Political Analysis and Global Affairs

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Trump’s Tariff War Is Backfiring and America Is Paying the Price

Donald Trump’s second term was meant to be a return to economic nationalism. He promised to revive his America First agenda and put U.S. manufacturing back at the centre of the economy. Central to this plan was a sweeping tariff regime. The goal was to punish trade partners, bring production home, and shift the global balance of power in America’s favour.

What has unfolded is very different. The tariff war is harming the U.S. economy, straining its alliances, and failing to achieve the promised gains. The country is now facing higher inflation and slower growth.

Trump often claims that foreign countries are paying for the tariffs. In reality, most of the cost is falling on Americans themselves. Goldman Sachs estimates that the United States will bear about 75 per cent of the tariff burden. This means it is U.S. consumers and businesses that are absorbing the impact.

Who Is Paying the Bill?

American manufacturers are already under pressure from high borrowing costs. The new tariffs have added billions to their expenses for imported components. These extra costs are reaching the consumer. Goldman Sachs projects that households will pay an extra 5,200 dollars each year because of price increases. Inflation, which had eased for a time, is climbing again as the Consumer Price Index responds to the tariff shock.

At the moment, U.S. businesses are covering much of the tariff cost. They have warned, however, that they cannot continue this for long without risking closure. By autumn, as the latest round of tariffs takes effect, Goldman Sachs expects that 67 per cent of the cost will fall on consumers, 8 per cent on businesses, and 25 per cent on foreign exporters.

The average U.S. tariff rate now stands at 17 per cent, a level last seen in the Great Depression. For an economy that depends on global supply chains, this is a serious warning sign. From automobiles to pharmaceuticals, many industries need foreign-made inputs. Tariffs on these goods do not create new jobs in the United States. They raise costs, reduce profits, and sometimes push production overseas.

The Reality of Manufacturing

The evidence shows that manufacturing is not returning to states like Ohio or Michigan. Labour costs there remain too high. Instead, production is moving to countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, and India. These shifts create new manufacturing hubs abroad, far from the reshoring that Trump had promised.

Trump believes tariffs will fill the U.S. Treasury and allow him to offer tax cuts. Yet as the cost to consumers grows, his political standing is falling. A YouGov poll now places his approval rating at 41 per cent, with disapproval at 55 per cent.

Tariffs as a Tool for Foreign Policy

Trump has used tariffs to apply pressure on foreign governments in ways that go beyond trade. The reaction has been strong. Spain cancelled its order for F-35 fighter jets after a dispute over defence talks. Switzerland froze deliveries of aircraft and business jets to the United States after facing a 39 per cent tariff. Brazil is preparing countermeasures in response to steep duties on steel and agricultural exports.

The European Union and Japan have resisted Washington’s pressure. Meanwhile, the U.S. still imports heavily from China. Many goods from Vietnam and Thailand also contain Chinese-made parts. Rather than reducing America’s dependence on Beijing, the policy is encouraging Asian economies to diversify their trade relationships in other directions.

India’s Refusal to Bend

India offers a clear example of how this strategy can fail. Trump targeted New Delhi with 50 per cent tariffs because it continued to buy discounted Russian oil. The move was meant to coerce India into changing its policy. It did not work.

Instead, India has strengthened ties with Russia, opened new channels with China, deepened trade talks with Europe, and made it clear that tariff threats will not dictate its foreign policy. Indian exporters in textiles, jewellery, pharmaceuticals, and electronics are now turning to other markets. Experts in the United States warn that Trump’s approach could push India closer to the BRICS group and weaken the 190 billion dollars in annual trade between the two countries.

Political and Economic Consequences

Trump once promoted tariffs as a political victory and a sign of economic independence. That image is fading. Inflation is eroding household budgets. Manufacturers warn of layoffs. Public frustration is growing.

In April, Amazon planned to display a “tariff cost” indicator on product pages. This would have made it clear to shoppers that they were paying a hidden tax. Reports suggest the White House stepped in to block the move, and Trump himself called Jeff Bezos. The feature was abandoned, but the story made headlines.

The Final Outcome

The tariff war was meant to show strength. Instead, it is seen by many as a sign of poor economic management. Allies such as Canada, Spain, and Switzerland are distancing themselves. Emerging economies like India are more assertive in defending their policies. China, far from being weakened, has been able to adapt and in some areas benefit.

