How endless wars and coups, particularly the war with Iran, sealed the end of Pax Americana and ensured the rise of a new Asiatic-Islamic global order in the Middle East.
“Man is bound to obey secular rulers to the extent that the order of justice requires. [But] If such rulers have no just title to power, but have usurped it, or if they command things to be done which are unjust, their subjects are not obligated to obey them.” St. Thomas Aquinas
St. Thomas’ observation applies equally as well to the conduct of nation-states in international would-be “world orders.”
Sadly, that does not seem to be taken to heart by members of the US Military. I'm wondering about the PTSD that pilots who bombed those Venezuelan fishing boats are going to suffer. What is that going to do to American Society?
I guess we already have a clue with the deployment of ICE.
In all fairness, it’s not that easy to do. The military trains a person to obey orders, and those orders are never of the “go kill everything in sight” kind.
Pilots don’t go after fishing boats, they go after targets; that is how they are trained. And yes, there are a large number of PTSD cases related to such after-the-fact reflections on what they actually did.
In 28 years of service in the USAF, I only once considered that a proposed contingency operation was immoral; and I stated I would refuse to participate in. Luckily for US, and me, it never came to be.
American society? We need more concern and commitment for the common good.
I dunno, it is pretty obvious to me that after what has been on the news about the fishing boats, I’d like to think I wouldn’t be bombing them. I wouldn’t be flying into combat against Iran either.
Especially with what the Hind Rajab Foundation is doing.
The most important question is whether declining American influence actually means a new regional order has emerged, or whether the Middle East is entering a prolonged period of competition among several powers.
First of all, thank you for your response😊 Also, thank you for subscribing
Second, there is a new order emerging we're centuries of eurocentric, western system is being replaced by an Islamic-Asiatic, Asiatic world.
By that, I mean it's the end of Arab-American-Israeli power and the emergence if CIR Alliance, 🇨🇳🇮🇷🇷🇺, with various nation alliances such as CIP, 🇵🇰 🇮🇷 🇨🇳, or TIIM, 🇹🇷 🇮🇷 🇮🇩 🇲🇾.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. I agree that the Middle East is moving toward a more multipolar environment, with Asian powers playing an increasingly influential role.
However, I would distinguish between the decline of Western dominance and the emergence of a coherent alternative order. China, Russia, Iran, Türkiye, and other regional actors have overlapping interests, but also significant strategic rivalries.
The critical question is whether these emerging alignments can develop the institutional strength, economic integration, and security architecture necessary to sustain a new order.
Could we be witnessing not the replacement of one dominant system by another, but a prolonged transition toward competitive multipolarity, where no single alliance achieves regional hegemony?
You are very welcome. But if I may be so bold to offer an advice: look at the the emergence of the Abbasid Dynasty which ended the Arab influence and started the golden age of Islam and also, the Tang Dynasty of China which also restarted the golden age of China in many ways.
They were both at the same period but more importantly, they taught a lesson about trade versus wars
Thank you for this thoughtful suggestion. The Abbasid and Tang dynasties offer a fascinating historical comparison, particularly in how trade, cultural exchange, and intellectual openness contributed to their golden ages. What interests me most is whether lasting prosperity comes more from economic cooperation and the exchange of knowledge than from military conquest. Both civilizations certainly offer valuable lessons for today’s world. I will explore this comparison further.
There was never any moral imperative to American influence in the ME .
It was always about, oil never about Development .
And to this day , it's the same whether Bush or Trump are in Power always about Oil, and grabbing as much of it for America. The Gulf was merely an offshore oil field of Americas just like Trump seized the oilfields of Venezuela and next they'll go for Brazils.
Whoever controls oil, controls power. Looks like it's Iran at the moment
Well done for standing up to America and it's Doctrine : Might is Right.
Shame on the Gulf States for siding with Israel. The Abraham Accord must be scrapped. Have the Arabs not understood that they need to work together to dfest the Common Enemy Israel and America?
Have the no pride, Have they no shame?
The last true Arab leader was Nasser who humiliated both Israel and America.
Worth separating two different questions that keep getting collapsed into one: who's winning militarily, and who's winning everywhere else. Iran's defensive posture hasn't changed since before this war started, it's the same list of asks, mostly about sovereignty and frozen assets. Meanwhile Israel is losing the fight that actually compounds over time: global opinion has cratered (Pew's own numbers put unfavorable views at a 67% median across 36 countries, higher almost everywhere that matters strategically), its most employable, highest-skill citizens are leaving in real numbers, and its top leadership is still under ICC arrest warrants nobody's enforcing but everyone remembers. None of that shows up on a battlefield map, but all of it compounds. I go deeper on the actual mechanics here: https://ozymandiasdesk.substack.com/p/has-iran-already-won-this-war-are
While I agree with everything Mitra wrote here, I want to remind everyone that there is no way that those who urged Trump to go to war with Iran did not know that the Strait of Hormuz would be closed by Iran.
"They" wanted it to happen. Who are "they"? I don't know. See Carlyn's post below.
The report today that one of Venezuela's refineries just blew up and is burning...
“Man is bound to obey secular rulers to the extent that the order of justice requires. [But] If such rulers have no just title to power, but have usurped it, or if they command things to be done which are unjust, their subjects are not obligated to obey them.” St. Thomas Aquinas
St. Thomas’ observation applies equally as well to the conduct of nation-states in international would-be “world orders.”
Sadly, that does not seem to be taken to heart by members of the US Military. I'm wondering about the PTSD that pilots who bombed those Venezuelan fishing boats are going to suffer. What is that going to do to American Society?
