#1145: The Mediterranean Triangle: A New Axis of Power

Welcome back to My Weird Prompts. This is episode one thousand one hundred and twenty five. I am your host, Corn, and today we are diving into one of the most fascinating and, frankly, unlikely success stories in modern geopolitics. We are looking at the Israel, Greece, and Cyprus trilateral alliance. In a part of the world where history usually casts a shadow long enough to kill any hope of cooperation, these three nations have built something remarkably stable. We are talking about energy, defense, and even common disaster relief. It is a partnership that has moved from a marriage of convenience to something that looks a lot like a genuine regional axis. This is a follow up of sorts to our deep dive in episode one thousand one hundred and thirty four, where we looked at the cold peace between Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. But while those treaties feel like a frozen stalemate, the relationship between Jerusalem, Athens, and Nicosia feels... well, it feels active. It feels warm. To break this down, I have brought together our full panel. We have Herman Poppleberry, our resident analyst, who has been crunching the numbers on the latest energy cables and military spending. We have Raz, who I am sure has some thoughts on the hidden hands moving these chess pieces. Dorothy is here to remind us why this might all end in tears, and Jacob Longman is ready to tell us why this is the dawn of a new Mediterranean golden age. Finally, we have Bernard Higglebottom, who has been reporting from the front lines of diplomacy for decades and has seen these leaders behind closed doors. We are going to start with opening statements. Each of you will have the floor to lay out your position on why this alliance exists and where it is going. Herman, let us start with you. You have been following the tenth trilateral summit in Jerusalem and the new military plans for twenty twenty six. What is the expert take on why this is working?

A solid opening, Herman. You have laid out a very compelling case for the technical durability of this group. But of course, where there is high stakes energy and military maneuvering, there are usually people asking what is happening behind the curtain. Raz, you always have a different way of connecting these dots. What is your opening position on this Mediterranean trio?

Raz: Thanks, Corn. Look, Herman is giving you the brochure version. He is talking about cables and pipes because that is what they want you to see. But you have to ask yourself, why now? And why these three? Isn't it convenient that just as the traditional power structures in the Middle East are being reshuffled, we suddenly have this perfect little democratic triangle sitting right on the most important maritime real estate on the planet? If you follow the money and the geography, this isn't just about gas. This is about the total enclosure of the Eastern Mediterranean. This alliance is the functional equivalent of a toll booth for the twenty first century. You have to look at the Maritime Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence that they just established in Cyprus. They tell you it is about protecting ships from hackers, but what it really is, is a signals intelligence hub. It is a way for Israel to extend its eyes and ears deep into European waters while using Cyprus as a legal shield. And let us talk about the elephant in the room. This entire alliance was basically gifted to them by Erdogan. Turkey has been the perfect villain in this play. But I have to wonder, did the planners in Washington and Tel Aviv realize that by pushing Turkey out, they could create a controlled, manageable bloc that effectively bypasses the traditional NATO command structure? I suspect there is a deeper level of coordination here regarding the control of data cables. The Great Sea Interconnector isn't just carrying electricity. It is the physical layer for the internet traffic between Asia and Europe. If you control the corridor through Israel, Cyprus, and Greece, you control the flow of information. That is the real magic sauce. It is not about ancient friendship or firefighting planes. It is about who owns the physical hardware of the global economy. They are building a digital and energy fortress, and they are using the threat of a Turkish bogeyman to justify the massive surveillance and military infrastructure that comes with it. It is a brilliant play, really. They have managed to make a power grab look like a neighborhood watch program.

A classic Raz take. The neighborhood watch as a front for a global toll booth. I am sure Herman will have some thoughts on that in the next round. But before we get there, we need to look at the risks. Dorothy, you have been remarkably quiet, which usually means you are cataloging all the ways this could blow up. What is the alarmist view on the Israel, Greece, and Cyprus axis?

