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The flames of war flared up in the Middle East: Trump’s adventures and Gulf contradictions have brought the world to a dangerous turning point
(Special Report: Journalist Malik Sarfaraz Hussain Awan) The Middle East is currently sitting on the worst and most dangerous gunpowder pile in history, where even a small spark can turn the peace and economy of the entire world into a pile of ashes. Donald Trump’s unpredictable foreign policy and American adventures in the Gulf region have so badly disturbed the traditional balance of the region that the flames of war are now crossing the borders and reaching the safest havens of the Gulf countries. The dramatic military and diplomatic developments in recent hours are clear evidence that this crisis is no longer just a regional conflict, but has emerged as a deadly poison for the global economy and security. The biggest and most horrific news has come from the United Arab Emirates, where the UAE Ministry of Defense has officially confirmed that its advanced air defense system destroyed 16 ballistic missiles and 42 drones launched by Iran in the air. Iran has mainly targeted industrial and military areas in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Although the air defense prevented a major disaster by thwarting this major attack, debris and direct attacks have still caused heavy explosions in densely populated areas of Dubai and industrial zones in Abu Dhabi. Iran has specifically targeted the aluminum industry, damaging the Emirates Global Aluminum plant in Abu Dhabi and injuring employees working there. According to the Ministry of Defense, so far, two UAE military personnel, a Moroccan contractor working for the military, and eight civilians from Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Palestine, and India have been killed in these attacks, while a total of 178 people from different countries have been injured. The decision of Yemen’s Houthi rebels to enter regular war has added fuel to the fire. Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree confirmed in his official statement that they have fired drones, including ballistic and cruise missiles, targeting Israel’s southern and sensitive military sites. This move by the Houthis will expand the scope of this war to the strategic routes of the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab. About 12 percent of the world’s trade passes through these sea routes. If the Houthis start targeting global shipping like in the past, the international energy market and supply chain will be completely paralyzed, resulting in exorbitant inflation and economic collapse on a global scale. If we look behind the scenes of all these serious military adventures, the biggest root is the open contradiction and double standards of the US Gulf policy. On the one hand, the US sings the tune of peace and security in the Middle East, and on the other hand, it keeps the region in a state of constant instability to protect its own economic and military interests. Due to this expediency, the Gulf countries are now realizing that the US umbrella is no longer a guarantee of their complete protection, and shells and missiles are now raining down on their own territory in the war for US interests. On the other hand, Israel and the US have not sat silent either. The Israeli Air Force has targeted and destroyed the Iranian Ministry of Defense factory in Tehran, which was manufacturing parts for ballistic missiles. In addition, Iran’s largest steel plants in Isfahan and Ahvaz have been bombed. The US Pentagon and the Israeli military are jointly targeting Iran’s defense and industrial infrastructure, and the US Air Force has carried out heavy bombing of Iranian coastal cities and naval installations near the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours in an attempt to cut off Iran’s supply line. In view of this extremely worrying and terrifying situation, a very important four-nation emergency meeting has begun in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey are sitting together in Islamabad to find a middle way to reduce the dangerous tension in the Middle East. Pakistan is currently trying to play the role of a bridge between the US and Iran through back-channel diplomacy, because Islamabad knows very well that if the fire of war spreads further in the Gulf and the Middle East, its heat will directly burn Pakistan’s fragile economy and energy needs to ashes. The bottom line is that Donald Trump's personal adventures and the US administration's contradictory Gulf policies are now becoming unbearable for the world. This contradiction is a stain on the forehead of the global economy and peace that is gradually pushing the entire world towards a great war. Now is the time for the international community to abandon its traditional silence and expediency and raise its voice against these contradictions, otherwise history is a witness that when economic and political greed exceeds limits, then nothing but destruction is achieved.
By Malik Sarfraz Hussain Awan2 days ago in Journal
The Cost of Global Hegemony: An Analytical Study of Human Costs Since 1492. AI-Generated.