For Washington, this policy is proving costly not only in terms of money but also in terms of credibility.

The RSS–Nazi Ideological Connection: Forgotten Passages from History

In the late 1930s, the world was drifting towards catastrophe. Adolf Hitler had tightened his grip on Germany, turning its politics into a brutal campaign for racial purity. Far from Europe, in colonial India, a Hindu nationalist leader was watching closely. His name was M.S. Golwalkar, the chief ideologue of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Golwalkar’s 1939 work, We, Or Our Nationhood Defined, is not a dusty relic of nationalist thought. It is a document that openly admires certain aspects of Nazi Germany’s policies towards minorities. In one passage, he points to Germany’s “purging the country of the Semitic races” as an example of national pride and cultural preservation. The language is chilling. It carries the certainty of a man who saw no contradiction in praising the most notorious ethnic cleansing of the 20th century while imagining a future for India built on similar exclusions.

The RSS was founded in 1925, at a time when nationalist movements across the world were experimenting with paramilitary discipline, ideological training, and the politics of identity. Its members wore uniforms, marched in drills, and cultivated a collective sense of purpose. These outward similarities to fascist movements were not accidental. Golwalkar’s vision rested on a core belief: India was, and must remain, a Hindu nation.

In his book, he offered minorities only two options. They could completely assimilate into Hindu culture, abandoning their own religious and cultural identities, or they could remain in the country “wholly subordinated” to the Hindu majority, without political rights or privileges. This was not a passing remark. It was the foundation of a political worldview that saw pluralism as weakness.

The parallels to Nazi ideology are difficult to ignore. In 1930s Germany, the Jewish community was one of the most assimilated minorities in Europe. Within a decade, relentless propaganda turned them into a political underclass. The lesson for majoritarians everywhere was simple: demonising a minority can transform a numerical advantage into a weaponised majority, bound together by fear and resentment.

The RSS absorbed that lesson. Over decades, it built an organisational culture that normalised suspicion towards Muslims and other minorities. Historical disputes over temples and mosques became political flashpoints. Economic restrictions, such as bans on cattle trading, targeted livelihoods. Laws and campaigns, from the Citizenship Amendment Act to the rhetoric around “love jihad,” deepened the sense that some citizens would never be equal.

This ideological inheritance is not unique to India. Across the world, nationalist movements have borrowed and adapted elements of fascist thought. In Myanmar, Buddhist nationalism used similar arguments to justify the expulsion of the Rohingya. In Sri Lanka, Sinhala Buddhist leaders framed Tamil identity as an existential threat. The pattern is familiar: define the nation in ethnic or religious terms, paint a minority as incompatible, and then use state power to enforce the hierarchy.

Golwalkar’s book is rarely quoted in full today. Its most dangerous lines are often downplayed or dismissed as products of a different era. But the continuity of thought is visible. The language may have softened in some quarters, yet the underlying principle — that belonging is conditional on cultural submission — remains alive in parts of India’s political discourse.

History offers no comfort here. The architects of exclusionary nationalism rarely declare their final intentions at the outset. They proceed step by step, normalising discrimination until it no longer shocks. By the time society recognises the danger, the machinery is already in place.

The RSS–Nazi connection is not about claiming India is Germany in 1939. It is about recognising that ideas travel, adapt, and survive. When those ideas are rooted in the belief that diversity is a threat, the outcome is rarely peaceful. Remembering Golwalkar’s words is not a matter of academic interest. It is a warning.

West Bank: Walls, Warnings, and a Long Wait

The West Bank isn’t just another disputed patch of earth on a map.
For Palestinians, it’s the core of what their state would be. For a lot of Israelis on the political right, it’s something else entirely — an inheritance from scripture, not to be given up.

That difference plays out in everyday scenes. In Hebron, soldiers closed an entire market so a group of Orthodox Jews and settlers could walk to a holy site. Screens went up. Doors shut. Locals stood aside. One man muttered that the last time something like this happened, a boy ended up dead.

Military Areas That Appear Overnight

Hebron is technically “Area A” under the Oslo Accords, meaning the Palestinian Authority should be in charge. On the ground, the picture is different. Soldiers are everywhere. Settlers too.

