Asia Pacific

The 2026 Democratic primary season is producing a political development that would have been difficult to imagine only a few years ago: progressive candidates are winning nominations in contests marked by heavy outside spending, while opposition to political-action-committee money, criticism of Israel, and resistance to U.S. policy toward …

The global race for critical minerals is rapidly becoming one of the defining economic and geopolitical competitions of the twenty-first century. The European Union risks entering that competition from a position of weakness. While Washington and Beijing are moving aggressively to secure access to the minerals required for …

By Dr. Dan Steinbock              For China and the Global South, US-EU tensions are part of a broader struggle over selective globalization. The US increasingly prioritizes technological dominance, supply-chain security, industrial protection and strategic competition with China. Under Trump, this approach has become openly transactional and unilateral: tariffs, market …

Dr. Shehab Al-Makahleh This year, 2026, marks the 18th anniversary of the beginning of the Cold War — the politico-ideological and military-economic confrontation between the blocs led by the United States and the Soviet Union. It also marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of its definitive conclusion, brought about by …

Dan Steinbock              After three months, the Ebola crisis in Central Africa has crossed a critical regional threshold. Concurrently, it reflects the emerging US/China division—and possible complementarity—of global health power. In late May, the principal question was whether the newly declared outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo …

Dr. Yashwant Singh Most comparisons between Iran’s 2025–26 war with Israel and the United States and a hypothetical Pakistan–India conflict ask the wrong question. They tend to focus either on the two sides’ ability to manage escalation or on whether Pakistan possesses “enough” missiles, drones, satellites, and other …

Kit Klarenberg The Pentagon has activated a new psychological operations unit targeting Africa, tasked with “expanding the military’s ability to influence foreign audiences” across the continent. The heavily hyped launch occurs against a backdrop of dramatically and irreversibly waning Western influence and power in every sphere across the continent. …

How to control a technology whose spread and capabilities are outpacing our ability to manage its risks? That question has become increasingly urgent with the rise of artificial intelligence. One answer seemed to stand out: Keep the most powerful models under close supervision by limiting their release and …

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Iranian separatist groups have begun digging trenches and tunnels along the border with Iran, according to Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Sulaymaniyah. Fighters have been redeployed from the Duhok mountains and northeastern Syria to the Iranian border, our correspondent reported, with heavy engineering …