Englund

Annika Ström Melin: Sluta hymla om att Sveriges riksdag inte är landets enda lagstiftare. QMV (Qualified Majority Voting)  QMV (Qualified Majority Voting) is the standard voting method used by the Council of the European Union for approximately 80% of all legislation. https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2025/12/meloni-ryska-pengar-till-ukraina.html China buys around 90% of Iran’s oil  Blacklisting Chinese companies risks opening a new economic confrontation with Beijing. Doing so now would fracture US-China ties just weeks before Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to meet in September. Asked directly about hitting China with new economic measures on Monday, Bessent said “no one is above the reach of US sanctions” but that he preferred “quiet diplomacy,” adding “we’re not going to name names.” Bloomberg 25 August 2026 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-25/trump-s-iran-pivot-from-war-to-sanctions-will-hit-china-or-fail Reports that the Treasury Department ...

  In the last few decades of the 20th century, the go-to geopolitical board game for many teenagers was Risk . It is like playing the Great Game, as the 19th-century contest for Central Asia was known. The Great Game was a rivalry between the 19th-century British and Russian empires over influence in Central Asia, primarily in Afghanistan, Persia, and Tibet.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Game It is time for an update. Why does the game not include nuclear-armed Pakistan? The case for Pakistan’s elevation to the Risk board has no moral dimension. Its semi-feudal military-led political class has misruled for much of the country’s existence. The wildly popular opposition leader, Imran Khan is in prison. https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2026/08/10-juli-iran-has-demanded-us-30y-japan.html The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, as the new pact is known, is the latest in a diplomatic pas de deux by Pakistan’s de facto leader, Field Marshal Asim Munir, https://englundmacro.blogspo...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was the first to announce in a social-media post this week that the US and Iran had struck a truce now known as the “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.” Sharif and Pakistani military chief Asim Munir emerged as central figures in the conflict’s drama  Bloomberg 20 June 2026 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-20/pakistan-brokers-us-iran-peace-deal-boosting-its-global-status

  Ett samförståndsavtal mellan USA och Iran kan komma att skrivas under i Genève i Schweiz, på söndag. Det uppger tre källor för CNN. Enligt källorna kallas dokumentet informellt ”Islamabaddeklarationen”, med hänvisning till Pakistans roll som medlare de senaste månaderna. Genève uppges vara huvudspåret som plats, men inget är formellt beslutat. Trump deltar nästa vecka i G7-mötet i franska Evian vid Genèvesjön. https://www.svt.se/nyheter/utrikes/senaste-nytt-om-iran-och-konflikten-med-usa-och-israel The agreement: An interim deal between the US and Iran would extend the ceasefire, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and pave the way for talks on Iran’s nuclear program, a diplomatic source told CNN. The source said the two sides agreed on the text of the memorandum of understanding, but it has yet to receive final signoff. Possible signing soon: A signing ceremony would most likely be held in Geneva, Switzerland, sources say — and it could take place as early as Sunday.  https://edit...

Persian Gulf nations and Pakistan  are working to transform a fragile truce in the Iran war into a permanent peace deal, with US President Donald Trump signaling that the conflict may end soon. A lasting peace deal has remained elusive, keeping global energy markets on edge and oil prices elevated, with the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia appealing to Trump to allow more time for negotiations. Bloomberg 23 May 2026 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-23/iran-peace-deal-push-intensifies-as-fragile-ceasefire-holds Pakistan’s powerful military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir arrived in Tehran on Friday. Washington’s Gulf allies, which have borne the brunt of Tehran’s attacks, fear that a resumption of US-Israeli strikes would cause Iran to retaliate by striking them and exacerbate the worst global energy crisis in decades. Iran’s demands for a deal include the lifting of US sanctions, an end to the war “on all fronts” — a reference to Israeli strikes in Lebano...

Iran holds the trump card   The last pre-war shipments are arriving in Europe, if they have not already been sucked away by desperate Asian buyers willing to pay higher prices. All Tehran must do is survive for another few months and wait for the oil crunch to really bite. It would take at least 200,000 US ground troops and months of fighting to secure the long Iranian coastline and knock out the remaining missile launchers and drone units hidden in the mountains. US navy is now expected to board and seize Chinese-flagged ships, constituting a direct attack on China’s energy supply chain. This is arguably an act of war – “the law of the jungle”, as Xi Jinping put it on Tuesday morning.  “We will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress or subjugate us. Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on collision force with a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people,” he said. The world market for physical oil is already under extreme str...

Vance US and Iranian delegations are set to meet in Pakistan on Saturday. More U.S. Forces Deploy to Middle East https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/iran-war-latest-news-israel-us-lebanon-2026/card/more-u-s-forces-deploy-to-middle-east-aCya5kNVTR0CsBVX0Z3v Uppgifter: Framsteg i fredssamtal mellan Ukraina och Ryssland ”De förstår alla att kriget måste ta slut. Det är därför de förhandlar. Jag tror inte att det kommer dröja länge”, säger Ukrainas högsta förhandlare Kyrylo Budanov till Bloomberg.  Han poängterar att inga slutgiltiga beslut har fattat. ”Men i princip förstår alla nu tydligt gränserna för vad som är acceptabelt. Det är enorma framsteg”, säger han.  Det framgår inte varför Bloomberg publicerar intervjun först nu, sex dagar efter att den gjordes.  DI 10 april 2026, 11:47 https://www.di.se/live/uppgifter-framsteg-i-fredssamtal-mellan-ukraina-och-ryssland/ ”Fomo” lyfter börsen Om Stockholmbörsens muntra humör håller i sig blir det första fredagen sedan krigsutbrottet...

Iran Is Winning the Battle of Hormuz Tehran is using force to gain control over traffic through the Strait. The Editorial Board Wall Street Journal 28 June 2026 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/iran-is-winning-the-battle-of-hormuz-f0610f99 Marknaden förefaller i det närmaste hjärndöd. Fortsatt oro i Mellanöstern lyckades inte skaka New York-börserna Breda S&P 500 avancerade 2,5 procent, samtidigt steg Dow Jones industriindex med 2,9 procent medan tekniktunga Nasdaq kompositindex klättrade 2,8 procent.  Wall Streets så kallade skräckindex VIX var nere på sina lägstanivåer sedan kriget i Mellanöstern bröt ut https://www.di.se/live/fortsatt-oro-i-mellanostern-lyckades-inte-skaka-new-york-borserna/ Mid 7.000, det är 7.500 We will remember. Iran stänger Hormuzsundet som svar på israeliska attacker mot Libanon, rapporterar AP med hänvisning till iranska statliga medier. Vita huset kallar draget både ”oacceptabelt” och ”falskt” men står svarslöst inför frågan; vem kontrollerar sundet? DI 8...