The Backchannel

The Foreign Minister says they have no hesitation about giving their lives. He means the people's lives. Not his own. There might be a soft coup by IRGC against the theocracy, but the regime will survive. Here are the signs, and what comes next. A full update. 🧵⬇️ (1/10)

Co-prosperity is coming 🤣

Might have to draw upon my strategic reserves.

2026 so far: 🇻🇪 US military kidnaps a sitting president (Maduro, Jan 3) ☢️ Last US-Russia nuclear arms treaty expires with no replacement (Feb 5) 🇮🇷 US & Israel launch airstrikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Khamenei (Feb 28) 🇦🇫🇵🇰 Afghanistan & Pakistan also at war simultaneously 🇨🇩 Rwanda effectively annexes eastern Congo through rebel proxies 🇺🇦 Ukraine war grinds into year 4 with no end in sight 🇸🇩 Sudan's civil war quietly becomes one of history's worst humanitarian disasters 🌍 USAID gutted — 22M+ lives at risk by 2030 per estimates 86 days in.

A Turkish tanker named ALTURA, possibly loaded with Russian crude oil, was attacked with Kamikaze drones in the Black Sea, 15 miles off the Istanbul Strait.

The #1 foreign policy decision in American history was a cheque. Not a missile. Not a tariff. Not a threat. A cheque — sent to rubble — that rebuilt the world. America used to know this. Somewhere, it forgot. Follow @The_Backchannel for more context the headlines miss. 🔗

#1: The Marshall Plan 1948. Europe was rubble. The 1947 harvest was the worst since the 19th century. Communist parties were gaining ground. The US had already won the war. It could have gone home. Instead: $13 billion. 16 countries. Including former enemies. The logic? Win the peace, or the war meant nothing. The greatest foreign policy decision in American history wasn't a weapon. It was a cheque.

As the US wages war on Iran & dismantles every institution it created — History already has a verdict Historians at @CFR_org ranked the 10 greatest foreign policy decisions America ever made Every. Single. One. Is the opposite of what's happening right now A Thread 🧵👇

@Ahlawat2012 Certainly. US is too agitated, too disgraced to back down now. They won't go down without having won significant narrative victory. Escalate to deescalate is the mantra.

Reading of the tea leaves 🍃 I anticipate significant escalation before de escalation. Ground forces, uptick in air delivered munitions, expanded targeting, diplomatic maneuvers. The side that wins won't be the side that lands more punches, but the side that stays in the ring. Let's see.

@nitingokhale The narrative, cyber, or electromagnetic warfare in general, must be treated as “always on”, with constant presence across escalation levels, reflecting a persistent battlespace rather than a discrete tool.

What does modern warfare actually look like and why can't we see it? I break down how governments, militaries, and media systems work together and against each other to control the flow of information during active conflict. Drawing on my own reporting from various conflict zones, I explain why the battle for the narrative begins before the first missile is launched, and how "cognitive warfare" has become as decisive as firepower. From Iran's internet blackout and Israel's reporting restrictions to Dubai influencers flipping their narratives overnight, I map the information landscape of the current West Asia conflict. I also examine the lessons for India and Pakistan following last year's Operation Sindoor, where citizen-captured footage and deepfakes simultaneously shaped and distorted public perception in real time. This is a must-watch for anyone trying to make sense of what they see on their screens or, crucially, what they don't see. How do you tell fact from fiction when every side controls the frame? The answers are perhaps more unsettling and urgent than most news coverage suggests. youtu.be/VVW258m-Gec?si…

@InsightGL As far as talent in AI talent in concerned, India has scale. In the new AI world, We're better off than all of the 3rd world and even most of the west.

-#India leads global AI adoption at 92%, the highest rate among surveyed countries -Many Global South economies—including India, Brazil & South Africa are adopting AI faster than many developed nations -Last I heard, some people within India were sadly making fun of AI Summit hosted by India #ArtificialIntelligence

@aravind Ground war is a strategic disaster dressed as an option. Special ops are too risky, coastal seizures too costly to hold, full invasion is Iraq × 10. The US needs a victory, but Iran only needs tomorrow.

The UAE, Saudi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, even Qatar now have same feelings about the Iranian regime. They are all prodding the US to go for the kill. And we thought it was only Israel. Many people were mocking me, when I pointed the obvious that the US has full GCC support, and telling me that the middle east countries will ditch the US and dump the dollar. As programmed by a China run propaganda. Even now they are being told by the GLISCO propaganda, on the mainstream media they read, that Israel & ME countries are prodding the US to fight Iran to weaken the US and then ditch it. As if the US is so silly and naive. People can keep believing whatever gives them mental satisfaction. But I can tell one thing - communist propaganda can have a great grip until truth comes calling in hard ways. For Indians, we saw this after Galwan, we saw this after OpSindoor. Take it from me: if the US really goes for the kill, with boots on the ground, supported by the entire middle east (as it is already now) and Israel, the US and its control of the world's systems and resources will only become stronger. No matter how it is twisted and spun around.