Dorothy: I am quiet, Corn, because I am looking at the map and seeing a tragedy in the making. Everyone on this panel seems to be forgetting history. This alliance is not a success story yet. It is a provocation. We are talking about a two thousand five hundred strong rapid reaction force being discussed by these three nations. A brigade level force aimed directly at deterring Turkey. Have we learned nothing from the twentieth century? When you build a small, highly armed alliance specifically to antagonize a much larger regional power, you aren't creating stability. You are creating a tripwire. Turkey's regional clout, as even analysts in Haaretz have pointed out, dwarfs the combined weight of this trilateral group. Turkey has the second largest army in NATO. It has a massive coastline and a historical claim to the Blue Homeland. By formalizing this Mediterranean NATO, Greece, Cyprus, and Israel are backing a tiger into a corner. Mark my words, this is exactly how regional wars start. You have a series of small, incremental military agreements, a few joint exercises south of Crete, and suddenly one miscalculation in the Aegean or a dispute over a gas rig leads to a full scale maritime conflict that the United States cannot or will not stop. And look at the internal fragility. This alliance is heavily dependent on the current political leadership. What happens if the Greek government shifts or if the political chaos in Israel finally leads to a government that doesn't prioritize these ties? You are building a multi billion Euro infrastructure on a foundation of shifting political sand. Furthermore, the energy promise is a pipe dream. We have seen these projects shelved before. The EastMed pipeline is a technical nightmare, passing through seismic zones and depths of three thousand meters. One accident, one act of sabotage, and you have an environmental and economic catastrophe that will bankrupt Cyprus and cripple the Greek economy. We are playing with fire in the most literal sense. We are cheering for a coalition that is essentially a middle finger to Ankara, and we are doing it while the region is already on the brink because of the war in Gaza. This isn't a success story. It is a countdown.

Well, that certainly brings us back to earth. A tripwire for a regional war and a middle finger to Ankara. Jacob, I can see you practically vibrating over there. You usually find the light in these situations. Is Dorothy overstating the doom, or is there a genuine reason to be optimistic about this grouping?

Jacob: Corn, I think Dorothy is looking at a beautiful garden and only seeing the thorns. Look, I know it seems easy to focus on the risks, but we have to recognize what has actually been achieved here. This is a miracle of modern diplomacy. We are talking about three nations that, for decades, were barely on speaking terms. And now? When wildfires devastated the forests near Jerusalem in May twenty twenty five, who was the first to respond? It wasn't some distant superpower. It was a Bell four hundred and twelve helicopter from Cyprus. It was Greek firefighting planes flying Operation Wings of Fire. That is not just well managed mutual interest. That is genuine warmth. That is what happens when people realize they share a common home. I believe the magic sauce here is actually the absence of historical baggage. Think about it. There is no colonial legacy between these three. There is no deep seated religious conflict. They are three democracies that have looked at each other and said, we are better together. And that warmth has filtered down from the leaders to the people. When Israeli tourists go to Greece or Cyprus now, they aren't just visitors. They are neighbors. This alliance has created a zone of stability in a sea of chaos. Look at the Amalthea maritime corridor. During the darkest days of the conflict in Gaza, it was Cyprus and Greece working with Israel to facilitate humanitarian aid. That shows a level of maturity and trust that you don't see anywhere else in the Middle East. They are able to navigate incredibly difficult political waters because the underlying bond is strong. I see this as a model for the rest of the world. It proves that small and medium powers don't have to be pawns of the giants. They can build their own coalitions based on mutual respect and shared challenges like climate change and energy transition. The Great Sea Interconnector is a symbol of hope. It is literally a cord of light connecting different cultures. I truly believe that even if Turkey-Israel relations warm up in a post Erdogan era, this trilateral will remain. It has moved beyond being against something. It is now for something. It is for a prosperous, connected, and green Mediterranean. How can you not be optimistic about that?

A cord of light. You always have a way with words, Jacob. It is a nice vision, but I think we need a reality check from someone who has been in the room when these deals are signed. Bernard, you have covered the Eastern Mediterranean for a long time. You have seen the rise and fall of dozens of these regional initiatives. Is this one different, or is it just the latest flavor of the month?

