Donald Trump's restraint in the face of Iranian aggression revealed nuances to his hyperbolic personality, which have stopped a conflict escalating into a war that would have roiled markets worldwide.
In the final column of last year, we anticipated the “coming of a dangerous decade”, fraught with geopolitical tensions, among a number of other existential challenges. In response, the former Commanding Officer of the Special Air Service Regiment, Ben Pronk, wrote that “it wouldn’t take anything more than a Franz Ferdinand-style miscalculation to kick [the next global war off]”.
Pronk, who is now chief executive of Mettle Global, a crisis consulting firm, penned these words 24 hours before President Donald Trump liquidated the second most senior member of Iran’s government, Qassem Soleimani, triggering a potentially catastrophic chain of events.
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Christopher Joye is a portfolio manager with Coolabah Capital, which invests in securities, including those discussed in his column. Connect with Christopher on Twitter.
