comparison with 1933 requires caution, because today’s constitutional institutions are far stronger and democratic competition remains intact.

Global Affairs Session 90 07 September 2026 WEST IN TURMOIL Political Social Strategic upheaval In the last 72 hours, the West has faced a compressed chain of shocks affecting infrastructure, alliances, economies, domestic politics and deterrence. The key story is not collapse, but overstretch: Western governments are trying to manage infrastructure failure, diplomatic rupture, trade conflict, war risk, energy pressure and political fragmentation at the same time.

Global Affairs Session 89 05 September 2026 DEEP POLITICS OF GCC & OPEC+ Who really controls the price of oil now? The Gulf Cooperation Council and OPEC+ represent two different forms of regional and global influence. The GCC links six Gulf states through cooperation, while OPEC+ brings together major oil producers to coordinate production and influence market stability. The market ultimately sets oil prices, but OPEC+ remains the strongest organised force influencing supply, with Saudi Arabia, the GCC and Russia at the centre of the story.

Global Affairs Session 88 04 September 2026 DEEP POLITICS OF AFRICAN UNION Can Africa become a geopolitical power? The African Union brings together 55 member states in an ambitious effort to convert Africa’s demographic, economic and geopolitical weight into collective influence. Its importance has grown through the AfCFTA, permanent G20 membership and demands for UN reform, but implementation, financing, conflict and competing national interests remain serious constraints.

Global Affairs Session 87 3 September 2026 DEEP POLITICS OF NATO More than Europe vs Russia — a bigger, more complex global story NATO is the world’s most powerful collective-defence alliance, linking North America and Europe through a shared security commitment. Its central question now is whether Europe can build enough military capability and strategic autonomy to remain secure if American commitment becomes less certain.

Global Affairs Session 86 2 September 2026 DEEP POLITICS OF BRICS Who speaks for the Global South? BRICS has evolved from an economic acronym into a platform for emerging powers seeking greater influence in global governance. Its expansion strengthens its claim to represent the Global South, but also exposes a contradiction: the Global South is not politically unified.

Global Affairs Session 85 1 September 2026 DEEP POLITICS OF SCO Who controls Eurasia? The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation began as a regional security mechanism but has evolved into one of the most revealing arenas of twenty-first-century geopolitics. Its real significance is not unity—it is how rival powers negotiate an increasingly multipolar Eurasia.