Dispatch Dateline: April 4, 2026
The week the bad actor became indispensable, the tyrant made sense, and Spain was the only adult in the room.
This was the week I stopped being surprised by the world and started being surprised by the people trying to manage it. A Pakistani army chief celebrated by the man who once called his country nothing but lies and deceit. A North Korean tyrant making the most logical argument in the room. A Spanish prime minister doing what every other European leader knew was right but could not bring themselves to do. And Israel — passing a law so brazen it wore its own contempt on its lapel.
Five pieces this week. Here is what was on my mind when I wrote each one.
The Indispensable Bad Actor
Pakistan seeded the nuclear crisis it is now being asked to resolve. Abdul Qadeer Khan transferred centrifuge designs to Iran in the 1990s. Washington pardoned Pakistan without consequence. Now the same Washington is routing its peace plan through Islamabad. The bad actor designation, it turns out, has an expiry date. It expires the moment you become useful. Read it here
When the Tyrant Has a Point
Kim Jong Un pointed at the ruins of Iran and said — you see why I kept my nuclear weapons. He runs concentration camps. He starves his people. He is also, on this specific point, making the argument that every government watching the Iran war is quietly making. I found this one uncomfortable to write. The uncomfortable ones are usually worth writing. Read it here
Weaponising the Law
Ben-Gvir walked into the Knesset wearing a noose on his lapel. The last person Israel executed by hanging was Adolf Eichmann — a Nazi war criminal. That is the only precedent for the noose in Israeli legal history. The symbolism was not accidental. It was the point. Democracy is not only about elections. It is also how a state values equality before the law. Read it here
Spain Shows Spine
Every European government this week found a reason to manage its discomfort rather than act on its convictions. France criticised and opened its bases. Germany stayed quiet and offered Ramstein. Spain said the same thing it said last month and the month before — we are a sovereign country that does not wish to take part in illegal wars. Consistency, it turns out, is the rarest form of courage in European foreign policy. Read it here
The Price of Impunity
Washington launched this war without consulting a single ally and is now surprised the world will not follow. Israel passed a law the international community called discriminatory and is now surprised the shield is cracking. A superpower without allies is merely an island with a large military budget. That willingness to look away — once gone — does not return on request. Read it here
It was a full week. The world did not disappoint — unfortunately.
Read. Think. React. No neutrality. No noise. Just argument. Until next Saturday.
Sunny Peter
Editor, DiploPolis.com