After a first quarter of the year marked by optimism, with jubilant celebrations over the bright future of the tech industry, reality takes hold. Recent statements by Fed leaders and recent developments on the world stage have reminded overly excited investors that there is still high inflation and a war in the Middle East.

Protests in Jordan against the Israeli war on Gaza have escalated in recent weeks, particularly around the Israeli embassy in the Middle Eastern country’s capital of Amman. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists have been arrested, despite the largely peaceful nature of the ongoing demonstrations.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran promised revenge against Israel on Tuesday after an apparent Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy complex in the Syrian capital of Damascus. The attack killed 13 people, including General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a top commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Chuck Schumer announced that the vote on Biden’s request for billions in Ukraine and Israel assistance would occur as soon as the week of Dec. 4. The vote combines the highly divisive issue of immigration policy with the less-partisan issue of funding for Ukraine and Israel.

A mob in the Russian Republic of Dagestan stormed an airfield on Oct. 30, 2023, prompting the closure of an airport and the diversion of flights.

The conflict between Hamas and Israel has captured the attention of the world, from Copenhagen to Cartajena protests of support or condemnation for one side or another are continuously thrown. From the IR perspective, though, it is certainly well to step back to see the wider picture of how the individual reactions of individual nations lend to a picture of the wider whole.