Author: Irfan Raja

The world is anxiously waiting for President-elect Donald Trump to take charge of the U.S. principally because of his “America First” foreign policy. He “signaled an eagerness to wrap up the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East as quickly as possible,” an idea certainly cherished by ordinary people. Results of a survey suggest “nearly 70% of the Americans want talks to end the war in Ukraine,” while the majority of Americans “now disapprove of Israeli action in Gaza.” Trump’s next encounter is doable, though not simple. After all, he is a dealmaker, a man who likes “thinking big,” as…

This unusual piece of writing took more time than usual because I was searching for a fitting opening citation. George Orwell’s all-time famous quote: “Political language is designed to make lies, sound truthful and murder respectable.” Orwell’s one sentence sums up today’s politics and the way people in power treat ordinary people by selling their propaganda. The three Ps in the headline connect the cords of official global rhetoric in our contemporary times. Decades ago, Orwell’s idea of politicians is so fitting in today’s power politics at the cost of ordinary people. Recently, I watched a series of videos documenting…

The Middle East conflict is heading toward “World War 2030,” although Donald Trump’s victory may halt its speed. But the threat is real. Think of “future warfare trends” beyond 2040 and imagine what can happen. Long ago, an English philosopher, Aldous Huxley, wrote a novel, “Brave New World” (1932), in which he presented a portrayal of society and exhibited his “vision of a future dominated by technological advancement and control” and amazingly nearly a century now it feels as if he wrote it yesterday. Correspondingly, Israel’s “pager attack” against Hezbollah members in Lebanon using explosives hiding inside the batteries of…