Bernard: I appreciate the optimism, Jacob, but my old bones have a hard time with cords of light. I have covered five of these regional summits and they always start with big smiles and even bigger maps. But I will say this, there is something grittier about this Israel, Greece, Cyprus thing than the usual diplomatic theater. I was in Nicosia when they signed that military plan for twenty twenty six, and the mood wasn't celebratory. It was businesslike. It was the mood of people who know they are in a tough neighborhood and have finally decided to stop pretending otherwise. The reality is that this alliance was forged in the fire of necessity. For years, Israel tried to make it work with Turkey. I remember the days when Israeli pilots trained in Turkish airspace. But when that bridge burned, Netanyahu and the Israeli defense establishment didn't have a choice. They had to look West. And they found a Greece that was tired of being bullied in the Aegean and a Cyprus that was tired of being an afterthought. What makes this work is that it is the first time these three have had a perfectly aligned set of problems. It is not about ancient friendship. It is about the fact that they all need the same thing at the same time. They need energy independence from Russia and Turkey, they need a way to bypass the Suez Canal for trade, and they need to show that they can defend their own waters. The Amalthea corridor is a perfect example of what I am talking about. That wasn't just a humanitarian gesture. It was a strategic move by Cyprus to prove its value to the European Union and to Israel simultaneously. It was a way for Israel to maintain a relationship with a European partner while being under immense international pressure. It is cynical, yes, but it is also functional. Now, as for the durability, I agree with Herman that the infrastructure is key. Once you sink billions into a cable or a pipeline, you are married to it. But I also agree with Dorothy that we shouldn't underestimate the Turkish reaction. I have seen Erdogan play the long game for twenty years. He is the inadvertent architect of this alliance, but he is also the biggest threat to it. The real test will be when the energy market shifts. Right now, everyone wants EastMed gas because of the war in Ukraine and the need to move away from Russian supply. But if that demand drops, or if green energy makes these pipelines obsolete before they are even finished, then the economic glue starts to dissolve. This is a success story for now, but in this part of the world, success is measured in years, not decades. It is a pragmatic, hard nosed alignment that has survived longer than most expected, but it is far from being a Mediterranean NATO. It is a coalition of the cornered, and as long as they feel cornered, they will stay together.

A coalition of the cornered. That is a powerful phrase to end our first round on. We have heard about the technical pillars from Herman, the hidden digital agendas from Raz, the looming tripwires from Dorothy, the grassroots warmth from Jacob, and the cynical pragmatism from Bernard. This is exactly why we do this show. We have a massive amount of ground to cover in the next round. I want to talk about whether this alliance can actually withstand a change in Turkish leadership. I want to dive deeper into the I M E C connection and what it means for the global balance of power. And I definitely want to hear more about this firefighting diplomacy. Is it real, or is it just good P R? We will be back in a moment for Round Two of My Weird Prompts. Don't go anywhere.

All right, now that we have heard from everyone, it is time for Round Two. I have some follow up questions, and I want each of you to respond to what you have heard from the others. Let us get into it. Herman, Dorothy raised a pretty sobering point about this alliance being a tripwire for a regional war with Turkey, essentially calling it a middle finger to Ankara that lacks real staying power. You have spent the last year looking at the defense contracts and the energy timelines, so do you agree with her that this is a fragile provocation, or is there a harder shell to this nut?

Raz, Herman just gave us a very polished explanation for that Cybersecurity Centre in Cyprus, calling it the digital backbone for the global economy rather than a surveillance hub. He says it is about protecting the physical layer of the internet from hackers. Do you actually believe these three nations are just acting as disinterested guardians of the world's data, or is there a darker reason they are so obsessed with this physical layer?

Raz: Corn, Herman is a master of using technical jargon to hide the obvious. He calls it a high definition fence; I call it a digital panopticon. Let us be real. Israel is a global leader in surveillance technology. We know this. Cyprus has a long history of being a playground for various intelligence agencies. And Greece is the gateway. When you combine those three and give them control over the fiber optic cables that carry the data of half the planet, you aren't just protecting the internet. You are monitoring it. Herman mentioned the Blue Raman cable. That thing is a goldmine for signals intelligence. If you control the landing stations in Tel Aviv, Paphos, and Chania, you have a front row seat to every bit of data moving between Europe and Asia. And let us talk about the Turkey factor. Everyone says this alliance is a reaction to Turkey. I think Turkey is the excuse. They are using the very real threat of Erdogan's maritime claims to justify a level of military and digital integration that would never be allowed under normal circumstances. It is the perfect cover. You build a two thousand five hundred strong rapid reaction force, you set up a cybersecurity center, you lay thousands of miles of cable, and whenever anyone asks why, you just point at Ankara and say, we are scared. It is a brilliant way to build a regional superpower bloc without calling it that. And Jacob, your cord of light? It is a fiber optic wiretap. You talk about students studying at the Technion. I see a pipeline for the next generation of cyber warriors who will be running this Mediterranean fortress. This isn't about warmth, Jacob. It is about bandwidth and the power that comes with controlling it.

Dorothy, Herman just called your tripwire theory a misunderstanding of modern integrated deterrence. He says that by building this high definition fence, they are actually making conflict less likely by raising the cost for Turkey to intervene. Is he right that technology and shared infrastructure have finally rendered your historical warnings obsolete?

