- Reaction score
- 12,199
- Points
- 1,160
Turkey and Saudi Arabia taking shelter under Pakistan's nuclear umbrella.
And staying in NATO
And signing Abraham Accords
"The real story is about how security is being bought and sold in the Middle East now—less as a single umbrella and more as a layered portfolio. Clause by clause. Corridor by corridor. And with commercial logic quietly stitched into the seams.
"Because in 2026, security is not only decided by treaties. It is also decided by financing, co-production, logistics, and the procurement decisions that follow the politics like a shadow."
Three Dimensions
Dimension 1: Political Signaling vs. Operational Integration
A collective-defense clause is not a collective-defense capability. NATO's Article 5 is powerful because institutions back it: planning depth, interoperability standards, command integration, and seven decades of operational habit.
Dimension 2: The Defense-Industrial Channel
The pact's commercial logic matters more than its rhetorical framing. Reuters reported this month that discussions are underway to convert Saudi loans to Pakistan into military equipment packages.
Dimension 3: Deterrence Perception vs. Deterrence Reality
Pakistan brings something few countries can sell at scale: the perception of hard security capability—including nuclear overtones that exist in regional minds even when absent from treaty text.
.....
Interesting times
Especially when considered in association with events in Iran - and what looks like Pro Shah and Pro Israel crowds starting to outnumber Pro Hamas crowds in Toronto and LA.
Throw in a Pakistani "military coup" not favoured by the clerics associated with the Taliban and the Chinese backed ISI and the IRGC
Pakistan: Rift between military & Islamic cleric; Religious leader questions the unaccountable authority of Asim Munir
A major rift has erupted between the Pakistan military and the Islamic religious scholars of the country. A senior cleric has outrightly questioned the unhindered and unaccountable powers rendered to the military leader Asim Munir as per the 27th constitutional amendment. The cleric asserted...
www.vsktelangana.org
Sibce 1947, as in Turkey since 1922, the military has been the modern force that countered the clerics. Sometimes up. Sometimes down.
In this latest enterprise the Chief of Defence Staff has engineered himself lifetime immunity, much to the chagrin of the clerics. Immediately he has started engineering deals.
Saudi, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, LIbya....
All of those countries have traditions of western friendly militaries.
In Munir's case it appears that he is willing to clear old stock from his armouries and lend his armies and nuclear option to associated nations in return for foreign investment.
....
And on the sidelines and of importance to the Turks, Syrians, Iraqis and Iranians
Rumours of local Kurds in Iran securing the towns of Abdanan and Malekshahi in NW Iran, adjacent to the borders of Kurdish Turkey, Kurdish Syria and Kurdish Iraq.
Other rumours suggest that Iraqi Kurds have crossed the border in support of the locals.
Other rumours suggest that a lot of Kurds have been burnt too many times and are waiting to see.
But
Syrian government forces are still at odds with the Syrian Kurds with claims they hold the Kurdish bases and the Kurds claiming otherwise.
Meanwhile
US strikes in Syria against Islamic State - previously associated with Hamas, Hezbollah and the Ayatollahs
Syria's government currently led by an ex al-Qaeda member who has supported the US strikes against ISIS
But Syria's government is also fighting against Syrian Kurds.
The government is backed by Turkey against the Kurds and America against ISIS while it appears the Iranian rebels are on feiendly terms with the US and Israel.
WTF?
US military strikes Islamic State group targets in Syria, officials say
US President Donald Trump ordered the "large-scale strikes" on Saturday, US Central Command announced.
www.bbc.com
And
