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Renowned hedge fund titan Ray Dalio is sounding the alarm on a perilous global trajectory, likening Middle East flashpoints to the prelude of historic world wars. The US-Israel-Iran standoff, he argues, fits into a broader ‘Big Cycle’ of 13 phases that empires traverse before collapse—and we are perilously close to the endgame. Phase 10 brings domestic turmoil, followed by phase 11 where superpower clashes occur. Current wars, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to Israel’s multi-front battles, mirror interwar patterns with big powers and economic warfare merging into a world war-like scenario.
