EMPIRE
IRAN: Operation ‘Epic Bill’ and the US Protection Racket the Gulf Can’t Escape
Freddie Ponton21st Century Wire “The question is no longer whether America can afford this war on Iran. It is whether America’s allies can afford America.” For three weeks, Washington and West Jerusalem have marketed the dubiously titled “Operation Epic Fury” as a limited, surgical campaign against Iranian nuclear and defence […]
Trump’s Hormuz Escort Order is a Desperate, Deadly Gambit That Will Sink America
A Reactionary Edict from a Panicked President The order came via a social media post from a commander-in-chief who has just set the Middle East ablaze. On March 3, 2026, President Donald Trump announced he had directed the U.S. Navy to begin escorting commercial oil tankers through the Strait of […]
The Banality of Evil and Those Who Said No
In the Realm of the Banality of Evil, saying yes is always easy. The hard part is saying no, for reasons that have nothing to do with getting ahead. The Epstein files have unleashed a flood tide of bleatings of innocence and accusations of guilt by association. This is just what we’d […]
From Regional Spark to Global Inferno: The Path to Nuclear Catastrophe in the Middle East
A Calculated Spark: The U.S. and Israel’s Opening Move As the war against Iran unfolds, the Middle East stands at the precipice of a conflict unlike any other. The catalyst is not a miscalculation born of desperation, but a calculated act of aggression. A scenario emerges where, driven by what […]
On the Menu: How the Middle Powers Sacrificed Gaza To Save Themselves
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney sounded more like a populist leader than a former central banker during his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 20. Bemoaning the “fading” of the rules-based order, Carney delivered a surprisingly blunt speech. “The old order is not coming back,” he declared. “We […]
THE LANGS: The Family That Called Epstein ‘Dad’
Freddie Ponton21st Century Wire The public story of Jack and Caroline Lang was supposed to be a triumph of culture and enlightened politics in the Fifth Republic. The private record now emerging from the Epstein files reads more like the biography of a dynasty that treated power as a family asset and […]
The Fatal Costs of the Philippines-Taiwan War Scenario
The Philippines is preparing for a Taiwan war. That’s known. But the costs of that “inevitable war” are not. It’s time to address them. In August 2025, President Marcos Jr. said that “a war over Taiwan will drag the Philippines, kicking and screaming into the conflict.” Pushing for preparation, the government […]
North Korea Vows To Buildup Its Nuclear Arsenal
North Korea has vowed to further its nuclear buildup, promising to increase its nuclear arsenal. Pyongyang’s ruler Kim Jong-un has outlined the strategy during a weeklong congress of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. He declared North Korea’s nuclear-armed status “irreversible and permanent.” Kim said he will continue to add […]
What the TV Won’t Tell You: The Bloodshed in Mexico is the Direct Result of a Decades-Long U.S. Proxy War
You won’t hear this on the nightly news, but the unprecedented violence currently tearing through Mexico is not some random, isolated cartel uprising. It is the catastrophic and entirely predictable blowback of the U.S. government intentionally arming, funding, and protecting the very narco-paramilitary death squads that are now setting Jalisco […]
Fool’s Gold: The Art of the Steal and the Privatization of the Presidency
“Donald Trump took an oath to serve the American people. Instead, he has focused on using the presidency to enrich himself… President Trump has never been a man to ask what he can do for his country. In his second term, as in his first, he is instead testing the limits […]
