The empire on the ropes
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The empire on the ropes is John Kiriakou's formulation for the state of American power in 2026, given in answer to a viewer who asked whether the empire was over and whether the economy was permanently cooked.

His answer was calibrated rather than apocalyptic: "the empire's on the ropes, I would say. Over? No, certainly not."

The Nazi comparison

In the same run of questions, a viewer raised the observation that Israel was behaving in ways that invited the comparison, and that making it invited the charge of antisemitism. Kiriakou's reply began with an admission about his own reticence: "for years I hesitated to say what I'm about to say, and now I'm really convinced."

What he then said was that "the Israelis really were inspired by Nazi Germany in terms of their tactics," and the specifics he named were collective and punitive, "the retaliation against family members, against people who resist them, the humiliation, all that stuff is very, very similar."

His assessment of the same government's domestic legislation is at the Knesset death penalty law, and his account of why an isolated state escalates at the logic of radicalization.

See also

- The Knesset death penalty law
- The logic of radicalization
- Israeli torture of Palestinian prisoners
- 2026 Iran war
