In 58 posts with close to 100k words, we shared a lot in 2024! Explore 2024’s biggest geopolitical shifts, cultural battles, and bold insights with Drishtikone’s year in review. See you in 2025! Happy New Year! Be safe!
When you see Russia get into existential war over Ukraine, or Israel bomb Syria or India battle with Pakistan or Bangladesh, it is not because of some whim. It has a historical and geographical context. That is critical to understand for analyzing geopolitics.
Dive into the shadowy world of the Deep State—its hidden structures, powerful networks, and the far-reaching impact on global events and control.
Legacy of hate and its actioning has resulted in mind-numbing acts of October 7 by Hamas. The aftermath is being played within the countries and across the world as it speeds to a world war.
First, there is hate.
Sanctioned by an imagined "divine".
Unchallenged, this hate piles up heads and corpses. For, it does not need any more reason than the presence of the 'other' to be activated.
The filthy other's annihilation will purify the world as the hater's divine defines the world to be.
In that world, you have no place.
Either the hate takes over.
Or the world wakes up.
Either way, we are headed for disaster.
We are now in a war that was waiting to happen. That the humankind has worked for in the last 2000 years. Every evil that was veiled by obfuscation will come forth. The manner of its engagement ever more fearsome than its hidden hate.
Just survive.
Lily Ebert is 99. A holocaust survivor. While she and two of her sisters survived, her brother, mother, and sister were executed on arrival at Auschwitz.
Since October 7th, when the Hamas terrorists massacred 1,400 people in Israel and kidnapped 200, Lily has been getting about 1000 hateful anti-Semitic messages every day calling her a 'dirty Zionist', and telling her to 'go die', 'you guys... prove why Hitler did what he did' and calling her a 'holohoax'.
The hate in the religious texts and special focus on the Jews and Polytheists (Hindus) is very apparent in Al-Ma'idah the fifth Surah of the Quran.
The venom and hate that has been reserved for the Jews has been spewed on Hindus alike. For example, in June 2022, Palestinian Islamic scholar Nidhal Siam spoke at a rally at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The abuse of Hindus has been a constant sentiment amongst the Islamic invaders and clerics, including the so-called Sufis. Read what Rumi and Amir Khusrau said about the Hindus in their own works.
This is no different from what Nidhal Siam was saying.
The same hate and objective of "eradicating the Hindus" was shared by Hamas founder Khaled Mashal with the Kerala Islamists last week.
On Friday, October 27th, Hamas Founding leader and ex-chairman of Hamas Political Bureau Khaled Mashal 'addressed' a group of Islamists in Malappuram, Kerala virtually.
A day later there was an IED bomb blast at a prayer meeting of Jehovah's Witnesses in Kalamassery Convention Center in Kerala's Kochi area.
The West - specifically the UK and the US - is seeing similar hate and annihilation of the Jews on display.
In Central London's Trafalgar Square, Muslims took out a rally shouting "Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud".
What does it mean?
"Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud" is the first verse of an antisemitic chant used to massacre the Jewish population in the Khaybar Oasis of modern-day Saudi Arabia in 628 CE. The full verse is: "Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud, jaish Muhammad soufa ya'oud." It translates to "Khaybar Khaybar oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will return." (Source: Israel War Room X post)
A call to mass murder the Jews.
With smiles and laughing British citizens.
There is something fundamentally off when a genocide call is accompanied by laughs and smiles. (Source: Instagram post by fatenelmashni_)
It is instructive to remember that the Pakistani Deobandi Jihadist terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad (headed by Masood Azhar) also has the same sentiment.
On October 28th, there was another rally in Manhattan, New York. The slogans were replete with hatred for the Jews.
Pro-Palestine protestors who marched into Manhattan took over Union Square, with one man heard chanting 'long live Hamas' as others plastered 'Zionists are terrorists' stickers over Starbucks stores and the statue of George Washington. The 'Flood Brooklyn for Palestine' protest attracted thousands of protesters holding up signs reading 'Free Palestine' and 'Zionism is Terrorism'. They shut down Brooklyn Bridge, with some scaling the landmark, earlier in the evening before making their way to Union Square in the heart of the city. Once there, footage shows a group of individuals scaling a statue of George Washington as others chanted 'Allahu Akbar' and 'long live Hamas'. (Source: "Pro-Palestine protestors storm Union Square and climb on George Washington" / Daily Mail)
The videos from the agitation show how the crowds had scaled the Brooklyn Bridge.
