The Israeli-Lebanon ‘peace plan’
The Israel-Lebanon conflict has a long history stretching back to 1978 when Israel established a ‘security zone’ in southern Lebanon. The current round of hostilities started in October 2023 when Hezbollah fired rockets into southern Israel in support of Gaza. It is worth noting that both Lebanon, Jordan and Syria would be subsumed in their entirety under Israel, as envisaged by the ‘Greater Israel’ project. In an article by Justin KP, writing as The Dissident, he points to the one-sided nature of the plan which does not end Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon, undermines the memorandum of understanding with Iran and won’t end hostilities. In fact, at the time of writing, Israel has recommenced bombing Lebanese territory.
Nick Clegg’s wife registers a new Spanish political party
To borrow a colloquial phrase, Spain, which uses a proportional representation voting system for national elections, has more political parties than you can shake a stick at. Nationally, since the advent of the post-Franco era, Spain has had a two-party system with the People’s Party on the right and the Spanish Socialist Party on the left, although there are currently 14 other parties represented in the Cortes Generales (Spanish parliament). As Adam Woodward, writing for Euro Weekly explains, from this month, another party can be added to those that will seek representation via the 2027 Spanish general election And that is Democracia 21, founded by Nick Clegg’s Spanish wife Miriam González Durántez.
Problematic EU visa strategy
In January 2026, the European Union adopted its first ever visa strategy. There’s more about its aims and related statistics on the EU’s migration and home affairs website. Visas are granted by individual EU member states under this common legislative framework and historically, refusals have been notably high for applicants from African countries where rejection rates can exceed 40%. In an ‘advisory note’ from the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), they detail how this tendency affected large numbers of delegates to the ICM annual conference in Lisbon, Portugal held from 14-18 June, with many being declined visas suggesting the new visa strategy may not be functioning as it should.
Ukraine and the end of NATO
In February this year, the Russia-Ukraine conflict entered its fourth year. The proximal causes of the conflict are disputed even on the political left. Arguably however, there is overwhelming evidence to substantiate the claim that the Russian Federation acted to defend its sovereign integrity in the face of a hostile military encroachment on its borders. This perspective has been set out by a number of foreign policy analysts including professors John Meirscheimer and Geoffrey Sachs, who both argue that in effect the conflict is a “US proxy war” designed to destabilise the Russian Federation. In an essay, for his forthcoming speaking engagement at an Istanbul conference hosted by the Global Civilisations Initiative Research Centre, geopolitical analyst Scott Ritter argues that this aim has not been realised in the face of a resurgent Russia and that NATO and Europe need to make careful policy choices at the forthcoming NATO summit in Ankara this July.
Hegseth threatens Latin America
The Trump administration’s proactive resurrection of the 19th century Monroe Doctrine, dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine” has only been too evident. America’s heightened interest in its backyard has seen for example president Nicholas Maduro of Venezuela and his wife Cilia Flores snatched from Caracas and incarcerated in a New York jail. In addition, the US has imposed punitive sanctions on Cuba and interfered in both the Colombian and Peruvian elections. In an article for the Morning Star, Sara Vivacquad recounts how US secretary of war Hegseth, using inflammatory rhetoric, has effectively declared war on Latin America.
Antisemitic false flag attacks in Canada
Recently in the UK we have seen the conclusion of what is commonly referred to as the “Ukrainian rent-boy arson trial”, where it would seem from the evidence in court that a group of opportunist youths committed arson for purely financial motives, although the precise reasons for and backers of their actions still remain unclear. Nevertheless, the BBC dutifully reported the trial outcome as establishing a Russian connection, which as Crispin Flintoff, who attended the whole trial, points out, is quite at variance with what facts emerged at the trial. There have been a rash of similar events in Europe and the UK. Most people in the UK for example will recollect the setting on fire of ambulances in Golders Green, alleged to have been motivated by antisemitism. This and similar acts have been extensively analysed by David Miller who concludes they are ‘false flags’ – acts designed to implicate a third party but on the basis of tenuous evidence. An article for the Grayzone by Michelle Witte highlights how the same sort of events are now unfolding in Canada and notes their similarity to earlier similar events in Australia.
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