Break from fiction to write a word or two about current events. Who knows where it’s headed but it seems to me that massive shifts are underway in the makeup of global power and alliances. Russia is working hard to re-establish its independent status as a superpower or at least a regional power that answers to only Russian interests. Caliph Ibrahim (or as I call him, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – his mama called him Abu, his daddy called him Abu, I’m going to call him Abu)… where was I? Oh yeah, Abu is doing his best to re-create a 15th century pan-Muslim empire. The Ottomans would be jealous.
What does it all mean?
Like I said, who knows? But my guess is that we may not need to worry about major terrorist attacks in the U.S. for a while because the jihadists will be focused on each other. That could mean, though, that we might need to worry about smaller scale terror as some faction or other tries to draw the west into the conflict because they are losing.
Of course Russian strength and influence could end up being a good thing. The Russians have no use for jihadists and would probably tend to supporter states over jihadists. Of course, Russia could also have an interest in supporting terror as a way to draw the west into a quagmire, this taking the focus off their empire building efforts.
I had my first and only political science course as a senior at Rose-Hulman in 1991. Remember 1991? Major geopolitical shifts involving Russia and the Middle East. It was fun to have that class at that time. Maybe I should take my second political science course during what I believe will be the second major geopolitical shift of my lifetime involving Russia and the Middle East.