What the masses are doing on the ground, the Islamists in the "intellectual class" are doing in the media.
The Indian propaganda promoter who fancies herself to be a journalist - Arfa Khanum - backed Hamas propaganda and equated India's freedom fighters with Hamas terrorists, forgetting that no Indian freedom fighter had beheaded babies or raped British women. Even Sadanand Dhume, a WSJ journalist, who has always aligned with the "leftist journalists" that he is now dinging, calls her "beyond ghoulish" act out. Irony aside, the anti-Hindu and anti-semitic hatred is palpable in the acts of Arfa Khanum.
Beyond ghoulish. Indian leftist journalists are directly boosting Hamas, not just talking about the Palestinians, but acting as PR flaks for a terrorist group responsible for one of the worst atrocities of the 21st century. pic.twitter.com/GlH2VdQNSK
— Sadanand Dhume (@dhume) October 28, 2023
Source: Sadanand Dhume
This normalizing of Hamas and their vile acts of terror by equating them to the freedom struggle by India seems to be a shared sentiment amongst many in Delhi's Lutyens newsrooms.
Here is Neena Vyas, a journalist with The Hindu and daughter of Sham Lal, ex-editor of the Times of India.
It is quite another matter that Bhagat Singh never harmed any lady, leave alone raping any living or dead one, or beheading a kid.
In this sea of utter vile ignorance and hate flows today's intellectual class.
This is the internal warfare that is being orchestrated by the external powers within democracies.
The battle lines are being drawn around the globe as well.
A lot of actions are underway in the Middle East as we speak. These actions are linked to each other and will keep escalating the conflict into a larger war.
The US has struck in Syria. They destroyed two Iranian-controlled sites using F-16 bombers near Abu Kamal. These sites were run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
US airstrikes on two Iranian-controlled sites in eastern Syria have sparked fears the Middle East could be embroiled in a violent conflict with tensions pushed to breaking point amid the Israel-Hamas war. The Pentagon deployed a pair of F-16 fighter jets overnight to attack a weapons storage facility and an ammunition plant near Abu Kamal - both of which were allegedly run by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. The strikes were not connected to the Israel-Hamas war, the Pentagon said, but they came just hours after Iran's Foreign Minister said the United States will 'not be spared from this fire' if Israel continues to attack Hamas - leading analysts to conclude the strikes were a blatant warning to Iran not to take advantage of the regional turmoil. (Source: Fears grow Middle East conflict is 'a tinderbox that's going to catch fire' / Daily Mail)
The former White House Adviser Ben Rhodes is calling it a "tinderbox"
Waiting to be set alight. Which is precisely what the different players are working on.
Russian government invited and met with the Hamas leaders Bassem Naeem and Mousa Abu Marzouk as well as Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani in Moscow. Not only did they have discussions with the Russian leadership, they also had a conclave amongst each other.
Russian Foreign Ministry officials met with Hamas leaders Bassem Naeem and Mousa Abu Marzouk in Moscow on Thursday, just weeks after their terror group stormed Israel and slaughtered at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians. The terrorist leaders posed with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, Putin’s special envoy in the Middle East — who also met Thursday with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri Kani. The Iranian official also had his own talks with Hamas’ Marzouk while both were guests in Moscow, the Russian state news agency TASS reported Friday. Hamas later praised Putin — who is currently waging war on Ukraine — for his “stance” on its war of terror on Israel. (Source: "Putin accused of forming ‘axis of terror’ after inviting Hamas and Iran leaders to Moscow" / New York Post)
The Western "experts", as is their wont, are already saying that "Russia is forming the new “axis of terror against the West.” This is ironic since Islamist Jihadi groups have been formed, promoted, and used by the West since, at least the 1920s. The use of Islamists as a tool was started by the Nazis in 1940s against Russia. Later the US used the jihadis trained by Pakistan against the Soviets. If at all, Russia is paying the West and the US back.
Desh Kapoor
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also threatened to declare war on Israel and send military to Gaza. At the “Great Palestine Rally” in Istanbul on October 28th, he gave a chilling warning.
