The righties are apoplectic that Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey famously portrays a Black Helen—displaying their ignorance of the actual intercourse between Africa and the ancient Greek world. But apart from the cultural politics of the movie, the geopolitics of the Trojan War have all too much to say about the contemporary world crisis. Then, the Bosphorus and Dardanelles constituted the strategic chokepoints at issue, just as the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb do today. And the Bosphorus & Dardanelles could suddenly become critically strategic if Turkey becomes embroiled in either the Middle East war or the Ukraine war—or both. Finally, the movie itself has become embroiled in a geopolitical dispute: Nolan shot his cinematic spectacle partly in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara—not, as the film credits say, "Morocco." This is another near-forgotten conflict that now shows signs of re-escalating—and may have been at issue in the recent deadly incident at the Spanish North African exclave of Ceuta, situated just within the strategic Strait of Gibraltar. The current world crisis could bring about a civilization collapse far more decisive and complete than the Bronze Age Collapse that followed the Trojan War.

Türkiye's parliament on Aug. 10 announced that it has passed a new law creating conditional legal mechanisms for members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The shift signifiesan advance for the government's "Terror-Free Türkiye" initiative and a potential de-escalation in the country's decades-long conflict with Kurdish militants.

As the US-Iran war escalates, more countries in the Middle East have—officially or unofficially—entered the fray over the past week. Saudi Arabia said July 30 that 14 countries (including Egypt, Türkiye and Bahrain) have so far joined an alliance it set up to protect shipping and energy supplies through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The alliance, which the kingdom calls defensive, formed in reaction to the blockade by Yemen's Houthi rebels against Saudi ships in the strait. Among those that has signed on is the internationally recognized (but largely exiled) government of Yemen, which would presumably be onside with reported plans by Saudi Arabia to launch a ground offensive against the Houthis.

Amnesty International on July 6 condemned the conviction in Türkiye of environmental activist Esra Işık. Amnesty's deputy regional director for Europe, Esther Major, spoke on the broader impacts of the conviction on the fight to defend the environment:

Amnesty International raised concerns June 26 over an absolute blanket ban by the Turkish government on all protests in the capital Ankara ahead of the NATO summit that is to be held in the city next week. The statement also decried the pretrial detention of more than 100 people in the city, including lawyers, academics and activists.

Riot police erected steel barriers and used water cannon to prevent crowds from gathering to hear a speech by the deposed leader of Turkey's main opposition party in Izmir's central Cumhuriyet Square on May 26. Özgür Özel and the core leadership of the Republican People's Party (CHP) were removed from their posts five days earlier by a court order that they charged was politically motivated. Following issuance of the order, Özel and his supporters barricaded themselves inside the CHP headquarters in Ankara. Police stormed the building on May 24, firing rubber bullets and tear-gas in a violent end to the standoff.

Istanbul mayor and Turkish opposition leader Ekrem İmamoğlu went on trial March 9, accused of establishing an "İmamoğlu Criminal Organization for Profit" that operated parallel to and was concealed by his official duties.

Violence has once again broken out between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with Islamabad declaring "open war" on Kabul. Late on Feb. 26, Afghan forces fired on military bases across the border in Pakistan, reportedly using drones. Pakistan retaliated early overnight on Feb. 27, bombing what it said were military and infrastructure targets in Kabul and several border provinces. Afghanistan's Islamic Emirate government said its attacks were a response to Pakistani airstrikes on Feb. 21 and 22 that reportedly killed at least 13 civilians in Nangarhar province. Pakistan accuses the Taliban-led government of harboring fighters from the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP)—accused of being behind recent attacks in Islamabad and Peshawar. Afghan Minister of Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani said the "doors for dialogue" remain open but insisted that if Afghanistan continues to be attacked, it will respond. Iran, a mutual neighbor, has offered to mediate between the two sides. Türkiye and Qatar helped to forge a fragile ceasefire after a previous flare-up in October.