Dorothy: Herman, with all due respect to your spreadsheets and your technical milestones, you are describing a fortress built on a fault line. You call it integrated deterrence, but history calls it an entangled alliance. When you tell me that a high voltage direct current link and a few joint naval exercises south of Crete create a high definition fence, you are ignoring the fundamental psychology of regional powers. Turkey does not see a fence. They see an enclosure. They see their Blue Homeland doctrine being strangled by a cord of light, to use Jacob's overly poetic phrase from earlier. Mark my words, this is exactly how it started in nineteen fourteen. You have a series of interlocking defense pacts that turn a local dispute into a regional catastrophe. Let us look at what happens when these fences are tested. In August of twenty twenty, we saw the Greek and Turkish navies literally bumping into each other in the Eastern Mediterranean over seismic surveys. That was before this formal rapid reaction force existed. By institutionalizing this alliance, you aren't preventing a miscalculation. You are guaranteeing that any minor maritime dispute over a gas rig or a broken cable immediately escalates into a trilateral confrontation. You are creating a mechanism where Israel is dragged into a Greek Turkish war, and Greece is dragged into an Israeli conflict. It is a suicide pact disguised as a security agreement. And Jacob, I have to address this idea of warmth because of a few firefighting planes. To suggest that a Bell four hundred and twelve helicopter from Cyprus signifies a new era of Mediterranean peace is, frankly, dangerous. It is public relations. It is optics. When the real pressure comes, when the energy markets shift as Bernard correctly noted, or when a nationalist government in Ankara decides that the Great Sea Interconnector is a violation of its continental shelf, those firefighting planes will be grounded. You cannot extinguish a geopolitical fire with a bucket of sentiment. People aren't taking the volatility of this region seriously enough. We are also ignoring the sheer physical vulnerability of what Herman is proposing. This cable is being laid at depths of three thousand meters in a region known for intense seismic activity and underwater landslides. You are betting the entire energy security of Europe on a single, fragile strand of copper and fiber optics sitting in a volcanic graveyard. One tremor, or more likely, one well placed underwater drone from a disgruntled neighbor, and your digital backbone is severed. This isn't stability. This is a single point of failure that invites sabotage. We are handing our adversaries a target.

Jacob, Dorothy just called your cord of light a suicide pact and Bernard described this whole thing as a coalition of the cornered rather than a genuine friendship. If they are right and this is just a desperate alliance of necessity built on a volcanic fault line, isn't your optimism actually a form of dangerous denial?

Jacob: Corn, I hear the skepticism, and I truly do understand where it comes from. It is much easier to look at the history of the Mediterranean and see a graveyard of failed ambitions. But I have to tell you, what Dorothy calls a suicide pact, I call the birth of a neighborhood. And what Bernard calls being cornered, I call being found. Look, here is the thing about history. Every great peace, every single one, started as a cold calculation of survival. Think about the European Union. It started because people were exhausted by war and needed to manage coal and steel. They were cornered by their own history, yet they built a continent of peace. Why should we deny Greece, Cyprus, and Israel that same trajectory? Dorothy mentioned that these firefighting planes are just optics, a bucket of sentiment. But Dorothy, when those Greek pilots are diving into Israeli canyons to save homes, they aren't thinking about gas prices or maritime boundaries. They are risking their lives for people they now consider cousins. That is not just P R. That is the hardening of a bond. We are seeing the development of what I like to call emotional infrastructure. It is one thing to share a cable, which Herman correctly pointed out is a technical marvel, but it is another thing entirely to share your safety and your environment. And Bernard, you mentioned that this is a marriage of convenience that will dissolve if the energy market shifts. I strongly disagree. We are seeing something much deeper than a business deal. Look at the Amalthea maritime corridor. When the world was looking for a way to get humanitarian aid into Gaza during those incredibly dark months, it wasn't a global superpower that stepped up with a functional solution. It was Cyprus. It was the Greeks. It was the Israelis working together to create a bridge of life. That took a level of trust that goes far beyond being cornered. It showed that these three nations are willing to take massive political risks for one another to solve a human crisis. I also want to bring up something that hasn't been mentioned yet, which is the incredible surge in people to people exchanges. We are seeing a new generation of students from Nicosia and Athens studying at the Technion in Haifa. We are seeing joint climate research centers looking at how to save the Mediterranean from rising sea levels. This isn't just about Turkey. It is about a shared future. If Turkey decides to join this democratic, stable, and green Mediterranean one day, the door will be open. But until then, these three have decided to stop waiting for permission to be successful. That isn't denial, Corn. That is leadership.

