Analysis

As 2026 begins, many in Asia and the broader Eastern world wish for a year of peace and prosperity. Yet, the events of 2025 suggest that hopes for stability may once again be tested. At the forefront of global attention is the U.S.–China rivalry, which will continue to …

  Greg Priddy The size of the 2026 oil glut is open to question, and OPEC+’s next move remains up in the air. As 2025 draws to a close, the world oil market reflects a near-consensus that the coming year will see substantial oversupply and inventory accumulation, pushing …

Abdulla Al Junaid President Donald Trump is intent on bringing about the second phase of the Gaza peace plan. As President Donald Trump hosts Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago today, the United States faces a strategic recalibration across multiple global theatres. And while framed as a …

By Dr. Shehab Al-Makahleh In a surprising move, the Houthis in Sana’a issued a sharply worded statement in response to Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, asserting that any Israeli presence in the region constitutes a legitimate military target. While brief and direct on its surface, the statement carries long-term …

Fatemeh Aman Oman’s Duqm port cannot replace India’s dependence on Iran’s Chabahar. But it can help challenge Pakistan in the Indian Ocean. India’s expanding presence along Oman’s coastline has unfolded without announcements, declarations, or diplomatic spectacle. Indian naval vessels have been making increasingly regular port calls to Oman, …

Rameen Siddiqui  The final week of 2024 delivered a stark message: the era of easy money is over. In a synchronized pivot, the world’s major central banks turned hawkish—the Bank of Japan hiked rates to a thirty-year high, and the ECB signaled an end to easing. This monetary …

Zineb Riboua China’s inroads in the Middle East demonstrate how the region is still a critical front in the era of US-China competition. The 2025 US National Security Strategy signals the most significant shift in Middle East policy since the Iraq War. The new framework aims to reallocate …

James Holmes Naval theorist Alfred Thayer Mahan would likely be baffled by Trump’s war on drugs—but would be instantly familiar with his broader geopolitical motives in the Caribbean. What would Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, America’s fin de siècle evangelist of sea power, say about the US blockade on …

Dr. Shehab Al-Makahleh Syria is often described as entering a fragile transition. In reality, what is taking shape is something more troubling: a political order that claims stability while institutionalising fragmentation, external control, and undeclared concessions that will shape the country for decades. Recent clashes from Aleppo to …