The dark clouds of a renewed conflict between the United States and Iran, complicated by the strategic imperatives of Israel, do not merely portend a regional skirmish. We are witnessing the assembly of a global catastrophe, a "baseless war" that threatens to engulf the modern economy and reshape the world in the image of destruction.

While the drums of war beat loudest in the halls of power in Washington, Tehran, and Jerusalem, the reverberations are felt most acutely by the common man, whose livelihood is being sacrificed at the altar of geopolitical ego and military-industrial profit.

At the heart of this escalating crisis lies what can only be described as a "Triangle of Self-Esteem Mongers." The United States, Iran, and Israel have entered into a symbiotic yet destructive dance, fuelled by nationalistic pride and the quest for regional hegemony. To the leadership of these three nations, the conflict is a high-stakes game of prestige; to the rest of the world, it is a descent into a living hell.

The irony of this triad is that the nations themselves—or rather, their political and military elites—rarely suffer the immediate brunt of the blockades or the economic fallout. They operate within a protected sphere of strategic reserves and high-level financial manoeuvres, while the global citizenry is left to navigate the wreckage of a fractured supply chain and a soaring cost of living.

The economic mechanisms of this war are particularly cynical. One........

© The Friday Times