Could Donald Trump Divide the Western World in His Quest for Greenland? (Open Thread)

Kabir · January 21, 2026 · 1 comment

With Europe and America increasingly locked in an acrimonious struggle over the future of Greenland, we examine the fate of the western world. Could it end up divided and at odds with each other? Could NATO collapse? And if that happens, will Russia and China be the only countries to gain? And what sort of international order will we then have to grapple with? Join me live at 4.30 p.m. (11.00 a.m. in the UK/Ireland) on Tuesday the 20th of January to hear Bill Emmott, the former Editor-in-Chief of The Economist and Chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, address these questions.

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Kabir

I am Pakistani-American. I am a Hindustani classical vocalist and ethnomusicologist. I hold a B.A from George Washington University (Dramatic Literature, Western Music) and an M.Mus (Ethnomusicology) from SOAS, University of London. My dissertation “A New Explanation for the Decline of Hindustani Music in Pakistan” has recently been published by Aks Publications (Lahore 2024). Samples of my singing can be heard on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Le1RnQQJUeKkkXj5UCKfB View all posts by Kabir

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Kabir

1 hour ago

“Afghanistan is not the ‘graveyard of empires'”

By Shabnam Nasimi

https://shabnamnasimi.substack.com/p/afghanistan-is-not-the-graveyard

Afghanistan does not need to be “part of Iran” (as a modern nation-state) to be central to Persian history. There is a difference between modern and colonial political borders and cultural heartlands, and the east has often been a heartland. Much of what people lazily package as “Persian civilisation” was made, refined, and radiated from the eastern Iranian world: from Khorasan’s cities and courts, from its poets and administrators, from its manuscript workshops and madrasas.

Similarly, Pakistan does not need to “part of India” (as a modern nation-state) to be central to “Indian history”. I would contend that there was no one “India” until the British came and created British India. There were different kingdoms and empires ruling different parts of the subcontinent. Nothing like the modern nation-state of “India” existed.

Basically, we need a word other than “Indian” to use when we are speaking of the broader civilization. In most people’s minds “Indian” refers to the nation-state of India and that creates confusion.