The Trump Regime proves again to be the single largest danger to humanity’s future

Here is Trump’s disturbing 8-min speech with an analysis of all the classical psycho-political delusions, hubris, arrogance and the blindness of military power. It can only go wrong now…

Jan Oberg, TFF director

February 28, 2026

There were only two things that surprised me – and would have been fitting – namely that he had been dressed in military battle uniform (I predict that, as Supreme Commander, he will soon show up in that), and that he did not argue that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize even more for what he has now announced.

That said, here is how you speak when you are a danger to the world:

WE ARE THREATENED BY EVIL ITSELF
You accuse Iran of being a threat to the American people
 – while the US itself is the biggest military power on earth and has surrounded Iran, not the other way around. Only an insane mind would see Iran as capable of attacking the US homeland or occupy it or, for instance, conduct a regime shift in Washington.

WE ARE VICTIMISED
You present yourself as a victim 
– Trump gave examples of how Iran has (allegedly) killed US militaries who were deployed illegally abroad, for instance in Syria. He omits the US killings of Iranian – civilians and militaries – for instance, his own liquidation of General Soleimani.

WE ARE INNOCENT
You play innocent, we never did anything wrong
 – not a word, of course you may say, about US harassment of Iran for decades, the US/British coup against the first democratically elected Iranian leader in 1953, the support to the ruthless Shah, giving Israel nuclear weapons; not a word about the US economic sanctions since 1979.

WE ARE EXCEPTIONAL
We can do what others cannot do because we are exceptionally good
 – we will never allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons (an invented event anyhow) while we never mention Israel’s nukes or our own. Since we are the – exceptionally – good guys and they are the bad guys, that is morally defensible. They can never have what we have and what we threaten them with. The same applies to long-range missiles. We have plenty of them, but Iran cannot have it – we threaten no one, but Iran does. Since we are exceptional, international law does not apply to us.

WE ARE SUPERIOR & INVINCIBLE
We have the raw power to humiliate and beat them into submission
 – a God-given right to humiliate and defeat others, and we do it to achieve our exceptionally noble goals. Our military is second to none, and no one should ever challenge us. If you do, we promise total destruction. Because we can.

WE DICTATE THE RULES OF THE GAME, NO COMPROMISE
We set the conditions, the rules of the game
 – you morally and otherwise weak Iranian military have to either surrender or face death. You are a bunch of killers, we provide freedom to all Iranians and sacrifice our own servicement for this – “noble” mission. Conspicuously, Trump did not mention the ongoing negotiations which we must assume now served only to win time to get the US military in place.

WE DO HARD REGIME CHANGE AND DON’T CARE ABOUT THE UNITED NATIONS OR INTERNATIONAL LAW.
We generously sacrifice to liberate you because you asked us for our help – you, the fantastic Iranians, and we know that 100% of you hate your leaders, so what could be more right and noble for the US but to hear your call? Norms and ethics are long out of the US window.

GOD IS ON OUR SIDE
Perhaps it is a ritual but rounding off this speech with “God save…” means exactly that.
In contrast to, say, the European leaders, Trump propagates Christianity as he goes to war. That is significant since the US is constantly at war with presumed inferior Muslim countries. If he can appeal to God to save American lives, he probably feels that he has a nice backup and confirmation from up above – and American love that in God’s own country. Fortunately, we cannot know what God thinks about Trump and US policies, but we can imagine various interpretations…

IN SUMMARY
These are classical psycho-political elements of militarism/fascism operators legitimating going to war – absolutely nothing new. Also no lessons learned – for instance, that changing the top leader(ship) usually is no guarantee that a better society emerges – think Iraq, Syria, Libya.

The whole thing is delusional. It overestimates one’s own power, the evil of ‘the other,’ the righteousness of ‘our’ course and how noble ‘we’ are – and how we are threatened in spite of being innocent and doing good. It denies that conflict is about problems that stand between parties and assumes that conflict is only cause by the other side.
It signifies how manifest it is that where military might goes in, analysis, truth, consequence evaluations, ethics and decency goes out. It’s called hubris…There was not one word based on any intellectual analysis or aiming at prudent statesmanship and caution. It was a speech worthy of a gangster.

◆

What will happen now?

