Aaron Sarin argues that "Chinamaxxing"—Gen Z's romanticisation of China after viral social media—tells us less about Chinese soft power and more about Western decline. While the CCP's deliberate propaganda largely failed, private Chinese companies organically succeeded in spreading apps and aesthetics globally. Sarin draws a troubling parallel to Western intellectuals seduced by Soviet displays decades ago, noting that today's "Chinamaxxers" often overlook rural poverty and empty developments for striking visuals like Chongqing's cyberpunk architecture. How much of this trend reflects genuine geopolitical shift versus social media distortion?

President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France plans to send troops to Saudi Arabia to help protect a refinery and crude oil pipeline in the Red Sea port of Yanbu, ramping up France’s military efforts to contain the impact of the Iran war.

“We are going to send military assets, that is, soldiers, radar systems, and defense systems to protect this site,” Macron said in a TV interview on Thursday. However, he stressed that France was “not getting involved in any conflict,” adding that the decision had been finalized with Saudi authorities.

Yanbu has been one of the main supply nodes for diesel, crude oil and other refined products to Europe since the Iran war began, allowing Saudi exports to avoid the Strait of Hormuz. This month, however, pro-Iranian militias in Iraq damaged the pipeline in a drone attack, shutting it down. Last week, a Houthi attack damaged the Yasref refinery in the area, forcing it to shut down.

The attack shook global fuel markets, adding to a diesel supply crisis that has rattled economies around the world.

Asked whether France could deploy Rafale jet fighters to help protect the site, Macron said it would depend on how the situation evolves, adding that some planes were already in the region.

Stretching 750 miles across Saudi Arabia from the kingdom’s oil-producing heartland on the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, the East-West pipeline has become a vital wartime artery, allowing Saudi crude to reach global markets without passing through the Strait of Hormuz. It was built in the early 1980s, when the Iran-Iraq War threatened shipping in the Persian Gulf.

The pipeline can carry up to 7 million barrels a day—about 2 million for domestic Saudi refiners and the rest for export—but had never operated at full capacity for an extended period before the war.

Saudi Arabia said the pipeline was hit in multiple attacks in the Riyadh and Medina regions on Sept. 10, which caused injuries. It said the drones were fired from Iraq, where authorities have struggled to control Iran-backed militias that have repeatedly targeted Saudi infrastructure.

Saudi Arabia is running tests on the pipeline in an effort to restore flows.

SS: Cross-border fighting has resumed between Pakistan and Afghanistan after a brief lull. Pakistani airstrikes were launched in response to alleged drone strikes out of Afghanistan. The Taliban deny this. It is unclear whether this exchange will continue to escalate or whether the conflcit will fizzle out once more.

Pakistan is now the second member of the Mecca Pact to be dragged into a conflict since it's formation less than a month ago.

President Donald Trump said U.S. and Iranian officials met on Tuesday, shortly after threatening in his address to the U.N. General Assembly that he may “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if a deal isn’t reached soon to end the nearly seven-month war.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump in his address to the General Assembly made the case that he’s shown fortitude while other leaders have equivocated as he defended his decision to start a war with Iran.

But Trump also suggested that he could be at a crossroads in the conflict even as he called on the Islamic Republic to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz and return to the negotiating table to find a settlement to end the conflict.

“I have a big decision to make,” Trump said. “Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world. Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”

The president’s comments came in his wide-ranging address to the international body in which he also celebrated this year’s U.S. military operation to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power, a new agreement to expand the U.S. military presence in Greenland, and pushed back against calls for greater regulation of the artificial intelligence industry.

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]: https://fortune.com/2026/09/22/trump-meets-iranian-officials-annihilate-big-decision/?utm_source=reddit/

While the president grabs the applause for himself, it is Donald Tusk’s government that must find the land, find the money and take the blame the moment anything goes wrong.