Eng. Saleem Al Batayneh Mexico’s tunnels and Britain’s electronic visa system have emerged as beacons of hope for Jordanian youth seeking a better life and a more dignified tomorrow. As the current reality in Jordan fails to offer opportunities and prosperity, many young Jordanians are embarking on perilous …
Read More »The Coming War Between DC and Silicon Valley
The fight over who’ll innovate fastest and get the most commercial juice out of artificial intelligence is in the news nearly every day. Sam Altman won last week’s round, once again, with OpenAI’s splashy new, voice-enhanced GPT-4o. The other fight over AI is political, and here the story …
Read More »A Compact for a Free and Open Black Sea
The Black Sea’s present and future are tied up with the progression and outcome of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. The world at large has an essential stake in the Black Sea’s freedom. Its security is simply too important to be left to the vagaries of the …
Read More »How to Win the New Great Game in Central Asia
In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, during the “Great Game” between the Russian Empire and British Empires, Central Asia was divided into spheres of influence. Five of the modern “stans” were under St. Petersburg’s control. The Emirate (then Kingdom) of Afghanistan was neutral. Pakistan was then a …
Read More »China’s Gray-Zone Tactics Come to America
China employs various “gray zone” tactics—moderately aggressive actions that are not egregious enough to provoke conventional military retaliation—against multiple adversaries. One such tactic is deployed within the United States: undeclared influence operations through social media. Chinese government-linked activity has recently become more worrisome. Previously, the principal danger was …
Read More »Coping with China’s Cleantech Growth
China’s increasing overcapacity in cleantech manufacturing has heightened tensions with the West, prompting concerns among policymakers in Washington and European capitals. With President Biden’s announcement of a broad series of tariffs aimed at stemming the flood of goods imported from China and protecting American workers and businesses, Washington …
Read More »Israel’s Catch-22 in Rafah
Israel does not want to run the Gaza Strip, and yet that may allow Hamas to regroup. Israel’s military campaign in Gaza is grinding on after seven months of fighting Hamas. Since the October 7 attack, Israel has faced not only threats from Hamas in Gaza but also …
Read More »The Death of President Raisi Will Shake Up Iran’s Succession Plans
Following last weekend’s deadly helicopter crash, Ayatollah Khamenei is running out of time to manage the future of the Islamic Republic. On Sunday, May 19, a helicopter crash in northeastern Iran Eastern near the Azerbaijani border claimed the lives of President Ebrahim Raisi, his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, …
Read More »Proxy Wars and the Global Stage: How Major Powers Fight Without Fighting
Great powers are once again resorting to proxy wars, manipulating weaker nations to fight their battles. This allows them to achieve strategic goals and avoid direct confrontation. Proxy wars, a timeless fixture of geopolitics, have returned amid escalating strategic rivalries. Major powers, avoiding direct confrontation, manipulate third-party forces …
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