Well, the USrael attack may “succeed” in either taking over the leadership in Iran, in mass killing civilians on the way, in destroying more military installations (which it has already done before), in providing for Israel to continue to create a Greater Israel, in getting a lot of American soldiers killed and US installations in the region destroyed – and perhaps in getting the Strait of Hormuz closed.

It may “succeed” in getting some Arab countries to gang up against Iran and, perhaps, getting the Shah’s son back.

None of this will be a political success or create a better life for a single Iranian. It will be a long-war catastrophe for all involved and become a predictable fiasco for Trump and the US Empire.

And even if a short war, it will cause an indefinite hatred among people throughout the region and the rest of the world – also on top of the Gaza genocide, Venezuela, Greenland, etc.

Under all circumstances, Iran will be moving into uncharted lands because of this completely unnecessary war, unnecessary simply because, throughout the Western world, intelligent diplomacy is now a thing of the past.

The West now runs exclusively on a world-endangering kakistocratic and militarist mindset. And it will continue until death does it part from the Rest.

In that – tragic – perspective, the war that started today will become yet another nail in its coffin.

◆

    Peace & future researcher + ‌Art Photographer

    Related Posts

    Small and different + among the 10% most active + 9,000 texts + 150 Associates + 60 000 a day — and a stubborn belief that peace is smarter and must be secured by peaceful means. In 2026, the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research (TFF) turns 40. On Monday, October 5, 2026, a new TFF homepage will go live — a new gateway to more than 9,000 articles, analyses, research papers and other contributions produced over four decades of independent peace research. But this is not simply a new website. For four decades, TFF has worked from a simple conviction: peace is smarter than militarism and can be brought about by peaceful means. This is not merely an aspiration. It is the principle expressed in the UN Charter and the Gandhian tradition that has guided our work from the beginning. TFF is a research-based, independent and people-financed foundation....
    It’s a matter of principles, courage, vision and pulling together – while the militarist world is falling apart… Peter Langille October 3, 2026 “Here, then, is the problem which we present to you, stark and dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race; or shall mankind renounce war?”The Bertrand Russell—Albert Einstein Manifesto, July 9, 1955 ⁕ The forecast for what’s ahead is worrisome. The sharp rise in armed conflicts over the past three years is adding to what was already the highest level in over seventy years. Genocides, which should be prevented are supported. A shared climate emergency that jeopardises survival is ignored. Diverse polls now suggest that people are war-weary, worried and interested in a more effective United Nations. And, there are viable policy options for a more secure world! Yet governments are doubling-down, betting on more war and investing heavily. If current trends persist,...
    Johan Galtung 1930-2024October 2015 Published here on October 3, 2026 Let us focus on Civilization for conflict analysis and remedies. Major forms of disorder use violence; war is state organized violence. The most belligerent states are the United States of America and Israel, both with civilization roots. National Evangelism, the US Protestant Christian civilization– more national than evangelical–justifies US warfare as exceptionalism of a people chosen by God, with a manifest destiny to run the world. Orthodox Judaism justifies Israeli warfare to conquer and expand from Nile to Euphrates as a religious right and duty to the Eternal One. The third most belligerent country, the UK, no longer believes it is God-chosen but chosen by the USA; not quite the same but something. But the root cause of global disorder lies in the Occident–with Islam–seeing itself as the single, universal civilization valid for all at all times, all others being...

