Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, March 17, 2026 As the Iran War enters its third week of largely aerial and seaborne combat, there’s laser-like focus on the Straits of Hormuz and the wider Persian Gulf. Iran quite predictably has closed the narrow sea-lane to shipping and thus jolted oil markets from the Middle […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, March 10, 2026 LONDON — Just a year ago, Sir Kier Starmer, Britain’s Prime Minister was being hailed as a statesman for having defused a nasty political dustup between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky over Ukraine policy. A White House showdown threatened to derail American support for beleaguered […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, March 2, 2026 Darkness at Noon has shrouded Iran for nearly half a century. The Islamic Republic of Iran has tried, and somewhat successfully, to turn back the clock in the once secular and prosperous nation. It has since ruined the economy, disenfranchised women, supported terrorist proxies, and […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, February 25, 2026 Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s speech “hit the ball out of the park” during the recent Munich Security Conference in Germany. The address provided a policy tour de force which recalled the Cold War, post-communist history and then seamlessly blended the topic into a cohesive […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, February 16, 2026 A massive political tsunami swept across the Japanese islands as recent national elections scored a resounding electoral win for the incumbent political party and its maverick leader Sanae Takaichi. Though the outcome was assumed, her stunning triumph was not expected. The snap parliamentary elections reflected […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, February 9, 2026 Set amid the spectacular Alpine scenery and historic towns of northern Italy, the XXV Winter Olympics have opened in Milan/Cortina. The two week event hosting 90 teams and some 2,900 athletes are competing in sporting events from the traditional downhill skiing, snowboard, speed skating to […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, February 2, 2026 Strange and mysterious events are transpiring inside the walls of Beijing’s Forbidden City. In the massive nearby government compound Zhongnanhai there’s a clear unease as Communist Party Chief and military supremo Xi Jinping has shuffled the political cards in the powerful Central Military Commission, by […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, January 26, 2026 Location, Location, Location. Whether in real estate or international politics, the physical location of a particular property, country or sea-lane plays into its geopolitical importance. From Manhattan to Miami, from Singapore to Suez and Gibraltar to Greenland, so much is determined by the location and […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, January 20, 2026 We cannot look the other way to the unfolding crisis in Iran. Blood has run in the streets of Teheran and provincial cities as the Islamic regime has turned its vengeance on its own people. Thousands have died in this predictable but avoidable carnage. And […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, January 13, 2026 Global economic growth continues but at a more moderate pace. That’s the verdict from the UN’s World Economic Situation and Prospects 2026 which predicts that global economic output will grow by 2.7 percent this year, or slightly below the 2.8 percent estimated for 2025 but […]