Bernard, Jacob is over here talking about emotional infrastructure and pilots risking their lives for cousins, while Herman insists the technical milestones make this alliance a permanent fixture of the global economy. You have been in the smoke and the briefing rooms for forty years. Is this really a blossoming neighborhood, or are we just watching three drowning men clutching at the same piece of driftwood?

Bernard: Jacob, I have spent half my life reporting from the back of C one thirty transport planes and the lobbies of five star hotels where these deals get signed, and I can tell you that emotion is a luxury these leaders cannot afford. You see cousins and cords of light. I see three governments that looked into the abyss of regional isolation and blinked. Let us talk about what is actually happening on the ground. Jacob, you mentioned the firefighting planes as a sign of warmth. I was on the tarmac at Tel Nof airbase when the Greek crews arrived for Operation Wings of Fire in May of twenty twenty five. It was impressive, yes. But it was also a cold, hard rehearsal for disaster management in a region where the traditional safety nets are fraying. It is easier to send a plane to put out a fire than it is to send a battalion to a front line. And Herman, I hear your talk about the technical inevitability of the Great Sea Interconnector. You make it sound like a done deal because the numbers look good on a spreadsheet. But I remember the winter of twenty twenty four in Nicosia. The whole project almost collapsed because of a bitter dispute over who would foot the bill if the Turkish navy decided to play chicken with the cable laying ships. It took months of backroom pressure from the European Commission and some very quiet assurances from the United States Sixth Fleet to get that project back on track. It was not a technical success... it was a diplomatic brawl. The only reason it survived is because Cyprus realizes that without that cable, they are an energy island at the mercy of the next price hike or the next regional blockade. Dorothy, I want to address your point about the tripwire for war. You called this a suicide pact, but from where I sit, it looks more like a survival strategy. I have seen the draft of the Twenty Twenty Six Military Cooperation Plan. It is not about a grand offensive against Turkey. It is about what we call gray zone deterrence. It is about ensuring that if an underwater drone cuts a data cable or if a drill ship is harassed, there is a unified response that does not immediately require a declaration of war. It is an attempt to create rules of the road in a place where there have been no rules for a long time. The real story here is not the warmth or the cables. It is the exhaustion. Israel is exhausted by the cycle of boom and bust relations with Ankara. Greece and Cyprus are exhausted by being the E.U.'s lonely frontier. This alliance works because it is the first time in my career that all three have stopped looking for a savior from outside the region and started looking at each other. But make no mistake, it is brittle. If the India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor, or I M E C, stalls because of instability in the Gulf, or if a new government in Athens decides the cost of the defense budget is too high, these cords of light will start to flicker. I have covered five of these regional initiatives, and they always look like the dawn of a new age until the sun actually comes up and reveals the old grudges are still there. It is a coalition of the cornered, and as long as the pressure stays on, they will stay together. But the moment that pressure eases, the old gravity of the Mediterranean will start pulling them apart again. That is the reality that the spreadsheets and the poetry always seem to miss.

That is a powerful reality check, Bernard. It seems we are caught between a vision of a high tech, integrated future and the heavy weight of historical exhaustion. Herman, I want to circle back to you on the energy question. Dorothy and Bernard both mentioned the physical and political vulnerability of the Great Sea Interconnector. We saw the original EastMed pipeline fail because it was too expensive and too complex. Why is this electricity cable any different? Is it actually more durable, or is it just the next expensive dream to be shelved?

Raz, you are shaking your head. I assume you think that European funding just adds more layers to the surveillance cake?

Raz: It is not just the surveillance, Corn. It is the illusion of independence. Herman talks about this as if it is a local success story. But look at who is actually building the hardware. Look at the contracts. You have massive global conglomerates and intelligence linked firms providing the cybersecurity. This isn't a Mediterranean alliance; it is a Mediterranean franchise of a larger global security architecture. They are building a wall around the Eastern Mediterranean and calling it a garden. And the most interesting part? Turkey knows this. Erdogan isn't just some irrational actor. He is pushing back because he knows that if this alliance succeeds, Turkey is effectively locked out of the future of the European energy and data markets. This isn't about ancient grudges; it is about who gets to be the middleman for the next century. By cutting Turkey out, the trilateral is creating a permanent enemy. You can't build a stable region by excluding the largest regional power. It is like trying to build a house and leaving out the foundation. Eventually, the whole thing tilts.

