Heading into the nineteenth week of the US-Iran War, there is still little sign of an upcoming end to the conflict. Despite mentions of a ceasefire, United States President Donald Trump has regularly changed his diplomatic stance between war and peace, and just today launched new strikes and another naval blockade on Iran. Amidst this, the Trump administration has been accused of insider trading and war profiteering, with reports of well-timed stock trades and bets on prediction markets made just minutes before major announcements by Trump.
I spoke to Van Jackson, Associate Professor in International Relations at Victoria University of Wellington, about the extent of war profiteering in modern warfare, reports of insider trading amongst the Trump administration, and New Zealand's place in this system.