Empire in Collapse: What the Gulf War Teaches Europe
The war with Iran destroys US bases, challenges the petrodollar and leaves Israel on the brink of collapse. Lessons for a Europe with no defenses or currency of its own.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The Gulf as a mirror: what the war with Iran reveals about the end of the Western order
When Iranian hypersonic missiles swept through US bases in the Gulf within days, the message was not just for Washington. It was for Brussels, for Madrid, for every European capital hosting a NATO base. The lightning war in the Persian Gulf —which has left 13 American soldiers dead and more than 200 wounded— has shown that no Western military installation is safe from an attack using Russian and Chinese technology. But the deepest lesson is not military: it is financial.
The petrodollar wobbles: the yuan slips into Hormuz
Iran has not only closed the Strait of Hormuz: it has imposed the yuan as the payment currency for any vessel wishing to cross it. The petrodollar's exclusivity as the world's reserve currency is being broken not by decree, but by the force of facts. When the currency that finances the US deficit is no longer the only option for buying energy, Washington's power crumbles from its foundations. The war is the symptom; the monetary reconfiguration is the cause.
Israel's collapse: a warning for Europe
Israel is fighting on five fronts simultaneously and its army is short between 12,000 and 15,000 soldiers. Its own Chief of Staff has warned of an imminent "collapse." Meanwhile, Netanyahu declares that Iran is no longer an existential threat —just as Trump announces a rapid withdrawal. The paradox is that the Jewish state, propped up by America's war machine, is crumbling under its own military overextension. Europe should take note: depending on an empire in retreat is the surest path to irrelevance.
The American pullback and the new tripolar order
Trump is mulling confiscating Iranian uranium and leaving. The United States is retreating to its own continent, to squeeze its backyard (Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico). The rest of the world —Europe included— falls under the influence of Russia and China. The future taking shape is tripolar, with autonomous zones. Europe, with no resources of its own and no strategic will, risks becoming a mere geopolitical theme park.
The question nobody answers is how long Europe can keep financing its security with debt denominated in dollars while the petrodollar fades away. The Gulf war has been a dress rehearsal. The main stage is in Ukraine, in Taiwan, in the Arctic. And Europe still has no script.
Related discussions in the forum
When Iranian hypersonic missiles swept through US bases in the Gulf within days, the message was not just for Washington. It was for Brussels, for Madrid, for every European capital hosting a NATO base. The lightning war in the Persian Gulf —which has left 13 American soldiers dead and more than 200 wounded— has shown that no Western military installation is safe from an attack using Russian and Chinese technology. But the deepest lesson is not military: it is financial.
The petrodollar wobbles: the yuan slips into Hormuz
Iran has not only closed the Strait of Hormuz: it has imposed the yuan as the payment currency for any vessel wishing to cross it. The petrodollar's exclusivity as the world's reserve currency is being broken not by decree, but by the force of facts. When the currency that finances the US deficit is no longer the only option for buying energy, Washington's power crumbles from its foundations. The war is the symptom; the monetary reconfiguration is the cause.
Israel's collapse: a warning for Europe
Israel is fighting on five fronts simultaneously and its army is short between 12,000 and 15,000 soldiers. Its own Chief of Staff has warned of an imminent "collapse." Meanwhile, Netanyahu declares that Iran is no longer an existential threat —just as Trump announces a rapid withdrawal. The paradox is that the Jewish state, propped up by America's war machine, is crumbling under its own military overextension. Europe should take note: depending on an empire in retreat is the surest path to irrelevance.
The American pullback and the new tripolar order
Trump is mulling confiscating Iranian uranium and leaving. The United States is retreating to its own continent, to squeeze its backyard (Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico). The rest of the world —Europe included— falls under the influence of Russia and China. The future taking shape is tripolar, with autonomous zones. Europe, with no resources of its own and no strategic will, risks becoming a mere geopolitical theme park.
The question nobody answers is how long Europe can keep financing its security with debt denominated in dollars while the petrodollar fades away. The Gulf war has been a dress rehearsal. The main stage is in Ukraine, in Taiwan, in the Arctic. And Europe still has no script.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (39 replies).
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