Asia Pacific

Dr. Shehab Al-Makahleh In war, the first casualty is not truth. It is hierarchy. The missiles over Iran did more than rupture military installations and redraw escalation maps across the Gulf. They exposed something larger and far more consequential: the quiet disintegration of the geopolitical order that governed …

Sana Kan The continued clashes and drone strikes reported by Ukraine despite a United States brokered ceasefire reveal the deep structural difficulties facing diplomatic efforts to end the Russia Ukraine war. Although both Moscow and Kyiv formally agreed to a temporary ceasefire between May 9 and May 11, …

Rameen Siddigi Trump arrives in Beijing on May 14. The summit was originally scheduled for March, then postponed because the US got embroiled in a war in the Middle East that nobody fully planned for and nobody has yet fully ended. That delay, accidental as it was, turned …

Dr. Dan Steinbok Israeli military aggression has “reshaped both the physical and ecological landscape” of southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese report (which does not consider the impacts of Israel’s latest barrage of attacks this spring). In her foreword, Lebanon’s minister for the environment Tamara el Zein notes: …

Iran is currently examining a new proposal from the U. S. aimed at ending the war in the Gulf, as both nations reportedly approach an agreement. This agreement would consist of a one-page memorandum that sets aside complex matters, such as Iran’s nuclear program, for later resolution. An …

Racardo Martins Greater Israel: Beyond Biblical Mythology, a Geopolitical Blueprint When Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich talks about expanding Israel’s reach “to Damascus,” or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expresses personal attachment to broad territorial ambitions or Israel being not only a “regional superpower” but “in some respects, a …

The current crisis shows that Europe must transition to renewables to reduce its dependency on volatile fossil fuels. This week’s AccelerateEU plan rightly reaffirms that goal. The global energy crisis caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has demonstrated the vulnerability of relying on fossil fuels. …

Winthrop M. Rodgers The stalemate over government formation is affecting the semi-autonomous region’s ability to deal with the fallout of the Iran war – and eroding its autonomy. More than 18 months have passed since voters in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq went to the polls in …

Dr. Shehab Al-Makahleh A President Between Two Fears Power, when stripped of clarity, becomes performance. This is the paradox defining the current posture of Donald Trumptoward Iran: a leader who refuses both escalation and withdrawal, yet insists on projecting strength. According to converging assessments—including reporting echoed by The Wall Street Journal and …