Occasionally it makes sense to stand back and take a look at history from a long-term perspective, and in this regard I am talking about the last 100 years, which really have not been kind to the Middle East, its diverse people, and even to Islam.

As a youth, one of my favorite books for its sheer descriptive beauty was “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom”, written by TE Lawrence, about the Arab Revolt in World War I against the Ottoman Turks, who for centuries had governed over Greater Syria and Arabia. A British soldier and scholar, Lawrence, along with the Hashemites, led the revolt of Arab tribes in Arabia against the Turks, promising full “independence” and self governance for the Arabs. But at the same time the French and British signed the secret Sykes-Picot agreement to carve up the Levant and the Middle East after the war into colonial domains. As well, the British issued the infamous Balfour Declaration in 1918 that “looked with favor” on handing the Zionists a colonial “homeland” in Palestine. The war period really was the beginning of 100 years of Western aggression and colonialism, by direct method or proxies, on the Islamic world, and it largely rested on the recognition of vast petroleum discoveries in the Mideast and the greed of Western governments to control it. As for Lawrence, it remains an open question whether he knew during the war of the coming Western betrayal of the Arabs. I think he probably knew enough, and ultimately regretted his role during the war.

Despite all the twists and turns, and horrors, of history in the Middle East over the past 100 years, Western aims and intentions, particularly American and British in the recent half of this past 100 years, have not abated. The so-called “War on Terror” is nothing but a colonialist operation at bottom by the U.S.  Betrayal has been the order of these times, most recently and glaringly, the abrogation of the JCPOA by the Trump administration. And I recently heard from a young Iranian friend and famous photographer who wrote: “The U.S. has ruined our lives and prospects.” Her words crushed me, and in fact, many other friends, both American and Iranian. Yet there must be hope, for without that, there is nothing in these sad times. Where can it be found?

I believe this is the last, loud gasp of American aggression on the people of the Middle East, and that of the Zionists, too. Very slowly, subtly or not, the world is reorganizing itself. This century will turn out not to be the “American century”, but Asia’s, and perhaps especially Eurasia’s, which includes Iran. Aggression tends to reach a crescendo when it is most apt to be in the initial phases of failing, and the crescendo itself pushes that failure faster than it would otherwise occur.  The U.S., even if so few recognize it for now, is economically spent and faces some sort of fiscal bankruptcy and monetary crisis ahead, which will dethrone the ultimate lynchpin of U.S. power, the dollar, which has allowed for U.S. militarism.

Just this past Spring, for example, a magazine I once wrote for, Forbes, uncovered Pentagon files revealing that the Pentagon cannot account for an added $21 TRILLION in spending since the 1990s. This could well hyper-inflate the buck to death and kill the American “empire” and its 1000 or so military bases spread all over the planet.  In the view of a number of astute economic observers, the “dollar” is doomed, and the question is not if but when. Also doomed is the so-called Petrodollar. China and Russia and other countries have lately been disgorging themselves of U.S. bonds, too, and buying gold hand over fist as a preferred financial reserve.  There is some indication that both China and Russia, too, may issue a gold back currency eventually. Meanwhile, Iranians now suffer horribly as their own currency has been steeply devalued since the U.S. scuttled the JCPOA in early May. Unfortunately, gold has become terribly expensive in Iran of late, but it has been a salvation to some citizens of other countries such as Venezuela who have managed to corral the asset. But there are other factors also that point to the demise of U.S. power and aggression.

Another important factor is simply that more and more people, including Americans and Europeans, are appalled at the immorality of U.S. foreign policy and the neglect of needs here at home. Poverty in the U.S. has grown tremendously this century, and the engine of prosperity, the “middle class”, has been nearly destroyed. The gap between the “rich”, the “one percent” and all the rest of citizens is wider than it ever has been.  This does not bode well for the U.S. economy, nor for the criminal U.S. government. The next economic downturn or recession will be like no other in the U.S. As the billionaire Warren Buffett has opined, we get to see who has been swimming naked as the waters recede. And recede they will. As well, with upcoming midterm elections later this year in the U.S., new faces are appearing as candidates, and some of them are speaking out against the U.S. government’s overweening support of “Israel”, to which the U.S. gives roughly $10 million fiat a day. Like never before, these fresh candidates are showing they are not afraid of the Zionist lobbies in the U.S.

So, here is some hope for real, substantive change, however long it takes. Iranians should find some relief in this and remain patient and wise. O, yes, and congrats to Team Melli for a brave showing at the World Cup. The next 100 years will become Eurasia’s and Iran’s, too, inshallah.