“We can come at any night unexpectedly”
During the speech, hundreds of thousands of Turks started chanting: “Turkish Military to Gaza!”
Will Turkey attack Israel? Or fight alongside Hamas from Gaza?
On the other hand, the Iranians have started their War Games. The massive exercise titled "Authority 1402" is being staged in Isfahan includes 200 helicopters and missile launchers.
Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Army Abdolrahim Mousavi said "we are always ready to deal with threats", reported Iranian state media. (Source: The Sun)
With Iran and Turkey getting ready to enter fray, things will spiral out of hand very quickly.
On October 25th, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi inspected a "war inspection lineup".
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi stressed that the preservation of Egypt’s national security is a major and fundamental role of the Armed Forces to safeguard borders, defend national security and interests, with no transgression. The president made these remarks while attending war inspection lineup of the Field 3rd Army’s 4th Armoured Division on Wednesday 25/10/2023. (Source: President Sisi during war inspection of 3rd Army’s 4th Armoured Division / Egypt State Information Services)
Quite clearly, even Egypt is preparing for a war eventuality. Check the video of this event.
If there's a time since 1939 when a World War was most imminent, it's now. From Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Iran to Russian & China, there's a consensus that no one gave Israel & US the monopoly of aggression. The Egyptian army is already too ready for war.pic.twitter.com/kKTLpZ6PE5
— Eng. Mohamed Tache Dida (@Mohamedida) October 26, 2023
And, the media also reported that the Indian PM Modi called up Sisi to talk to him about the situation in Israel and Gaza.
Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, people are ransacking the aid warehouses and distribution centers for essential items. The United Nations is calling it "civil order break down".
Thousands of people have broken into and ransacked several aid warehouses and distribution centers storing essential survival items in the southern area of the Gaza Strip, the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees revealed Sunday. “This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza. People are scared, frustrated and desperate,” said Thomas White, Director of UNRWA Affairs in the Gaza Strip. (Source: Israel-Hamas war live updates / New York Post)
Israel is, however, very clear about its intent. It will completely destroy the Hamas.
The Israeli government has taken the war to the next stage. The "Second Stage" of what it calls a "Long War".
“This is a war with multiple stages, today we move to the next one,” Lt Gen Halevi said on Saturday. “The objectives of this war require a ground operation – the best soldiers are now operating in Gaza.” (Source: Israel sends elite troops into Gaza Strip for ‘long war’ / MSN)
In his address, Benjamin Netanyahu clearly stated the objective of the war.
If Israel does not win, the partners will be next. Very precient.
On Saturday, Israel sent its elite soldiers to the Gaza Strip to fight street battles against Hamas. Also, Israel bombed Gaza's underground structures with the bunker buster bombs.
According to some reports, the Israeli Air Force deployed 'bunker buster' ordnance to destroy Hamas's tunnel network. The first warhead of the missiles creates a hole, then a second penetrates deeper into the earth, destroying underground structures. At least 100 fighter-bombers attacked around 150 underground targets. Israel Defence Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari again warned civilians in northern Gaza to evacuate without delay. (Source: Daily Mail)
Remember that in Balakot, India had used the Israeli-made penetrator version of the Spice-2000 bombs. Those bombs "made holes using their weight in the concrete rooftops of the buildings in the Jaish camp which don't destroy buildings but explode inside killing people with the mix of 70-80 kg explosives with shrapnel." Indian Airforce had later ordered the Bunker Buster version as well. (Source: India Today)
Israel is also planning to use Sponge Bombs to block the tunnels where Hamas is hidden. These tunnels are like a web as the recently released Israeli hostage Yocheved Lifshitz shared "It looked like a spider's web, many, many tunnels', adding: 'We walked kilometres under the ground."
Until now Israel has bombarded 150 'underground targets'.
'Terror tunnels, underground combat spaces and additional underground infrastructure' were struck, the military said, adding that 'several Hamas terrorists were killed'. (Source: Daily Mail)
As per the Gazan health ministry, the death toll is around 7700 with 3000 children.
Just as the global geopolitical games and moves are being made by different players and protesters - often extensions of psyops by adversaries - march, attack, and destroy landmarks while spewing hate, there are other set of events going on as well.
