Asia Pacific

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has become the world’s largest regional association, bringing together countries whose combined population accounts for about half of the world’s population, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday. “The SCO today is in fact the largest regional organization in the world, where half …

The Islamic State may have lost its territory, its cities and the illusion of statehood that once allowed it to control large parts of Syria and Iraq, but it did not necessarily lose its wealth. Beneath abandoned farms, desert tracks, private properties and the ruins of its former …

Palestinian politics is approaching a potentially extraordinary moment. With legislative elections scheduled for November 28, 2026, forces that spent years fighting one another may now find themselves sharing the same electoral list. Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007, is seeking the broadest possible political coalition. …

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and more than a dozen other world leaders are gathering in Kyrgyzstan on Monday for a two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a regional bloc increasingly positioned as a counterweight to Western influence. The group is marking its …

There may be few people who have done more to improve China’s image around the world than Donald Trump. What Beijing could not accomplish through decades of diplomacy, trade and public diplomacy, Trump’s confrontational approach toward America’s allies and partners has, in many respects, helped accelerate. A recent …

Qatar is pursuing two parallel tracks in an increasingly turbulent regional environment: diplomacy on the one hand and security fortification on the other. While Doha continues to present itself as a player capable of opening channels for dialogue, mediation, and de-escalation, it is simultaneously expanding its network of …

Farhat Asif  Today 23 August 2026, citizens across Kazakhstan are electing the first Kurultai under the country’s new Constitution. This is far more than a change in the name of Parliament. The vote will create a new 145-member unicameral legislature with the authority to make laws, represent public …

HCSS – The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies The events of this year have made that abundantly clear. The war in the Middle East and the renewed risk of disruption to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global fuel supplies, demonstrated how quickly geopolitical crises can …

Namrata Goswami China defines space superiority as achieving space logistics and infrastructure, and then using them for the kind of war it might fight.   This screenshot from CCTV (China Central Television) shows China’s first moon rover Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, in an image taken by the camera …