And now, since the October 7 Hamas attacks, iron gates have sprung up like weeds. In Al-Maggaya, I saw soldiers fitting another one. No explanation, just: “Military territory. Turn around. Camera off.” That was it.

Once that phrase is used, you’re done.

Land That Slips Away

The story repeats itself all over: a flag, a tent, a few caravans. Months later, there’s a permanent settlement connected to Israel by roads Palestinians can’t use.

Muhammad Robin knows the routine. His family planted olive trees here in 1952. One morning settlers moved in, and now he can only look at the groves from a far hilltop. Walking straight to them isn’t an option. You risk running into armed men who won’t say who they are.

Two Narratives, Same Ground

In another part of the West Bank, I met Daniel Winston, originally from Chicago, now more than 25 years here. He calls it Judea and Samaria.

“There was never a Palestinian state,” he told me. “And letting one exist here would put us in danger.”

For Daniel, the land is theirs by ancient right. For Palestinians, that position erases their existence.

A Funeral Under Orders

In Umar Alia, 35-year-old Auda Athleene was shot dead, allegedly by a settler. People gathered to mourn. Soldiers declared a closed military zone. Ten minutes to leave or face arrest.

Israeli activist Yehuda Sha was blunt:

“Rights for one group of people here — that’s apartheid. Without real consequences, this will escalate.”

Two activists ended up in handcuffs before the cordon widened again.

Fences and Fire

In Sinjel, population 8,000, a five-metre fence now seals off one side. Since October 7, the main gate has stayed locked. Cameras watch constantly.

Mayor Mutaz Toua showed me a video: settlers raiding a farm, torching the building, then herding away livestock.

“If you walk toward them, they’ll come for you,” he said.

Further north in the Jordan Valley, you find the same picture — burned-out Palestinian villages, abandoned after attacks.

The Map Keeps Changing

Britain has hinted at recognizing Palestine as a state. Former Israeli minister Yossi Beilin, who helped design the original peace plan, says a two-state solution is still the only road out.

“Otherwise, we’re doomed. It’s the only way for Palestinians to achieve self-determination and for Israel to stay Jewish and democratic.”

But the ground tells a different story: more fences, more gates, more land gone.

The West Bank’s hills and valleys haven’t changed. The rules for who can walk them have.

Credit: Based on reporting by Sky News — “Armed settlers and segregation: Inside the West Bank” (YouTube link).

Poverty in Berlin’s Marzahn-Hellersdorf: Stories of Survival and Hope

Based on reporting from DW News Documentary

On the eastern edge of Berlin, far from the bright shopfronts of Alexanderplatz, lies Marzahn-Hellersdorf. Its concrete blocks have stood through decades of change. First under East German socialism, then in the uncertainty that followed reunification. Now the district is known for something else. It is one of the most socially and economically disadvantaged areas in Germany.

Government figures show that 18.1 percent of residents here live at risk of poverty. The national figure is 16.6 percent. Among teenagers, nearly 14 percent leave school without a diploma. Across Germany, the figure is about six percent.

A Grandmother’s Morning

At six o’clock, Eveline “Evi” Weyer sits in the quiet before the day begins. Her husband, ill with cancer, sleeps in the next room. She learned only two months ago that she also has cancer. After decades of work in agriculture and in a factory, she lost her job after reunification and never found stable employment again.

She walks to her daughter’s cramped flat to help get the children ready for school. There is no space for a dining table. She spreads bread, slices cucumber, and calls each child by name. “Yesterday I bought fruit for my husband,” she says. “Thirty-five euros for just a little. A cucumber costs €1.19. Soon we will not be able to buy them.”

Illness and Poverty

Her daughter Mandy had six children before a stroke changed her life. An inoperable clot on her brain stem left her unable to work and barely able to speak. Her husband Pierre gave up his job to care for her full-time.

“Before the stroke, everything was fine,” Pierre says. “We shared the work. We had plans. Then everything changed.”

Charity workers say that in Marzahn-Hellersdorf, illness often leads directly to long-term poverty.

Breaking the Cycle

In a nearby street, the children’s charity Die Arche—The Ark—offers a place to learn and eat.

Pascal “Kalle” Höhn, 24, once came here himself. “I missed out on a lot,” he says. “I do not want them to go through the same.”

