Middle East

Italy’s decision to decline participation in U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” is more than a procedural refusal. It is a revealing moment in the evolving relationship between Europe and an increasingly personalized American foreign policy. According to reporting by Corriere della Sera, Rome’s objections are …

Hiba Malik The US military operation in Venezuela on January 3, 2026, has been framed by the former as a narrow counter-narcotics and democratic enforcement measure. But its subsequent control over Venezuela’s oil strongly suggests that energy imperatives and finances are central to U.S. strategy. The international backlash …

  Dr. Ruwayda Mustafah President of the KRI Nechirvan Barzani’s quiet diplomacy could secure Syria’s northeast, protect US energy interests, and prevent regional spillover. Since the rapid twelve-day offensive that took over Damascus in late 2024, President Ahmed al-Sharaa has sought to reassert central government authority across Syria’s …

James Holmes In the late 1890s, naval theorist Alfred Thayer Mahan made a compelling argument for the United States’ possession of Hawaii. Those interested in the annexation of Greenland might take note. Once upon a time, an eminent American full-throatedly espoused annexing a strategically situated, lightly populated island …

Kurniawan Arif Maspul Sometimes foreign policy speaks not through treaties or tanks, but through theatre. When Donald Trump revived the idea of acquiring Greenland in early 2026—this time with hints of coercion rather than commerce—the point was never the island itself. Greenland became a language; a signal, carefully …

In a surprising development, President Vladimir Putin has indicated that Russia is prepared to donate $1 billion from its frozen U.S. assets to former President Donald Trump’s newly proposed Board of Peace—and an as-yet unspecified sum for Ukraine’s reconstruction. The move comes as Putin weighs Trump’s invitation to …

Georgi Asatrian No sooner had 2026 begun than dramatic events in world politics followed one after another. The problem is not even the speed of these events but the difficulty of systematizing them. Forecasting is a thankless task. And the issue is not only the high probability of …

The latest waves of protests in Iran expose the deep structural exhaustion of a political model built on theocratic authority, an entrenched security apparatus, and an economy constrained by sanctions and mismanagement. For decades, Tehran has relied on a combination of coercion and regional power projection to preserve …

In a landmark series of high-level talks in New Delhi, India and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to a sweeping upgrade of their strategic and economic relationship. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan signed off on ambitious plans that could …