Tag: iran

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EU Pledges Technical and Financial Aid to Restore Druzhba Pipeline

Colin Henderson

Wed, 03/18/2026 – 08:01https://www.pipeline-journal.net/news/eu-pledges-technical-and-financial-aid-restore-druzhba-pipelineEuropean Union leaders announced Tuesday that the bloc will provide technical and financial assistance to Ukraine to help restore oil flow through a section of the Druzhba pipeline running through Ukraine. Oil shipments through the pipeline were halted following a series of Russian missile strikes on the critical energy infrastructure in January, severing crude oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia. In a joint statement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel condemned the Jan. 27 attacks, which hit key nodes of the transit network. The disruption has left Central European nations … Continue reading EU Pledges Technical and Financial Aid to Restore Druzhba Pipeline

AI, Geopolitics, intel, Middle East, MilitaryLeave a comment

Analysis -Drone War Evolution: Equilibrium, Scenarios, and Off-Ramps

Colin Henderson

Introduction If previous wars were tanks and trenches the rapid shift to AI and physical cheap and effective drones point to a new step in drone warfare although it suggests more of a catch up on US part. It doesn’t feel like a Little Boy, moment but opposite and will extend the war, not bring diplomatic pressure unless targeting becomes more strategically aimed at driving diplomatic off ramps. Or in consideration of plausible scenarios is the Yuan repricing of Hormuz oil a more likely creative market driven indicator of what will bring an off ramp while drones produce a holding … Continue reading Analysis -Drone War Evolution: Equilibrium, Scenarios, and Off-Ramps

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Morning Briefing — Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Colin Henderson

Morning Briefing — Wednesday, March 4, 2026 1. What Changed Iran-Israel-U.S. War Enters Day Five — Strikes Widen, Leadership Vacuum Deepens Day five of Operation Epic Fury. Israel launched a new broad wave of strikes targeting internal security command centres in Tehran, missile launchers, and other systems, as Iran began three days of public mourning for Khamenei. NPR Israel simultaneously conducted a limited ground incursion into southern Lebanon to establish a “security layer” against Hezbollah. Wikipedia Hormuz: Effectively Closed, Insurance Doing the Work The Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed for commercial shipping despite technically remaining open — insurance withdrawal … Continue reading Morning Briefing — Wednesday, March 4, 2026

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Proxima.earth – a radical shift in research analysis

Colin Henderson

I recommend everyone with geopolitical interest take advantage of Proxima.earth. It is a radical shift in research analysis which can only be handled by AI. not the uses and contexts from multiple frontier AI tools. And remember this analysis is hours following actual events. Iran, March 2026Three crises converge in sixty days. A domestic uprising met with mass killing and the most comprehensive internet blackout in Iranian history. A nuclear confrontation that produced two rounds of US-Israeli strikes nine months apart. And the first assassination of a sitting head of state by airstrike in modern history — the killing of … Continue reading Proxima.earth – a radical shift in research analysis

Geopolitics, Military

Inside China’s dangerous nuclear game

Colin Henderson

This article is part of Engelsberg Ideas’ latest series, ‘The Nuclear World Transformed’, in which our writers explore the history and current state of the global nuclear landscape, and how it is being reshaped by a new age of great-power competition.  Between 1990 and 2001 something happened in China that is unthinkable in today’s tense world. In short, an American wandered through the Chinese nuclear archipelago and came out to tell the tale. It sounds like a novel but it is a lesson in game theory and it is pure fact. The American was the director of the Technical Intelligence Division … Continue reading Inside China’s dangerous nuclear game

AI, Geopolitics, Middle East

Iraqi Banks Used U.S.-Created System to Funnel Funds to Iran

Colin Henderson

New York Fed’s process to move Baghdad’s oil earnings lacked key money-laundering safeguards, resulting in illicit transfers that financed terrorist groups for years David S. CloudSept. 8, 2024 at 9:00 pm ET His three Baghdad banks wired tens of billions of dollars in that time outside the country, ostensibly for car parts, furniture and other imports. He was one of the biggest operators in an ad hoc banking system set up around two decades ago under the U.S. occupation that gave the Federal Reserve Bank of New York a key role in processing Iraq’s international transactions.  Years later, when the … Continue reading Iraqi Banks Used U.S.-Created System to Funnel Funds to Iran

Geopolitics

Middle East CrisisHamas Says It Will Not Take Part in New Round of Cease-Fire Talks

Colin Henderson

Get notifications for updates on this story. TOP NEWS Hamas sends a signal that a breakthrough is unlikely in negotiations. A Hamas official said on Tuesday that the group will not take part in the round of cease-fire talks on Thursday, sending a strong signal that any breakthrough in negotiations was still elusive even as the United States, Qatar and Egypt were stepping up pressure on Hamas and Israel to reach a deal. Ahmad Abdul Hadi, Hamas’s representative in Lebanon, said in an interview that Hamas had decided not to participate in the talks because its leaders do not think the … Continue reading Middle East CrisisHamas Says It Will Not Take Part in New Round of Cease-Fire Talks

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State Department official, Jared Cohen, e-mailed Twitter – delay scheduled maintenance

Colin Henderson

This has little directly to do with banking per se, but it has a lot to do with information seeking, gathering, and the seismic shifts in how transparency of otherwise opaque bodies can be nullified by the internet tools available.  It is also just plain fascinating, and something all strategists should watch and try to understand. Whether this was innocent or otherwise, it appears to be a fact that it happened hence the significance.  Also read here for discussion and note the ‘informed’ comments.  One cannot help but think that there is something deliberate to all this, and even that … Continue reading State Department official, Jared Cohen, e-mailed Twitter – delay scheduled maintenance