The story began in 1499 when an Italian explorer set foot on the continent that we now call America. This so-called discovery proved to be a great human tragedy for the original inhabitants, as the ruthlessness with which indigenous civilizations were wiped out in the struggle for resources is a sad chapter in history. The foundation of the American continent was laid on the desecration of innocent people who were targeted simply because they were an obstacle to the economic goals of the colonial powers. During various periods of European colonialism, millions of indigenous people living there were eliminated through forced evictions and systematic operations in order to lay the foundation for a new state. When independence was declared in 1776, its benefits were limited to a select few, while for the indigenous population and the millions of people who were forcibly brought in, these chains became even tighter. The policies adopted by the American state to expand its borders wiped out every nation and civilization in its path. From the beginning of the twentieth century, this state began to go beyond its borders and intervene from the Philippines to Cuba, the sole purpose of which was to protect its economic interests. At the end of World War II, when the world was looking for peace, the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki proved that any human limit can be crossed in the pursuit of power. This was the turning point from which this state established its role on the global stage, which plunged the world into the fire of constant conflict. In the name of the Cold War, the entire world was divided and dozens of countries were turned into laboratories. More than three million human lives were lost in the Korean War, while the operations that continued for fifteen years in Vietnam not only targeted humans but also devastated the land there with toxic chemicals. Behind all these measures lies the interest of the arms manufacturing industries, which can only thrive in the event of confrontation. This is why, in the last eight decades, there has hardly been a year when this state has not been directly or indirectly engaging in some kind of adventure in some region. These attacks have always been presented in the attractive words of “democracy and freedom” to appease the global conscience, but now it is time to bring the facts to the world that this system itself has become the biggest challenge to world peace.
By Malik Sarfraz Hussain Awan11 days ago in Journal
Five Tell-Tale Signs You Are Getting Older
One Sunday morning, I was sitting outside of Church with my grandfather-in-law. As we watched my teenagers make their way out of the building, the conversation moved to how big they had gotten. I turned to him and mentioned how fast things go.
By Matt Reicher16 days ago in Journal
Deserts of Silence: Bangladeshi Women Trapped in Libya’s Torture Market
By Tuhin Sarwar | March 14, 2026 The arid deserts of Libya and the vast, restless Mediterranean conceal a world of horror where Bangladeshi women are treated as mere commodities. Dreams of Europe fade under the weight of exploitation, with 14-year-old girls facing systematic gang rape, and desperate women forced to trade their bodies for a single glass of clean water. This normalized “business model” of sexual slavery has persisted, unchecked, over the last five years, leaving thousands of lives scarred and countless graves unmarked.
By Tuhin Sarwar18 days ago in Journal
Libya’s Migrant Trap: Sexual Violence, Detention and the Politics of Return
By Tuhin Sarwar | Investigative Journalist । 13 March 2026 । A Journey That Turned into a Prison Marie, a mother from Cameroon, embarked on her journey to Europe with hope and determination. She believed the Sahara Desert would be her greatest challenge. Yet, upon reaching Libya, she encountered a far more harrowing reality: systemic detention, sexual violence, and ransom extortion. Multiple arrests in centres near Tripoli and Zawiya exposed her and her daughter to armed guards and nightly abductions. (Tuhin Sarwar Journalist)
By Tuhin Sarwar19 days ago in Journal
The Empty Locker
I didn’t know his name at first. I only knew the silence. It was a Tuesday in October. The high school hallway buzzed with its usual chaos—backpacks slamming, laughter echoing, sneakers squeaking on linoleum. But one locker stayed shut. No one leaned against it. No one dropped off homework. Just a quiet space where a boy should have been.
By KAMRAN AHMAD29 days ago in Journal
The Suitcase in the Hallway
I didn’t pack lightly. The suitcase sat by the door for three days—half-full, then overflowing, then emptied again. I kept adding things I thought I’d need: my favorite coffee mug, the photo from last summer, the sweater that still smelled like home. Then I’d take them out, convinced they were too heavy, too sentimental, too much.
By KAMRAN AHMAD29 days ago in Journal
The Couple We All Watched Grow Up
I didn’t know them. But I felt like I did. For over a decade, they were part of my life—not as celebrities, but as characters in a story I watched unfold in real time. I saw them at seventeen, awkward and bright-eyed on red carpets, fumbling through interviews, hiding smiles behind their hands. I saw them navigate fame, heartbreak, and the slow, steady work of becoming adults—all while the world watched, judged, and claimed ownership of their journey.
By KAMRAN AHMAD29 days ago in Journal
