Rob Pierce US states should be vigilant about preventing Chinese land purchases close to military installations. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is preparing for conflict with the United States and learning from ongoing wars that are redefining how future battles may unfold. A critical lesson emerging from today’s …
Read More »Weaponization of Rare Earths: A New Theatre in US-China Competition
Resource competition has intensified between the two great powers, the US and China, due to trade and tariff wars. Recently, both the countries have made major policy shifts in the strategically significant rare earth sector. China discreetly issued 2025 rare earth mining and smelting quotas to its state-owned …
Read More »Militias and the Politics of Survival: Lessons from Iraq
This November, Iraqis will once again head to the polls for parliamentary elections. Yet the outcome will be shaped less by formal parties than by the entrenched networks of militias that dominate Iraq’s political and security landscape. Since the last elections in October 2021—and the subsequent mass protests …
Read More »India’s Russian Oil Gains Wiped Out by U.S. Tariffs, Threatening Trade and Jobs
Sana Khan The U.S. imposed punitive tariffs of up to 50% on Indian imports, effective Wednesday, targeting India’s trade and potentially undoing the gains from Russian oil purchases. BackgroundAccording to an analysis by Reuters, India benefited financially from increased imports of discounted Russian oil after the outbreak of …
Read More »Justice Deferred, Faith Under Fire: The Perilous Plight of Christians in Pakistan
Dimitra Staikou As the ancient Greek historian Thucydides observed, “The strong reach as far as their strength allows, and the weak reach as far as their weakness permits.” In Pakistan, the weak—its tiny Christian minority—are struggling under the weight of relentless persecution and legal vulnerability. Comprising just 1.6% …
Read More »Geopolitics vs. Development: G20-Africa Pushes a New Vision for the Global South
In an interview with Modern Diplomacy in mid-August 2025, Ms. Tandiwe Thelma Mgxwati, Minister Plenipotentiary and Charge d’Affaires a.i. at the South African Embassy, discussed South Africa’s presidency of the G20 and its influence on Africa in the context of geopolitical changes. Tandiwe Mgxwati further underlined the African …
Read More »From Isolation to Integration
Noureen Akhtar It was no normal day in Kabul on the 20th of August 2025. The city, once ravaged by war and suspicion, welcomed an event that could redraw the region’s map, the sixth Pakistan-Afghanistan-China trilateral meeting. For decades, Afghanistan has been considered a theater of disorder, characterized …
Read More »The End of New START: Is a New US-Russia Arms Race on the Horizon?
Bushra Ikram The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the only remaining bilateral arms control agreement between the United States (US) and Russia, is set to expire on February 5, 2026. The New START, which accounted for 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons, was signed in …
Read More »Commercial Diplomacy Needs Good Governance
Good governance is imperative for successful private sector operations. Stable, predictable, and efficient business operations relyon a strong enabling environment with predictable rules and practices. How to ensure that such conducive conditions continue was the subject of a pair of roundtables hosted in July at the Center for …
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