    Recent Articles

    Below are TFF-related media mentions, comments, videos and social media posts published elsewhere but not on this homepage. We happen to catch and list only a fraction. Regarding video comments and debates, we recommend that you go to the TFF Video Channel on Substack where many of them are reproduced. Jan Oberg is a contributor to China Daily – 52 million daily clicks – and Global Times, CGTN and CCTV (the national television), China Investment, Xinhua News Agency and several others. Articles and videos on these media very often multiply into countless Chinese (and Western media) that re-post them from these main media. Thanks to The China Academy, his analyses, interviews and comments are frequently posted on YouTube channels such as Thinkers Forum and Wave Media. These videos are often re-posted on Bilibili (China’s YouTube), the China Content Center on TikTok, and on the Chinese edition of TikTok, Douyin.com. This means reaching hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide over a year. While there are too many to catch on all these...
    Jan Oberg TFF director October 13, 2026 According to Alfred Nobel’s will, the Nobel Peace Prize shall be awarded: ”to the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses.” Further down, he also expresses how the prize for the “champions of peace” shall be decided: “that for champions of peace by a committee of five persons to be selected by the Norwegian Storting. Alfred Nobel’s will is remarkably short and clear. But few seem to have read it. Nobel did not say that the committee itself should consist of members of parliament. He entrusted the Storting with appointing five persons. In principle, it could have selected diplomats, mediators, peace researchers, conflict-resolution specialists, or other individuals with recognised expertise in matters of peace from around the world. Instead, the Storting gradually...
    The Quest for Humane Survival Richard Falk Professor emeritus, Princeton UniversityTFF Associate since 1986October 12, 2026 After decades of teaching and writing about international law in academic frameworks that were not institutionally situated within law school environments—at Princeton and the University of California, Santa Barbara—I found myself most receptive to the TWAIL outlook. It has been especially illuminating in clarifying the extent to which international law evolved as a dialogical critique of Europe’s efforts to legitimize its colonial undertakings. In particular, TWAIL has exposed how international law has functioned to legalize the subjugation of Third World peoples, securing conditions for exploitative investment and trade relations, the coercive enforcement of public debts, and an ideology of cultural superiority. TWAIL’s exposure of these economic legacies of colonialism has influenced my understanding of the history and development of international law, broadly conceived, as an ideological project of the Western sub-system of the world...

