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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.