For years, the United Arab Emirates was portrayed as the region’s master of “quiet diplomacy”—a state that preferred economic leverage, discreet mediation, and influence exercised behind closed doors. That image no longer holds. The open military confrontation with Saudi Arabia in Yemen marks a decisive rupture with the …
Read More »Asia’s AI Ambitions: Progress Without Control
Hiba Malik Across Asia, governments are pouring billions into artificial intelligence, viewing technological advancement as a path to strategic autonomy and economic resilience. Yet, with massive AI and chip investments, Asia is becoming less, not more, secure in the technology politics. Despite colossal investments by Asia, the most …
Read More »Europe Seeks Alternatives to Tomahawks for its Deep Strike Capabilities
Scott Caldwell Gijs Tuinman, the Netherlands’ State Secretary of Defence, recently challenged industry leaders to propose a domestic deep precision strike (DPS) cruise missile with a range of over 1,000 km to rival the American Tomahawk, arguing, ‘Long-range deterrence can no longer be outsourced.’ This move is unexpected …
Read More »The Global South Is Rising—but Is It Truly Connected?
The idea of a “Global South” has returned to the forefront of strategic discourse, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. With the growing influence of BRICS, G77, ASEAN, the African Union, and CELAC, a multipolar world appears to be taking shape. Yet …
Read More »Cyberbiosecurity and Naval Strategy: The Next Frontier in the Indian Ocean
In discussions about the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), naval spending, maritime chokepoints, and great-power competition usually dominate the headlines. Yet a quieter, transformative threat is emerging: cyberbiosecurity—the protection of digitally enabled biological systems and their associated data, from health facilities and laboratories to biomanufacturing and cold-chain logistics. This …
Read More »Financial Brief: A weekly roundup on the geopolitics of money | Dec 24
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 …
Read More »How China Turned the Arab Spring to Its Advantage
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 …
Read More »Why Turkey Just Asked Putin to Take Back the S-400 Triumf Air Defense System
Peter Suciu Turkey has kept the S-400 systems deactivated for nearly a decade as it has sought re-entry into the US-led F-35 program. In a little over a week, millions of American consumers will be returning holiday gifts they didn’t like. Now, NATO member Turkey is attempting to …
Read More »The New Energy Geometry of Russia, India and the UAE
Dimitra Staikou Since 2022, the energy relationship between India and Russia has quietly become one of the most consequential adaptations to the West’s sanctions on Moscow. What began as an opportunistic trade in discounted crude has evolved into a durable restructuring of global energy flows—one that exposes a …
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