Today's Global Instability (7/6/2026)
There are visionary statesmen and high-minded negotiators, pragmatic mediators and professional diplomats – and then there are meddling fools. As ceasefires implode, vast numbers of civilians die or flee, and wars Donald Trump started, fuelled or pledged to resolve rage unchecked, there’s no doubt which category he belongs to.
Factually speaking, Trump’s diplomatic record is lamentable. He promised to resolve the Ukraine war in a day. It’s now in its fifth year.
After illegally attacking Iran in February, Trump declared a ceasefire in April with none of his main objectives met and with the strait of Hormuz largely closed to shipping. Violations occur daily, half-hearted “peace talks” via shadowy third parties lead nowhere, and the global economy splutters.
In a global order lacking agreed rules, where major powers and non-state actors treat international law and international courts with contempt, the business of war and peace grows similarly anarchic. For unscrupulous regimes bent on maximising national advantage, no agreement is deemed unbreakable, no dishonourable breach too shameful to shrug off. Without rules, peace deals cannot ultimately be enforced.
Endless, futile wrangling over ceasefires obscures the terrible impact of conflict on ordinary people and compelling human reasons for halting the violence. Since the Iran war began, at least 3,468 people have reportedly died inside the country, 26,500 have been injured, and millions displaced. Attention has been deflected, for example, from the still-unaccounted for Minab primary school bombing on 28 February, when US forces allegedly killed more than 100 children.
[...] ceasefire negotiations are not self-congratulatory political shows or social media entertainments, as Trump’s daily commentaries suggest, but urgent matters of life and death.