Salman Rafi Sheikh

The rampage that Israel has created in Gaza is not just a reaction against Hamas’ October 7 attacks that killed more than 1100 hundred Israelis. The callous destruction being inflicted upon the Gazans is not simply about eliminating Hamas, either. In fact, the ongoing Israeli military campaign – and the West’s support for it – is now aimed at a much bigger target: the total social and political annihilation of everything that stands for Palestine in that part of the world. The mission, in simple words, is to make Palestine, i.e., Gaza and the West Bank, simply unlivable for the people…

In a recent hearing to the US Congress trying to convince the latter to approve another US$61 billion in aid for Ukraine to fight and defeat Russia, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said that if Russia defeats Ukraine, US forces will be fighting Russian forces in (mainland) Europe soon. This will be a major conflict that could become World War Three. The propagation of the Russian ‘threat’ comes against the backdrop of a recent White House revelation that, unless fresh aid is approved, the US government will run out of funds to support Ukraine…

China’s fast-expanding global influence – especially, in the context of the Gaza war – has already emerged as a key issue for Washington. The US is already in a state of denial, and China’s rising global status is turning into too big an issue for New Delhi to handle without entering into a formal anti-China alliance being put together by the US. Therefore, there is an added incentive for New Delhi to reinforce its alliance with the US in an even more anti-China way. This was the major development out of the fifth annual US-India “2+2 dialogue” held on November 10, 2023, in India…