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Art & illustrations

When Everyone Else Gets to Play: A Study in Geopolitical FOMO

The geopolitical meme nobody expected: Kim Jong Un watching the Iran-Israel crisis unfold, wishing he could join the chaos.

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Kim Jong Un isolated at table, watching Iran-Israel conflict on TV, FOMO expression, empty chairs surrounding him
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CategoryArt & illustrations
PublishedMar 06, 2026
Read time1 min
Covered here
  • Culture

There's a specific type of international relations humor that only emerges when one guy is sitting on the sidelines watching everyone else have the geopolitical showdown. Enter: Kim Jong Un.

As Iran and Israel squared off in their latest crisis, social media did what it does best: turned isolation into a punchline. Memes flooded X showing Kim Jong Un pressing his face against the window of global conflict, armed with the best toys and absolutely no one to play with. It's FOMO, but make it geopolitical.

The dark humor writes itself. Here's a guy with nuclear weapons, military ambitions, and absolutely no allies willing to sit at the table with him. So he watches. And waits. And gets memetically roasted for the isolation that's largely his own doing.

Sometimes the best political satire is just reality with a caption.

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