What is happening in the Middle East now is simply frightening. A region perpetually in the throes of violence is witnessing a new scale of devastation. How the US-Israel attack over Iran days before pans out, and where it will end up, it is too premature to make any near exact forecast about that. As the stability in the region is decidedly shaken, tremors will reach far and wide. And it won’t be just the surface that will feel it, it will impact the depths of many societies around the globe.  Right now we have seen Iran shaken in terms of the loss of its top leadership. Right now we are witnessing missiles and airstrikes in the entire region. It is not just the US and Israel bombing Tehran. It is Iran, on the other side, hitting the US bases across the region and also striking Israel. The videos of these strikes, the plumes of fire and smoke, the debris and the accompanied loss of lives is enough to tell a distant viewer what all it may be for those who are living in the region. That is the immediate impact.

What is next to get affected is the global trade, and thus the broader foundations of current economy. As the region holds key to oil supplies the economies across the globe are bound to receive shocks.

The even broader circle of impact is the global politics. One wonders, if things can come to this pass, what is left of it? Shall we write an obituary to the UN or even that is an act too small to capture the actual loss on this count. The way diplomacy was refused any role in deescalating the crisis, the way strikes on Iran were made while talks were reportedly underway, the way war rhetoric was unleashed in the most brazen way – all this suggests that brute power is the first and last judge in all these matters.

© Greater Kashmir