In this urgent episode of The Silk and Steel Podcast, host Carl Zha is joined once again by Einar Tangen (Senior Fellow at CIGI) to dissect the catastrophic Iran war that is now spinning completely out of control.
The situation has deteriorated dramatically:
- The US has now deployed 17,000 additional ground troops to the region – with 50,000 already in the Middle East
- Iran has blinded the US military by destroying radar systems for THAAD missile defenses
- The US has lost three E-3 Sentry AWACS planes – the "eyes, ears, and brains" of American air power
- Iran is now charging a toll in Chinese yuan for any ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz
- Trump is reportedly considering sending special forces to extract Iran's nuclear material – a mission impossible fantasy
- The Epstein files continue to leak, and this war appears to be a massive distraction
We break down:
- Why 17,000 troops is not a bluff – this is how Vietnam started
- The difference between sweet crude and heavy crude – and why the US can't just sell its way out of this crisis
- How 20% of the world's natural gas from Qatar is offline – and what that means for fertilizer and food
- The desalination time bomb: Gulf countries are 90% dependent on these plants – one attack and millions flee
- Why China is prepared (1.2-1.4 billion barrels in strategic reserves, coal, nuclear, fusion) and the US is not
- The Pakistan-China peace proposal – and why it includes "no attacks during negotiations" (because the US can't be trusted)
- How Trump is manipulating markets every Monday and Friday – and why he's doing it
- The Palantir connection: Peter Thiel, the "dark enlightenment," and why Iran is targeting AI data centers
Plus: The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the difference between fusion and fission, and why the world may be heading toward a Westphalian peace – but not anytime soon.
Einar Tangen is a Senior Fellow at CIGI. Follow his work at Asian Narratives on Substack.