A Neo-Nazi group's leaders have been arrested by the FBI when they were planning to target critical power stations to cascade a set of events leading to chaos and "civil disturbances". Baltimore is Washington DC's suburb which makes it even more dangerous!
The founder of a 'terrorist neo-Nazi' group was arrested over an alleged racist plot to 'completely destroy' the power grid in the predominantly black city of Baltimore. Brandon Russell, 34, of Florida, was accused of conspiring to inflict 'maximum harm' by shooting at five substations operated by Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE), which serves 1.2 million customers in central Maryland. His alleged co-conspirator, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 27, of Maryland, said that striking all five, in rapid succession, with a 'good four or five shots,' would 'completely destroy this whole city' by setting off a cascade of power failures and prompting destructive civil disturbances, according to a criminal complaint filed in Maryland district court. The pair were caught in an FBI sting, with Clendaniel describing the plot as 'definitely doable' to an informant. (Source: Neo-Nazi domestic terrorists are targeting critical power stations with guns / Daily Mail)
This is not an isolated incident. The experts are saying that saboteurs have been sharing information online on how to inflict maximum damage. The threats to the US energy sector have increased manifold!
The new House Speaker Mike Johnson who was elected just last week has already made his battle plans. Impeaching Joe Biden for his crimes is one of the top ones.
Speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity, in his first broadcast interview since becoming speaker, Johnson said that the evidence suggested impeachable offenses had been committed, but he added that he will follow due process. Johnson said: "The reason we shifted to the impeachment inquiry stage on the president himself was because if, in fact, all the evidence leads to where we believe it will, that's very likely impeachable offenses. "That's listed as a cause for impeachment in the constitution; bribery and other crimes and misdemeanours. Bribery's listed there, and it looks and smells a lot like that. We're going to follow the truth wherever it leads. We're going to engage in due process because, again, we're the rule of law party," he said. (Source: Joe Biden's Impeachment is Looking More Likely / Newsweek)
If US politics goes into a tailspin, there will be no hand at the helm holding the reigns of the most powerful actor in the world. Global geopolitical uncertainties and battles will become more and more complex. Specifically, because a major part of US forces are private corporations that profit most from the war.
As Israel shut down the internet while it went onto an offensive, Elon Musk brought its own twist - Starlink.
By offering the internet connection in Gaza via Starlink, he went head-on against the Israeli administration.
And, this will be another factor in the ongoing war. The private players.
Although interestingly, Musk is also scared of where this set of global events will end up.
So, Elon Musk is despondent with what is happening. He sees the current events as a "civilizational risk" where the nations are "sleepwalking into a World War 3".
I was asked this question on the panel in the Sattology live show by Mr Aditya Satsangi. "Are headed towards a World War?"
My take, unlike that of the co-panelists who believed - with good reasons - that World War may not be imminent, was that the World War is already underway.
World War was not "one battle". It was a series of events and battles that together constituted a War.
The different players maneuvered every day. Internally and externally things kept changing. As they are happening today.
The way things are going, the world seems to be in a fight to the finish. Whether it is in the US, Russia, China, India, or Israel - the sentiment is the same. To finish off the adversary before it can finish us.
The worst thing is that every one of the players has a decent shot at delivering a fatal blow to the enemy!
The objective during this World War shouldn't be victory but survival.
Dr. Jaishankar is a foreign policy rockstar. While many of his responses are played again and again, it is this speech (first 20 minutes) that one thought was missed despite its profundity.
It provides a very good window if you read between the lines into what is going on in his mind and the way things are unfolding around the world.
When you see Russia get into existential war over Ukraine, or Israel bomb Syria or India battle with Pakistan or Bangladesh, it is not because of some whim. It has a historical and geographical context. That is critical to understand for analyzing geopolitics.
Dive into the shadowy world of the Deep State—its hidden structures, powerful networks, and the far-reaching impact on global events and control.
While game-playing the future, one of the main flashpoints we came across, where the global conflict can start, was the Arctic. We look at it in complete detail.
North Korea launched its most advanced monster missile yet. China is readying its 'mysterious' amphibious ship. Russia is advancing in Ukraine while losing men. America goes to poll and civil uncertainty. Global economy is on the brink. What is coming? Let's game plan it.
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