Iran’s missile attacks have alienated the Hashemite Kingdom, but the chances of Jordan joining the war are still slim. Aaron Magid On Christmas Eve 2004, a suicide truck bomb headed to Jordan’s Embassy in Baghdad exploded, killing nine people. King Abdullah II later blamed a Shia group with …

Charbel Antoun The killings of Ali Khamenei and Ali Larijani have pushed the Islamic Republic into its most acute crisis since 1979. The assassination of Ali Larijani on March 17 has shattered what remained of Iran’s fragile leadership, accelerating its descent into a fractured autocracy—defiant in ideology but …

Alon ben Meir Three weeks into launching the war of choice with Iran, the Trump administration still has no plausible exit strategy. Four scenarios Several scenarios are being debated: First, a prolonged air and naval campaign ending in a unilateral U.S. declaration of “victory”. Second, a ceasefire mediated …

Jian Lu Bi The United States currently finds itself in a state of strategic paralysis, caught between an administrative push for military confrontation and a wall of resistance that spans from its own halls of power to the capitals of its oldest allies. These synchronized failures—one institutional, the …

Hani Abu Hassan For decades, globalization wore a Western face. It was shaped by the principles of free markets, privatization, and political conditionality—an architecture often associated with what became known as the “Washington Consensus.” But that era is no longer uncontested. Today, China is not merely participating in …

Maleka Hasan Fire spreads across the Middle East while trusted voices fade. Not because of loud failures but quiet withdrawals. Qatar pulled thin, Ankara stretched beyond reach. Beijing trades access for advantage, nothing more. Washington shifts with every political gust, especially when led by figures like Trump. Yet …

Yen Mo The Iran war has been going on for nearly three weeks, and one question that keeps coming up is, “Why isn’t China actively stepping in to mediate this conflict, which is harmful to the global economy—and to its own interests as well?” The answer is very …

CAITLYN RIPAZEL NAMORA On 29 December 2025, more than 130 Chinese military aircraft and drones filled the airspace surrounding Taiwan. Destroyers, frigates, coast guard vessels, and rocket units were deployed from multiple directions. Seven temporary danger zones were established around the Taiwan Strait. More than 100,000 international passengers …

The modern international system is no longer characterized by the conflicts based on the territorial boundaries but the tensions concerning the strategic routes that support the global economy. Among them, there is a revival of maritime chokepoints as an essential arena of power rivalry. The more recent uproar …