Global Hotspots: Trump Tours the Middle East, Announces Syria Sanctions Relief

On his diplomatic tour of the Middle East’s Gulf region this week, President Donald Trump announced the U.S. will lift sanctions against Syria. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, meanwhile, presented Iran with a written proposal for a nuclear deal. Russian President Vladimir Putin did not show up to planned negotiations with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Istanbul, though diplomacy was held among officials from Russia, Ukraine, the U.S., and Türkiye. The U.S. and China agreed to pause reciprocal tariffs for 90 days and remove key export and import bans as trade negotiations progress, and China pledged increased investment to Latin American countries. Read the full Weekly Forecast Monitor here: https://newlinesinstitute.org/forecast/week-20250516/ Marxist Arrow by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/