The triumphant roar of US midterm voters was a rallying cry of democratic defiance that, echoing the American revolution of 250 years ago, reverberated around the globe.
People in the many countries that suffered pain, loss and cruel indignities at the hands of Donald Trump over the past two chaotic, fearful years celebrated a moment of glorious, shared redemption.
The war in Iran, which started as a reckless gamble on the part of Trump, has developed into a significant strategic defeat for US imperialism. The mandate in mid-term polls has made things worse for Washington.
The White House is now a symbol of weakness both domestically and globally.
All these would have significant consequences for the world economy, the position of America as a world power, and world relations in general.
Trump's authoritarian style was like a "monster" at the global theatre.
It’s clear Trump is now weaker internationally as well as domestically.
Despite his fanciful denials and contemptible attempts to shift blame, the sweeping Democratic successes represented an unmistakably personal repudiation. For foreign friends and allies, as for many Americans, the miasma of menace, the aura of invincibility surrounding Trump since 2024, has been blown away at last.
In a self-flagellating act of egotism that ignored his rock-bottom approval ratings, he asked voters to pretend he was on the ballot.
They obliged in huge numbers – and, acting as proxies for democrats the world over, offered him a tumescent middle finger.
"Paradoxically, Trump’s weakness could hasten a ceasefire. Putin, beset by battlefield failures and deepening economic problems, knows his best chance of a face-saving outcome is to cut a deal while Trump remains in office. Herein lies grave danger for Ukraine and its allies.
Trump’s amateurish negotiators may redouble their push for territorial and other concessions from Kyiv," says an article in 'The Guardian'.
Since 27 February, the US and Israel have carried out over 24,000 strikes on military, civilian and infrastructure targets in Iran.
Still, Iran has not been forced to give up its nuclear enrichment programme. It remains able to launch missiles and drones and hit targets in Israel and in the Gulf countries. It has maintained close links with its allies in the region – mainly Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Shia militias in Iraq. And the regime is not only in place but appears to be stronger and capable of commanding much greater popular support than at the beginning of the war.
In fact, Iran has not only proved resilient and able to absorb pain – for Tehran this is an existential war – but it has demonstrated its ability to inflict pain on its enemies and their allies, both in terms of strikes on military targets and infrastructure.
Attempts by Washington to cajole the European powers into reopening the Strait of Hormuz through military force were also a failure. Germany and France were not in the mood to carry out what would have amounted to a suicide mission.
Especially on behalf of an ‘ally’ who had gone out of his way to humiliate them a couple of months earlier by threatening to take over Greenland. Not even the usually slavish British prime minister was prepared to lend Trump a hand.
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