Trump’s Genius Has United Iran and Russia On A Corridor That Rivals Suez

The residue of Donald Trump’s strategic actions are still driving global projects that leave democratic interests behind, in this case a railway project in the oil-rich Middle East that greatly enriches Russia and Iran.

The man who never ran a successful business in his life and who is the laughing-stock of world leaders has in fact accomplished two disasters. He made an unnecessary enemy out of Iran; Trump drove the country into Russia’s arms to complete a rail transit link that would run all the way from the Baltic Ocean to the Persian Gulf. And he arguably triggered Putin’s invasion of Ukraine by back-door conversations with Putin that led him to believe America was OK with a Russian take-over.

Through the rail project the Arabic states of the area, plus India, could use the Russian-backed train corridor to reduce their dependence on the Suez Canal. If this were a world of democracies the project would be commendable, but as it now stands, we are trying to extinguish the last flames of autocracy (essentially Russia and China), so the rail project falls into the “not good” category. The point is not that this project is bad, but that it could have been under the control of the democratic West, in the manner of the new project from Joe Biden (see the reference below to the EU’s limitations on India’s refined oil products that are based on Russian oil).

Trump’s diplomatic genius has created an “artery of enmity” for Russian trade.

Before we get into the mechanics of this very short but critical rail link, let us consider what Trump did to make Iran an enemy instead of an ally — an ally with potential. Know all those drones that Iran is sending to Russia? Here’s why they are doing it…

One of Trump’s first moves in office was to undermine the entire Islamic relationship by banning immigration from six Muslim-majority nations for three months and halting the refugee program for four months. It was straight out of the Klu Klux Klan playbook. The Christian nationalists were thrilled. But he alienated the Muslim communities not only within the United States but also around the world, damaging critical relationships with national security…