Kalle’s teenage years led to drugs, violence, and prison. Now he trains as a social welfare assistant and works to keep others from making the same mistakes.

Social worker Josefine “Josi” Brendel helps families stay together. She runs reading sessions with therapy dogs so children can try without fear. “Every child comes with their own challenges,” she says. “We meet them where they are.”

Single Mothers and Tight Budgets

Single mothers are most at risk. For years, Jessica Laue lived on welfare while raising her children, Lea and Alex. Now she works full-time but earns €1,418 net—a little less than her previous benefits.

At the start of each month, she puts €150 aside for each week’s food and outings. “If we can get to the food bank, it is easier,” she says.

Alex, 17, hopes to join the German mountain infantry. “It is important to contribute to society,” he says. “Earn your money honestly.”

The Food Bank Lifeline

Every other Wednesday, Evi queues for donated food. She brings home fruit, vegetables, and herbs worth over €100 in a shop. She uses every bit, chopping and freezing herbs to make them last.

The Berliner Tafel says the number of people using food banks in the city has risen by more than 40 percent since 2019.

The Cost Beyond Money

Nearly 18 million people in Germany live in poverty. Researchers at the German Institute for Economic Research say it can take four to six generations to escape. In that time, children grow up in overcrowded flats, with little access to quiet spaces for homework, sports, or art.

Poverty is not only about what is in the wallet. It is also about opportunities that never come.

Paths to Change

The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs is debating a Kindergrundsicherung—a basic child allowance to give all children access to sports, arts, and tutoring.

Other measures could include:

More subsidised after-school programmes in low-income areas.
Rent caps or priority housing for families with disabilities.
Expanded vocational training for single parents.

A Call to Act

In Marzahn-Hellersdorf, poverty is part of daily life. It does not have to be permanent. It can be broken with sustained support, investment, and a belief that dignity should not depend on where you live.

If you are moved by these stories, support local initiatives like Die Arche or volunteer with food banks and youth programmes. Change begins when people refuse to accept that poverty is inevitable.

Credit: This article is based on DW News Documentary’s reporting on poverty in Berlin.

The Dark Truth About Victorian Marriage

Step into a polished Victorian drawing room. The curtains are drawn, the wood smells faintly of beeswax. It looks safe. It feels proper. Yet behind this calm, the woman of the house has already been erased by law.

Centuries before, in Norman courts, a legal idea began to grow. They called it coverture. It sounded like shelter. In truth, it smothered. The law decided that husband and wife were one person. That person was the husband.

Sir William Blackstone wrote that a wife’s legal existence was “suspended” during marriage, or at least absorbed into her husband’s. This was not an image. It was how the law worked. From the moment she married, a woman could not own property, sign a contract, or control her own body.

A Woman Erased at the Altar

Before marriage, a woman could hold property, make a will, sue or be sued. After marriage, all this vanished. Caroline Norton was nineteen when she married George Norton in 1827. She lost the right to her money, her children, and her freedom. Her husband beat her and later barred her from seeing their three young sons. “I am a prisoner here,” she wrote, “and my children are my prison wardens.”

In 1857, Francis Power Cobb inherited £1,000. Her husband claimed it instantly. “I might as well have thrown the money into the sea,” she said. Elizabeth Parsons fared worse. Her husband locked her in a private asylum to steal her inheritance.

Violence as Law and Duty

The law allowed a man to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. This limit meant little. Religious leaders and doctors said such force was a husband’s right.

In 1857, Dr. William Acton wrote that sex was the wife’s duty and her husband’s natural right. Marital rape was legal. Lady Colin Campbell’s diary told how her husband infected her with syphilis and continued to force intercourse on her.

The violence could be extreme. Broken jaws, burned skin, miscarriages from beatings. In 1869, Hannah Mullins was beaten until she had a fractured skull and broken ribs. Her husband served fourteen days in prison. The court told her to submit more willingly.

The Trap of Motherhood

Pregnancy was not a choice. There was no access to contraception. There was no legal right to refuse sex. The risk of death was always present. In poor areas, one woman in thirty died in childbirth.

Under the law, children belonged to the father. If a wife left him, he could forbid her from ever seeing them again. In Manchester, inspectors found children of five working long hours because fathers had sold their labor for drink.