    TFF on Substack

    Discover and subscribe to more peace materials on TFF Substack

    Most Popular

    Below are TFF-related media mentions, comments, videos and social media posts published elsewhere but not on this homepage. We happen to catch and list only a fraction. Regarding video comments and debates, we recommend that you go to the TFF Video Channel on Substack where many of them are reproduced. Jan Oberg is a contributor to China Daily – 52 million daily clicks – and Global Times, CGTN and CCTV (the national television), China Investment, Xinhua News Agency and several others. Articles and videos on these media very often multiply into countless Chinese (and Western media) that re-post them from these main media. Thanks to The China Academy, his analyses, interviews and comments are frequently posted on YouTube channels such as Thinkers Forum and Wave Media. These videos are often re-posted on Bilibili (China’s YouTube), the China Content Center on TikTok, and on the Chinese edition of TikTok, Douyin.com. This means reaching hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide over a year. While there are too many to catch on all these...
    Jan Oberg TFF director October 13, 2026 According to Alfred Nobel’s will, the Nobel Peace Prize shall be awarded: ”to the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses.” Further down, he also expresses how the prize for the “champions of peace” shall be decided: “that for champions of peace by a committee of five persons to be selected by the Norwegian Storting. Alfred Nobel’s will is remarkably short and clear. But few seem to have read it. Nobel did not say that the committee itself should consist of members of parliament. He entrusted the Storting with appointing five persons. In principle, it could have selected diplomats, mediators, peace researchers, conflict-resolution specialists, or other individuals with recognised expertise in matters of peace from around the world. Instead, the Storting gradually...
    The Quest for Humane Survival Richard Falk Professor emeritus, Princeton UniversityTFF Associate since 1986October 12, 2026 After decades of teaching and writing about international law in academic frameworks that were not institutionally situated within law school environments—at Princeton and the University of California, Santa Barbara—I found myself most receptive to the TWAIL outlook. It has been especially illuminating in clarifying the extent to which international law evolved as a dialogical critique of Europe’s efforts to legitimize its colonial undertakings. In particular, TWAIL has exposed how international law has functioned to legalize the subjugation of Third World peoples, securing conditions for exploitative investment and trade relations, the coercive enforcement of public debts, and an ideology of cultural superiority. TWAIL’s exposure of these economic legacies of colonialism has influenced my understanding of the history and development of international law, broadly conceived, as an ideological project of the Western sub-system of the world...
    Read More
    girl-5894831_1280
    Below are TFF-related media mentions, comments, videos and social media posts published elsewhere but not on this homepage. We happen to catch and list only a fraction. Regarding video comments and debates, we recommend that you go to the TFF Video Channel on Substack where many of them are reproduced. Jan Oberg is a contributor to China Daily – 52 million daily clicks – and Global Times, CGTN and CCTV (the national television), China Investment, Xinhua News Agency and several others. Articles and videos on these media very often multiply into countless Chinese (and Western media) that re-post them from these main media. Thanks to The China Academy, his analyses, interviews and comments are frequently posted on YouTube channels such as Thinkers Forum and Wave Media. These videos are often re-posted on Bilibili (China’s YouTube), the China Content Center on TikTok, and on the Chinese edition of TikTok, Douyin.com. This means reaching hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide over a year. While there are too many to catch on all these...
    Nobel-Prize-Plaque
    Jan Oberg TFF director October 13, 2026 According to Alfred Nobel’s will, the Nobel Peace Prize shall be awarded: ”to the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses.” Further down, he also expresses how the prize for the “champions of peace” shall be decided: “that for champions of peace by a committee of five persons to be selected by the Norwegian Storting. Alfred Nobel’s will is remarkably short and clear. But few seem to have read it. Nobel did not say that the committee itself should consist of members of parliament. He entrusted the Storting with appointing five persons. In principle, it could have selected diplomats, mediators, peace researchers, conflict-resolution specialists, or other individuals with recognised expertise in matters of peace from around the world. Instead, the Storting gradually...
    law-419057_1280
    The Quest for Humane Survival Richard Falk Professor emeritus, Princeton UniversityTFF Associate since 1986October 12, 2026 After decades of teaching and writing about international law in academic frameworks that were not institutionally situated within law school environments—at Princeton and the University of California, Santa Barbara—I found myself most receptive to the TWAIL outlook. It has been especially illuminating in clarifying the extent to which international law evolved as a dialogical critique of Europe’s efforts to legitimize its colonial undertakings. In particular, TWAIL has exposed how international law has functioned to legalize the subjugation of Third World peoples, securing conditions for exploitative investment and trade relations, the coercive enforcement of public debts, and an ideology of cultural superiority. TWAIL’s exposure of these economic legacies of colonialism has influenced my understanding of the history and development of international law, broadly conceived, as an ideological project of the Western sub-system of the world...
    images-2
    Advocates of nuclear disarmament are regularly dismissed by the champions of nuclear deterrence as naïve and unrealistic, utopian or even irresponsible. Yet this ‘doctrine’ of deterrence, regarded by France as the ‘cornerstone’ of its national security, is based on quasi-religious beliefs, a theory that cannot be proven, risky gambles and fragile assumptions. So much so that one might legitimately ask which side the ‘Care Bears’ are on. Marc FinaudVice-President of Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament (IDN) October 9, 2026 This article was originally published on Pressenza When it comes to these things being treated as religious concepts, look here. Idealists and realists It was Hubert Védrine, François Mitterrand’s former Foreign Minister, who repeatedly coined the phrase: ‘Europeans are a sort of Care Bears who don’t realise they’re living in Jurassic Park’. He applies this reference to the cartoon for well-behaved children not only to what he regards as weakness or idealism...
    8824b09f-33a5-43f9-9fd0-550f28cda24d_1536x1024
    What the West Borrowed from Asia and What It Left Behind Jan Krikke October 8, 2026 The article was originally published here In the late 1960s, the musical Hair announced that the Age of Aquarius was dawning. Its opening anthem promised a transformation of human consciousness: an era of peace, harmony and understanding. Half a century later, a familiar echo of that promise is a meditation app offered by your employer. You can find it in the same list of benefits as the pension plan and the gym discount. How did a spiritual revolution become an employee benefit? The answer lies in the history of the movement known as New Age: where it came from, what it borrowed from Asia, and why the meaning of what it borrowed changed in the process. Two definitions will help. New Age is a loose label for a wide range of spiritual practices and...
    Screenshot 2026-10-04 210142
    Small and different + among the 10% most active + 9,000 texts + 150 Associates + 60 000 a day — and a stubborn belief that peace is smarter and must be secured by peaceful means. In 2026, the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research (TFF) turns 40. On Monday, October 5, 2026, a new TFF homepage will go live — a new gateway to more than 9,000 articles, analyses, research papers and other contributions produced over four decades of independent peace research. But this is not simply a new website. For four decades, TFF has worked from a simple conviction: peace is smarter than militarism and can be brought about by peaceful means. This is not merely an aspiration. It is the principle expressed in the UN Charter and the Gandhian tradition that has guided our work from the beginning. TFF is a research-based, independent and people-financed foundation....