Amit's Blog

A not-so-ironic tale of North Sea oil, convenient amnesia, and the bill that's finally come due   Picture this: It's 1979, and Britain is, to put it mildly, having a rough time. Strikes, inflation, and general gloom are the order of the day. Then, quite literally beneath our feet, someone discovers the economic equivalent of finding a winning lottery ticket in your winter coat. North Sea oil arrives right on cue, like a deus ex machina in a particularly grim British drama. Fast-forward to 2026, and we're still arguing about whether Margaret Thatcher was an economic genius or just incredibly lucky. Spoiler alert: it's the latter, but try telling that at a dinner party. This is the story of how Britain stumbled into a geological windfall, spent it like a sailor on shore leave, and then spent the next forty years pretending it was all part of the plan. Grab a cuppa; it's going to be a bumpy ride. The Oil Boom That Wasn't (Supposed to Be) a Boom Let's st...

How Decolonization, Diplomacy, and Defense Deals Reshaped the Global Order for India in 1961 The 1961 liberation of a Portuguese enclave was a geopolitical crucible that reshaped Cold War alliances. Nasser's Suez closure blocked reinforcements, Soviet vetoes paralyzed the UN, and NATO cited technicalities to avoid intervention. The crisis fractured US-India relations, pushing New Delhi toward Moscow and creating decades of military path dependency now being addressed through modern de-risking efforts like the GE Aerospace deal. In December 1961, India's 36-hour Operation Vijay ended 450 years of colonial rule, but the diplomatic storm it ignited reshaped global politics for decades. Gamal Abdel Nasser's role is often overlooked, yet his closure of the Suez Canal provided the strategic "chokepoint" leverage that ensured victory. As one analyst observed, "Nasser's closure of the canal was the silent weapon that decided the outcome before a single shot ...

A story of empires, oil, and the art of being sovereign... sort of Look at the skyline of Dubai or Doha. It screams independence. Billion-dollar museums, airlines that go everywhere, sovereign wealth funds that buy football clubs. But look closer. Behind the glass towers lies a hidden architecture of control. These nations weren't born; they were engineered. First by British treaties, then by American dollars, and now by Israeli tech. They are the ultimate geopolitical paradox: wildly wealthy yet structurally captive. This isn't a story of failure. It's a story of design. Welcome to the Invisible Grid, where sovereignty is a service subscription, and the bill is always coming due. Let's talk about the Gulf states. You know them: gleaming skyscrapers, luxury cars, airlines that fly to places you didn't know existed, and enough wealth to make a dragon blush. They seem like modern success stories, nations that punched way above their weight. But here's the th...

How a theologically-driven movement of 50 million Americans became the decisive force in Middle East policy Christian Zionism in America—rooted in Dispensationalist theology and comprising 40-50 million Evangelicals—views modern Israel as a divine mandate central to biblical prophecy. Through organizations like Christians United for Israel (CUFI), strategic lobbying, and unprecedented executive access during Trump administrations, this movement has fundamentally reshaped U.S. foreign policy. Their influence operates through sophisticated "grassroots-to-grasstops" mobilization, leveraging high voter turnout and single-issue prioritization on Israel. Yet the alliance contains profound tensions: while Israeli leaders welcome unconditional support, traditional Christian Zionist eschatology anticipates a final confrontation where non-Christians face judgment. As of March 2026, with Operation Epic Fury escalating regional tensions, this movement has evolved from supportive lobby ...

From Cold-War Proxy to AI Co-Dependency – The Quiet Merger That Redefines Global Power The US-Israel relationship is frequently caricatured as the “tail wagging the dog.” The reality in March 2026 is far more intimate: a deeply fused, functionally inseparable partnership that now operates as a single technological organism. What started as cautious moral sympathy in the 1950s—when Eisenhower forced Israel to withdraw from Suez and left France as its main arms supplier—shifted decisively in the 1960s. Kennedy sold Hawk missiles and spoke of a “Special Relationship”; Johnson watched Israel’s 1967 victory over Soviet-backed armies and saw a proxy that could block Moscow without American troops. “Israel proved it could defeat Soviet influence without a single American boot on the ground,” one Pentagon strategist later said. Nixon’s 1973 airlift during the Yom Kippur War locked in mutual dependence. Reagan formalized the bond with Major Non-NATO Ally status and joint exercises, yet st...

How a small state's strategy of playing all sides collided with regional power politics—and what the 2026 crisis means for the Middle East The Qatar-Gulf rivalry weaves ideology, media warfare, and energy security into one of the region's defining dramas. Sparked by the Arab Spring and crystallized in the 2017 blockade, the conflict reflected competing visions: Qatar's embrace of political Islam versus Saudi and Emirati efforts to preserve monarchical order. Though the 2021 Al-Ula Declaration ended the blockade, deeper strategic contradictions persisted. The 2026 eruption of Operation Epic Fury—and strikes on the shared South Pars/North Field gas reservoir—shattered Qatar's "indispensable neutrality," forcing a painful reckoning. This is the story of how a small state's survival strategy collided with great-power competition, and why in today's Gulf, today's mediator may be tomorrow's target. The rivalry between Qatar and the Saudi-led Quar...