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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 56 22 June 2026 US–ISRAEL RIFT? Estranged partners? What next? Israel and the United States have been strategic partners for more than seven decades, but June 2026 exposed a real rift. A US–Iran interim deal, a rebellious Israeli strike, and open Israeli defiance of Washington's terms pulled Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu apart in ways rarely seen in the alliance's history. This session traces the relationship from its 1948 origins to today's standoff, examines the domestic lobby that shapes US policy, and asks where the estranged partnership goes from here.

Global Affairs Session 44 28 May 2026 IRAN WAR ENDGAME Why threat to Oman? America's Iran war shows the limits of raw military power: Operation Epic Fury delivered tactical destruction but no political victory, Tehran's regime survived the war and tightened its grip, and the Strait of Hormuz remains Iran's trump card. Trump's threat to "blow up" Oman reveals how far the endgame has now spread across the wider Gulf.

Global Affairs Session 36 14 May 2026 US AND CHINA: COMPETING AND COOPERATING Eight decades of rivalry, engagement and uneasy partnership The United States and China are the world's two largest economies, and their relationship has swung from Cold War hostility to cautious engagement to today's strategic rivalry. From the 1949 revolution to Nixon's opening, from Deng Xiaoping's reforms to the 2026 technology contest, the two powers have moved from enemies to trade partners to competitors — and are now searching for a way to compete and cooperate at the same time.

Global Affairs Session 19 21 April 2026 THE DONROE DOCTRINE From the Monroe Doctrine to a Trump-era policy of hemispheric dominance The 1823 Monroe Doctrine warned European powers against colonisation and interference in the Americas. This session then examines the “Donroe Doctrine,” presented as a 2026-era reinterpretation associated with the second Trump administration: a more assertive effort to preserve American dominance in the Western Hemisphere, restrict Russian and Chinese influence, secure strategic resources and apply military, trade and sanctions pressure. It also considers the implications for India.

Global Affairs Session 16 16 April 2026 WHY IS NATO FRACTURING? From Cold War collective defence to contemporary alliance strain NATO was created after the Second World War as a collective-security alliance centred on Article 5. It survived the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, expanded after 1991 and took on wider security roles. Yet Donald Trump’s transactional approach, uncertainty over alliance commitments and different pressures arising from the Ukraine and Iran conflicts have exposed important political and strategic strains.