The end of New START has opened the door to unconstrained U.S.–Russia nuclear expansion just as China accelerates its own buildup, creating a volatile three‑way arms race with no verification, no guardrails, and rising risks of miscalculation.
The collapse of New START and China’s rapid nuclear buildup have ended decades of structured restraint, creating an unstable three‑way arms race with no treaties, no verification, and rising risks of miscalculation in a multipolar nuclear world.
Missile defense systems meant to deter attacks are instead encouraging riskier offensives, driving arms races and destabilizing global security as nations pursue shields like THAAD and the Golden Dome under the illusion of strategic safety.
Tehran’s refusal to abandon domestic enrichment, paired with U.S. military pressure and sanctions, leaves the Muscat talks as a fragile pause rather than real progress, with internal Iranian rifts and Israeli threat perceptions further narrowing the diplomatic window.
Iran’s push to restart Muscat talks reflects domestic turmoil and strategic delay, but clashing agendas, sidelined Europeans, and unresolved trust gaps suggest the negotiations remain a fragile holding pattern rather than a path to a durable nuclear deal.
The video exposing the Obamas with racist imagery highlights a long‑standing pattern of presidential racial provocation, triggering rare GOP backlash and making decades of documented behavior impossible to dismiss as isolated incidents.
Mamdani’s endorsement of Hochul reflects a strategic left‑center alliance built on a major childcare deal, reshaping New York’s Democratic race while deepening rifts inside the progressive movement that helped elect him.
Muscat’s talks revealed a fragile diplomatic opening overshadowed by military brinkmanship, deep mistrust, and clashing agendas, leaving the US‑Iran channel open but far from any path toward a real nuclear agreement.
Middle powers are accelerating diversification and flexible coalitions as U.S. unilateralism erodes old alliances, pushing Brazil, Canada, and South Korea to pursue cooperative multipolarity and institutional reform to preserve autonomy in a rapidly shifting global order.
Western hesitation has prolonged a brutal stalemate in Ukraine, where massive casualties, slow aid, and delayed weapons have strengthened Russia’s attritional strategy while forcing Kyiv to innovate militarily and Europe to rearm unevenly, leaving the war’s outcome tied to political will rather than battlefield shifts.
Carney’s Davos speech exposed the collapse of the Western-led order, urging middle powers to diversify beyond Washington as global power shifts toward a polycentric system that Europe seems unwilling to confront.
In early February 2026, the Persian Gulf sits at a knife-edge. The “Oman Talks,” which began on February 6, represent a desperate diplomatic attempt to avert a third Gulf War. While Washington views its “Armada” and the recent capture of Venezuela’s Maduro as leverage to force a total Iranian capitulation, Tehran views the same events as an existential threat that demands unconstrained asymmetric retaliation.
