Hi everyone — Dario here.
The deluge of AI-driven news means that once-respectable fields like geopolitical analysis, once handled by a few competent individuals (and me), can now be readily manufactured and packaged under a credible-sounding Substack name by the most acne-ridden of adolescents.
That’s why The Blind Spot is turning towards color pieces — rooted in that fascinating place we call ‘IRL’, which smells, makes sounds, and stays delightfully unpredictable.
But that doesn’t mean these weeks have lacked geopolitical blind spots. And despite the info-pocalypse, it’s still our duty to shed light on them.
I’m just tired of doing it the old way.
Here’s a shot at something new:
WHAT THE WORLD IS WATCHING
Why everything in the geopolitical news space revolves around Trump turning the American Empire inwards.
In other words, he’s creating an American América.
Read on, cowboys (and cowgirls).
1 - The Trump peace plan continues
Trump’s peace plan for the Gaza conflict emerges with plaudits from the region just as Israel intercepts the so-called ‘aid flotilla’.
Alongside Trump’s remarkable Article 5-like guarantee for Qatar’s safety, after Israel’s norm-defying bombing of Doha, pundits report the 20-point peace plan has sparked a split in Hamas.
The 20-point peace plan has the usual Trumpian formula: a timeline for an Israeli withdrawal, Hamas’ release of hostages, and the removal of Hamas’ governance of the strip.
It also features strong language about the creation of a special economic zone in Gaza to attract investment for reconstruction.
While Hamas’ military wing and foreign officials have responded positively, some of its internal factions oppose foreign control of Gaza or being sidelined from governance.
Whether the plan will be accepted in its current form remains in question. I’d expect some more fighting before the peace dust settles.
But if you read between the lines of this shockingly pro-Trump FT article titled “How Trump cornered Netanyahu”, the peace may have been engineered already. The piece’s revelations, which study Netanyahu’s fraught relationship with Trump, should come as no surprise to our readers. We called out Trump’s intense (and secretive) distaste for Bibi way ahead of time.
2 - While American jets cross the Atlantic
This coincided with the sight of large numbers of American B-2 bombers, fighter jets and refuelling planes flying across the Atlantic into the Middle East.
Alongside the usual red flag: the Papa John’s near the Pentagon reporting an unusually high amount of traffic.