pcr may be on to something here; 

 

Is the Muslim World Rising?

Paul Craig Roberts

Recently there have been striking new developments that imply major changes in the correlation of forces.  These developments have largely gone unacknowledged and their implications unexamined.  I made the effort in online interviews on Dialogue Works and On Target.  I will now attempt to do so in writing.

One of the developments is Iran’s defeat of US President Trump’s attack on Iran.  Trump has been desperate to find a way out of the conflict without admitting defeat.  His exit strategy is to redefine the conflict from a military one to an economic one and impose new economic sanctions on Iran and those who trade with Iran, while claiming that the Strait of Hormuz is an American territory through which is moving massive amounts of oil shipments.  The combination of a redefined conflict with propaganda comprises Trump’s exit strategy. 

Another development is the announcement of a mutual security agreement between Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.  This development combines conventional military force with oil reserves and nuclear weapons and unifies three separate Muslim ethnicities in a strategic location with a population of 355,390,000 people.  These are largely Sunni Muslims.

Another development is the announcement on Iranian news media that Iran, predominantly Shia, has been invited to join the alliance.  It true, this would indicate that the schism between Sunni and Shia is breaking down.  It would also mean a pact of four countries with 448,700,000 people, larger than the United States, with conventional and nuclear power, a large chunk of the world’s oil reserves, and control over the strategic oil waterways.  It would be a bloc of strategic importance to Russia and China as the Muslim four country pact is located such that it protects Russian and Chinese interests.  Such a pact could become a de facto alliance of 6 countries.  ..........more...........