Dorothy, let us talk about that exclusion. We have seen Israel's relations with Turkey go through these wild cycles. If Erdogan were to leave the scene and a more pro Western government took over in Ankara, does this whole trilateral alliance just evaporate? Does Israel go back to its old partner and leave Greece and Cyprus in the lurch?

Dorothy: That is the nightmare scenario for Athens and Nicosia, Corn. And it is a very real possibility. Israel is a state that prioritizes its security above all else. For decades, Turkey was Israel's primary strategic partner in the region. They have deep military ties that haven't fully disappeared, even now. If a new government in Ankara offers Israel a more direct, cheaper route for its gas or a more powerful military partnership against Iran, do we really think Jerusalem will stay loyal to a cord of light in Cyprus? History tells us that states don't have friends; they have interests. Right now, Israel's interests align with Greece and Cyprus because Turkey has made itself an impossible partner. But the moment that changes, the trilateral becomes a liability. It is a fair weather friendship built on a shared enemy. And as any historian will tell you, when the enemy disappears, the alliance usually follows. We are seeing a temporary alignment being treated as a permanent shift. That is a recipe for a massive diplomatic betrayal down the road.

Jacob, you have been listening to this talk of betrayal and single points of failure. How do you respond to the idea that this is all just a temporary fix for a Turkey problem?

Jacob: I think it is a fundamental misunderstanding of how relationships grow. You don't just spend fifteen years building joint military bases, sharing intelligence, and risking your pilots' lives in each other's fires, and then just walk away because someone else offered you a better deal. That is not how modern states work. We are talking about deep institutional integration. Look at the Maritime Cybersecurity Centre. Look at the joint research into Mediterranean agriculture. These aren't things you can just pack up and move to Ankara. And more importantly, the people have changed. There is a generation of Israelis who now see Greece and Cyprus as their natural backyard. There is a generation of Greeks who see Israel as a vital partner for innovation and security. You can't just flip a switch and go back to the way things were in the nineteen nineties. The world has moved on. The Eastern Mediterranean is no longer just a space between Europe and the Middle East; it is a region in its own right. This trilateral has given that region a voice and a structure. Even if Turkey comes back into the fold, it will have to join a region that is already organized. It won't be able to just dictate terms like it used to. That is the real success here. They have changed the facts on the ground.

Bernard, I want to give you the last word on this round. We have talked about the Turkey factor, the energy cables, and the emotional bonds. When you look at the broader Eastern Mediterranean context... Egypt, Libya, Lebanon... how does this trilateral fit in? Is it a model for others, or is it a unique anomaly?

Bernard: It is an anomaly that everyone is watching, Corn. Egypt is already a silent partner in many of these energy discussions through the East Mediterranean Gas Forum. Libya is the wild card, with its own maritime disputes that overlap with this whole mess. But what the trilateral has shown is that you don't need a grand, all encompassing treaty to make things work. You just need a few specific, high stakes projects that everyone can agree on. In that sense, it is a model. It is what I call modular diplomacy. You don't try to solve the whole Middle East; you just try to solve the electricity grid. You don't try to end all wars; you just try to put out each other's fires. It is a humble kind of success, but in this part of the world, humble is all we can hope for. Is it durable? Only as long as the participants believe that the cost of being alone is higher than the cost of being together. Right now, that calculation holds. But as I said before, the Mediterranean has a long memory and a very short temper. We should enjoy the cord of light while it is burning, but we should also keep our life jackets close.

A coalition of the cornered, a cord of light, and a high definition fence. We have covered a massive amount of ground today. This alliance between Israel, Greece, and Cyprus is clearly more than just a footnote in a history book. It is a living, breathing, and very complicated reality that is reshaping the map of the Eastern Mediterranean. Whether it is a durable model for the future or a fragile reaction to a passing storm remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: the days of these three nations being afterthoughts in the global power game are over. They have built something that the world has to take seriously. I want to thank my panel... Herman, Raz, Dorothy, Jacob, and Bernard... for a truly enlightening discussion. If you want to dive deeper into these topics, be sure to check out our archive, especially episode one thousand one hundred and thirty three on the Caspian Shield, where we look at Israel's other unlikely alliances. And of course, episode one thousand one hundred and thirty four on the Cold Peace. We will be back next week with another look at the weird and wonderful prompts that shape our world. I am Corn, and this has been My Weird Prompts. Goodnight.