Poverty as Control

Even if a woman worked, her earnings belonged to her husband. In the mills of Lancashire, married women made up almost half the workforce. Their pay went straight into their husbands’ hands.

Ellen Woodhouse built a successful dressmaking business in Birmingham. Her husband drained the profits for gambling. When she tried to open her own bank account, the bank refused. “I have built an empire,” she told her sister, “only to watch a fool destroy it coin by coin.”

Inheritance offered no safety. Mary Jane Turner inherited her father’s bakery. It became her husband’s property the day she married. Within two years he sold it, spent the money, and left her with nothing.

Science in Service of Control

Victorian medicine gave men a shield for their authority. Doctors claimed women were ruled by their reproductive organs and could not think rationally.

A wife who resisted could be sent to an asylum. “Hysteria” was a common label. Dr. Isaac Baker Brown went further, performing clitoridectomies on thousands of women, saying it cured criminal and insane behaviour.

Parliament found private asylums full of sane women, committed by their husbands to take control of property or remove an unwanted wife.

Cracks in the System

Some women fought back. Caroline Norton’s campaign led to the Custody of Infants Act of 1839. Frances Wright refused marriage altogether, saying she would not “place [herself] in the position of a slave.”

Working-class women formed quiet networks of safe houses. A few wealthy women used trusts to keep property beyond a husband’s reach. But escape was rare and came at a high price: poverty, social exile, and loss of children.

We walk past Victorian houses today and see elegance. Inside those walls, women lived without legal existence. Their stories show how cruelty can hide behind respectability, and how a society can praise its moral order while perfecting control over half its people.

Why Turkish Airlines Is My First Choice for Munich—Over Etihad and Qatar

I make the trip to Munich often. Not for sightseeing. Not for a quick weekend. My daughter lives there, and those flights are my connection to family. Over time, I have learned which airlines work for me and which do not.

Turkish Airlines keeps winning that place in my plans. It is not only about the schedule or the ticket price. It is also about how the journey feels.

Some travellers swear by Middle Eastern carriers like Etihad or Qatar Airways. I do not. I have my reasons, both personal and practical.

Why Turkish Works for Me

1. The Route Fits My Life
From Karachi, the stop in Istanbul is short and direct. No wandering through multiple airports. No odd hours in the middle of the night.

2. Price Without Cutting Quality
I have compared fares many times. Turkish is often equal to, and sometimes lower than, Etihad and Qatar. And the meals still feel like meals. Warm bread. Fresh salads. Food that tastes like it was meant to be eaten, not just served.

3. Baggage That Matches My Needs
Visiting family means gifts going in and mementos coming back. Turkish usually allows more baggage on economy than its rivals. That extra allowance is more useful to me than a free drink or a bigger TV screen.

4. Service With the Right Balance
The crew is attentive but never makes you feel like they are hovering. Long flights feel more comfortable when service has that balance.

5. Avoiding What I Prefer to Avoid
For me, avoiding Middle Eastern stopovers is part of the choice. Istanbul suits me better.

The Drawbacks

1. Crowds in Istanbul
It is a modern airport, but it is busy. Security lines can take time, and some gates are far from the main area.

2. Winter Weather Delays
Snow in Istanbul is rare but possible. When it comes, it can slow things down.

3. Patchy Wi-Fi
Internet access is available, but not always fast. If you need to work during the flight, that can be a limitation.

Etihad: What Works and What Does Not

Pros:

Newer planes and well-rated business class.
Abu Dhabi Airport is smaller and easier to get around than Istanbul or Doha.

Cons:

Economy baggage limits can be lower.
Journey time from Karachi to Munich is often longer.
Middle Eastern stopover.

Qatar Airways: The Bright Points and the Gaps

Pros:

Consistently ranked among the world’s best.
Doha’s Hamad International Airport is clean and well organised.

Cons:

Higher fares, especially at busy times.
Layovers to Munich can be longer.
Middle Eastern stopover.

Why I Choose Turkish Again and Again

It is not about chasing points. It is about a combination that fits my trips: good timing, fair fares, generous baggage, and a route that avoids what I do not enjoy. Istanbul’s connection works.

I know other travellers have their favourites, and that is fine. For me, the journey to Munich begins the right way when I step on a Turkish Airlines flight.