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Global Affairs Session 84 31 August 2026 SEVEN MEGA TRENDS विश्व भू-राजनीति के सात मेगा ट्रेंड्स The world is not going through another difficult geopolitical cycle, but the entire operating system of global power is being rewritten. The assumptions that shaped the three decades after the Cold War - ever-deeper globalization, uncontested American primacy, faith in multilateral rules, and technology as a commercial force - are all cracking.

Global Affairs Session 83 24 August 2026 IRAN'S LONG GAME What the future holds for the global economy now Iran’s long game in August 2026 is not simply to survive US-Israeli pressure. It is to convert survival into bargaining power by using military endurance, the Strait of Hormuz, Eurasian connectivity and strategic relationships to shape the terms of an eventual settlement.

Global Affairs Session 82 21 August 2026 AMERICA VERSUS ALLIES Alliances become new battlefields What happens when America’s allies become targets of American pressure? Trump’s presidency has turned alliances into bargaining tables over defence bills, tariffs, bases, weapons, Ukraine, Iran, China and loyalty. Allies are spending more, but trusting less.

Global Affairs Session 81 20 August 2026 CHINA AND TAIWAN: THE SIMMERING VOLCANO The unfinished legacy of the Chinese Civil War China–Taiwan tensions are rooted in the unresolved division created in 1949. Beijing seeks reunification and reserves the use of force, while Taiwan functions as a self-governing democracy. Military pressure, defence preparations, American support, semiconductor dependence and great-power rivalry keep the Taiwan Strait exposed to coercion, blockade pressure, miscalculation and sudden escalation.

Global Affairs Session 80 18 August 2026 UKRAINE AND RUSSIA — A FOREVER ENGAGEMENT? A war deep into its fifth year By August 2026, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had entered its fifth bloody year with no durable ceasefire and no decisive battlefield breakthrough. The conflict had become a contest of drones, ballistic missiles, air defence, logistics and industrial capacity, while stalled diplomacy and the Iran war reshaped military resources, energy markets and Russia’s leverage.

Global Affairs Session 79 17 August 2026 SUDAN'S LONG SHADOW Red Sea, UAE, KSA, Energy and India Sudan’s war began in April 2023 as a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). It has become a nationwide civil war with major foreign involvement, and Sudan’s shadow falls on India through people, trade, energy security in the Gulf and Gulf diplomacy.

Global Affairs Session 78 14 August 2026 TÜRKİYE AND ARABS — A LONG COMPLICATED STORY A long, complicated story Türkiye and the Arabs share centuries of history, but shared history does not automatically create shared interests. From Ottoman rule to nationalism, from Atatürk to Erdoğan, and from Syria to Saudi Arabia, theirs remains a long, complicated story.

Global Affairs Session 77 12 August 2026 THE EGYPT EQUATION Biggest Arab nation none can ignore Egypt’s 5,000-year story, its position as an Arab heavyweight, the Suez Canal, modern political history, energy, Western ties, the Arab Spring and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Global Affairs Session 76 11 August 2026 STORY OF POLITICAL ISLAM Muslims, Arabs, Religion & Politics Session 76 explains political Islam as a broad and varied field rather than a single ideology. It distinguishes Islam, Muslim and Arab identities; surveys the spectrum and major strands of political Islam; explains Muslim, Arab and GCC groupings; examines the Sunni–Shia divide and the memory of Karbala; and ends with the persistent fractures and regional organisations shaping the Muslim world. The presentation opens with the 2026 Mecca Joint Defence Agreement as an immediate geopolitical context.

Global Affairs Session 75 10 August 2026 MUSLIM NATO RISES? The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement The presentation describes a new collective-defence arrangement linking Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye. It compares the pact with NATO, examines the strategic strengths of the three partners, considers Egypt as a possible future participant, and assesses implications for Iran, America and India.

Global Affairs Session 74 7 August 2026 IRAN WAR REACHES JAPAN US spooked with Yen collapse Japan is caught in an unusual geopolitical-financial trap: the yen has fallen to four-decade lows, the Iran war has disrupted the Strait of Hormuz, and Japan’s dependence on Middle Eastern crude magnifies the cost of a weak currency. The United States has joined Japan in buying yen because a disorderly Japanese crisis could spill into Asian currencies and the U.S. Treasury market.

Global Affairs Session 73 6 August 2026 THE KINDLEBERGER TRAP When no one wants to lead The Kindleberger Trap describes a world in which the established power stops supplying global public goods, while the rising power does not replace it. Trump’s transactional America, Xi Jinping’s limited responsibility and Putin’s disruptive strategy point towards fragmented power, competing blocs, weaker institutions and crises without a trusted stabiliser.

Global Affairs Session 72 04 August 2026 JOHN MEARSHEIMER’S WARNING TO USA American hegemony seriously at risk John Mearsheimer warns that American global dominance is fading because liberal hegemony failed, the world has shifted into a dangerous multipolar era, and overextended conflicts in West Asia and Europe risk severe strategic defeats.

Global Affairs Session 71 03 August 2026 ESCALATION DECIPHERED Ladder, deterrence, compellence, brinkmanship, dominance and de-escalation Escalation terminology explains how conflicts move from disagreement to pressure, threat, limited action, wider confrontation and possible war. These terms are decision tools: they help identify who is raising the stakes, who is trying to control risk, who is signalling resolve and who may be losing control.

Global Affairs Session 70 30 July 2026 CHINA’S AI THREAT TO THE USA How open-weight models, low prices and industrial scale challenge American AI power China’s artificial-intelligence challenge to the United States is no longer based mainly on copying American breakthroughs. It increasingly combines near-frontier models, open weights, low prices, engineering efficiency and rapid industrial deployment. America still leads across the complete AI stack, but China has found ways to compete around some of its most expensive technological advantages.

Global Affairs Session 69 29 July 2026 A NEW AXIS OF ATTACK EMERGES Ukraine, the United States and Israel converge against Iran without a formal military alliance The wars involving Iran and Ukraine are beginning to intersect. Washington is fighting Iran while supporting Kyiv, Israel seeks sustained pressure on Tehran, and Ukraine is striking the Iran–Russia logistics network that supports Moscow’s war. The Caspian Sea has consequently become a strategic bridge between the two conflicts.

Global Affairs Session 68 28 July 2026 WAR ZONE EXPANDS Six fronts, one fragile pause As of 28 July 2026, the Middle East sits in a fragile pause rather than a genuine peace. A temporary halt in US–Iran strikes and an Omani plan for the Strait of Hormuz coexist with a widening map of flashpoints — a new Ukraine–Iran clash in the Caspian Sea, a reopened Houthi front against Saudi Arabia, and mounting strain on Qatar and Kuwait.

Global Affairs Session 67 16 July 2026 CHINA PREPARING FOR WAR? Crisis, blockade or war — come what may China is not only expanding its armed forces but is building industrial backups, strategic reserves, inland manufacturing, food and energy systems, emergency networks and a survivable nuclear force. These measures suggest preparation for crisis, blockade or war, but they do not prove Beijing has chosen conflict or fixed a timetable.

Global Affairs Session 66 15 July 2026 DEADLY PHASE 2026-30 Polycrisis has arrived Multiple threat factors and crises have now come together to build a Polycrisis of huge proportions. The world will live through this now for 2026-30, at least.

[SUMMARY] Sergey Brin, a founder of Google, spoke at length on what the future holds for AI. [/SUMMARY]