I guess we already have a clue with the deployment of ICE.
In all fairness, it’s not that easy to do. The military trains a person to obey orders, and those orders are never of the “go kill everything in sight” kind.
Pilots don’t go after fishing boats, they go after targets; that is how they are trained. And yes, there are a large number of PTSD cases related to such after-the-fact reflections on what they actually did.
In 28 years of service in the USAF, I only once considered that a proposed contingency operation was immoral; and I stated I would refuse to participate in. Luckily for US, and me, it never came to be.
American society? We need more concern and commitment for the common good.
I dunno, it is pretty obvious to me that after what has been on the news about the fishing boats, I’d like to think I wouldn’t be bombing them. I wouldn’t be flying into combat against Iran either.
Especially with what the Hind Rajab Foundation is doing.
https://substack.com/@aboujahjah/note/c-354566469
Assuming that they are just fishing boats …
I wouldn’t be in Iran period. Major Trump/Netanyahu blunder.
@StateDept Does anyone know what we are doing? 👆
'what you're doing...', I'd say
👍
Compared to other empires that dominated the Middle East, the era of US/British hegemony, 1917-2027(?) will be a blip
The most important question is whether declining American influence actually means a new regional order has emerged, or whether the Middle East is entering a prolonged period of competition among several powers.
First of all, thank you for your response😊 Also, thank you for subscribing
Second, there is a new order emerging we're centuries of eurocentric, western system is being replaced by an Islamic-Asiatic, Asiatic world.
By that, I mean it's the end of Arab-American-Israeli power and the emergence if CIR Alliance, 🇨🇳🇮🇷🇷🇺, with various nation alliances such as CIP, 🇵🇰 🇮🇷 🇨🇳, or TIIM, 🇹🇷 🇮🇷 🇮🇩 🇲🇾.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. I agree that the Middle East is moving toward a more multipolar environment, with Asian powers playing an increasingly influential role.
However, I would distinguish between the decline of Western dominance and the emergence of a coherent alternative order. China, Russia, Iran, Türkiye, and other regional actors have overlapping interests, but also significant strategic rivalries.
The critical question is whether these emerging alignments can develop the institutional strength, economic integration, and security architecture necessary to sustain a new order.
Could we be witnessing not the replacement of one dominant system by another, but a prolonged transition toward competitive multipolarity, where no single alliance achieves regional hegemony?
You are very welcome. But if I may be so bold to offer an advice: look at the the emergence of the Abbasid Dynasty which ended the Arab influence and started the golden age of Islam and also, the Tang Dynasty of China which also restarted the golden age of China in many ways.
They were both at the same period but more importantly, they taught a lesson about trade versus wars
Thank you for this thoughtful suggestion. The Abbasid and Tang dynasties offer a fascinating historical comparison, particularly in how trade, cultural exchange, and intellectual openness contributed to their golden ages. What interests me most is whether lasting prosperity comes more from economic cooperation and the exchange of knowledge than from military conquest. Both civilizations certainly offer valuable lessons for today’s world. I will explore this comparison further.
I love your scholarship. Thank you a million.
Thank you😊 if you want further information, please review my previous works on substack and upside of substack.
First of all, thank you very much. I am glad that you enjoy it.😊
Second, thank you for subscribing
There is no empire that lasted for ever that we learnt from history, so indeed the rule of US and its allies will end one day!
American twisted capitalistic arrogance has a price. Those countries and others are coming up with the bill. High time.
There was never any moral imperative to American influence in the ME .
It was always about, oil never about Development .
And to this day , it's the same whether Bush or Trump are in Power always about Oil, and grabbing as much of it for America. The Gulf was merely an offshore oil field of Americas just like Trump seized the oilfields of Venezuela and next they'll go for Brazils.
Whoever controls oil, controls power. Looks like it's Iran at the moment
Well done for standing up to America and it's Doctrine : Might is Right.
Shame on the Gulf States for siding with Israel. The Abraham Accord must be scrapped. Have the Arabs not understood that they need to work together to dfest the Common Enemy Israel and America?
Have the no pride, Have they no shame?
The last true Arab leader was Nasser who humiliated both Israel and America.
Pity they can't produce more Leaders like him.
When is the next fiction novel coming out?
Worth separating two different questions that keep getting collapsed into one: who's winning militarily, and who's winning everywhere else. Iran's defensive posture hasn't changed since before this war started, it's the same list of asks, mostly about sovereignty and frozen assets. Meanwhile Israel is losing the fight that actually compounds over time: global opinion has cratered (Pew's own numbers put unfavorable views at a 67% median across 36 countries, higher almost everywhere that matters strategically), its most employable, highest-skill citizens are leaving in real numbers, and its top leadership is still under ICC arrest warrants nobody's enforcing but everyone remembers. None of that shows up on a battlefield map, but all of it compounds. I go deeper on the actual mechanics here: https://ozymandiasdesk.substack.com/p/has-iran-already-won-this-war-are
While I agree with everything Mitra wrote here, I want to remind everyone that there is no way that those who urged Trump to go to war with Iran did not know that the Strait of Hormuz would be closed by Iran.
"They" wanted it to happen. Who are "they"? I don't know. See Carlyn's post below.
The report today that one of Venezuela's refineries just blew up and is burning...
https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/10/7/explosion-shutters-venezuelas-second-largest-oil-refinery#flips-6406390882112:0
https://substack.com/@carlynbeccia/note/c-355070303