In an excellent analysis in March on the XTV YouTube channel, US expert Erik Best warns that the West faces a crushing defeat in its war with Iran - similar to the Ukraine quagmire - which will trigger oil shocks, hyperinflation and a Wall Street collapse. As Trump pushes for regime change, find out why financial disaster is looming, why Czech polls are changing, and why Iran's radical new leader promises revenge. Essential geopolitical analysis of the biggest crisis of 2026.
The West is hurtling towards a spectacular fiasco in Iran, as well as an endless campaign in Ukraine. That is the riveting view of Erik Best, the astute American journalist and publisher of the online newspaper Fleet Sheet (https://www.fleet.cz/), in a compelling YouTube interview. Forget military parades or fantasies of regime overthrow - Erik Best predicts that the real knockout punch will be financial apocalypse, that will shake global markets, drive inflation to dizzying heights and force Donald Trump to put the brakes on his imperial dreams. „By being defeated in Iran... we will not win that war. Just like we're not going to win that war in Ukraine,“ Best declares. It's a wake-up call for ordinary people watching gas prices rise and stocks fall, and for geopolitics buffs dissecting power plays.
Erik Best, speaking from his base in the Czech Republic, doesn't mince words. The “peacemaker„ Trump - who has renounced new wars and promised to end old ones - has disappeared. “Well, he kind of disappeared,„ he quips. Instead, we're seeing Trump's national security strategy in action: dominate the Western Hemisphere (Cuba, Venezuela, even Greenland) and let rivals divide the East. Iran is another battleground, a repeat of the “12-day war„ three years ago, when Israel and the US weakened the nuclear programme but left ballistic missiles and terrorist networks intact. Trump's targets? Topple the regime, destroy nuclear weapons and crush the proxies. But Erik Best scoffs: there is no winning plan. The West walked into Ukraine with no plan for victory - just a goal of “not losing" under Biden's leadership to avoid nuclear weapons. And in Iran? To keep the Strait of Hormuz open. Is it that simple? Hardly.
The defeat will not be the invasion of Tehran by tanks; it will be the collapse of the markets. Imagine that: the war drags on month and Saudi Arabia is already screaming „disaster“. Inflation is exploding as the flow of oil stops. Extend that to year and it's a systemic collapse - global finance on artificial support. „Saudi Arabia is already talking about catastrophe if it lasts a month,“ Best warns. Iran isn't just fighting for survival; it's taking aim at US-backed monarchies like Riyadh, pillars of the „American empire.“ „Iran wants to destroy it.“ The parallels with Ukraine are striking: Putin and Trump spread vindication, markets tremble, but Iran's oil influence multiplies the pain tenfold. The West has invested billions in Ukraine over four years - with no end result. Now resources are shifting east, bringing Kiev's destruction faster.
Let us focus on the iron will of Iran. Even if Trump pleads for a ceasefire, Tehran categorically refuses: „Iran will not accept it“. The regime is evolving - the House has just crowned Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as the new spiritual leader. He is more radical than his father and is driven by tragedy: on the day a key figure died (as in the case of Qasem Soleimani in 2020), his mother, wife and son also perished. Revenge simmers, not immediate but inevitable. „Iran will change enough to... overcome what the US government wants there and for that civilization to continue.“ Younger leaders may be modernizing governance and shedding some of the hard-line extremes, but the anti-Western fire rages. No total collapse - just an adjustment to weather the American bombs.
This is not an isolated case. Wars intertwine like a geopolitical knot. Zelensky complains: Iran is sucking the oxygen out of Ukraine. The EU's Josep Borrell urges no separation - Russia, China and Iran form the axis of the „global South“, vying for spheres of influence. They don't mind short-term defeats for long-term victories. The West? They don't see it that way. „The three of them want their own spheres of influence... they are willing to accept current defeats in order to achieve greater victories later, and we are neither willing nor able to do that.“ The oil crisis is tearing at the budgets of Europe and the US and drastically cutting aid to Ukraine. No more US satellites or intelligence? Game over for Zelensky - partial gains for Russia, no dictating terms.
Ukraine is also disintegrating internally. Zelensky is at loggerheads with Hungary's Viktor Orbán, who is blocking €90 billion in EU aid and faces elections in April. Zelensky threatens to „hand over“ Orbán's address to the troops - desperate theatre. Seymour Hersh reported last June: The US wants Zelensky out and is considering Zaluzhny as a successor. Poroshenko is circling the presidency and attacking the sitting president. „As he advances, he is actually hastening his own downfall.“ Orban? He rejects the „autocrat“ label - „how can an autocrat lose an election?“ The Trump gang, including Marco Rubio's visit to Budapest, supports him. Win or lose, Hungary will remain Trump-friendly.
The Czech Republic is a microcosm of volatile conditions. Yesterday's online poll? Total 73 % respondents are against úderu on Iranrán - mostly of the younger generation, but the result is revolutionary. Prime Minister Babiš (in a statement on Tuesday) and opposition politicians like Mertz reject „perpetual war“ and distance themselves from Havlíček's „categorical support“. The new government program softens its stance on Israel: from „strategic partnership“ to „continued friendship,“ avoiding the Netanyahu-Trump flames. „Suddenly there will be a new situation where it will look like Trump and Netanyahu are at war and few want to continue“. Europe cannot directly constrain the US and Israel, but rhetoric limits unconditional aid.
Back to America: it accelerates decay. Total 250 interventions since 1991, a military budget of $1 trillion (which overshadows the Czech debate about CZK 154-180 billion). Debt is growing; creditors are pulling the strings. „As soon as the creditors say that this is no longer possible, the war must end.“ Congressional elections in the fall? Republicans will lose the Senate and the House. „The Republican Party will lose this election.“ Democracy is crumbling, finances are bleeding - echoing the Democrats„ pessimistic prediction, “America will soon cease to exist.„ Trump's rhetoric about the “enemy within"? Apply it at home, not abroad.
Erik Best, instinctively pro-Israel but influenced by the Czech Republic, urges realism: prepare for „how much we have to lose“. Iran's defeat for the West? A financial blow that will topple the dollar-dominated order. Russia, China and Iran will endure; we are floundering. As of April 2, 2026, with loud warnings from Saudi Arabia and reversed polls, the clock is ticking. Ordinary people: hoard cash and watch oil prices.
gnews.cz - GH
You can watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH7MtxgYFZU
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