On December 28, 2025, protests unexpectedly erupted across Iran in response to a severe economic downturn in the Middle Eastern country, caused largely by sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies. More notably, the protests have grown in scale and turned violent, with clashes between civilians …

Growing geopolitical tensions and repeated export controls by Beijing have pushed rare earths and other critical minerals to the centre of global economic and security debates. China’s dominance across the mining, refining, and processing stages of these minerals has long been a strategic vulnerability for advanced economies, but …

Japan has begun a rare and technologically ambitious effort to secure its own supply of rare earth minerals, as concerns mount over China’s tightening control of exports. A Japanese mining vessel set sail on Monday to explore rare-earth-rich seabed mud near Minamitori Island, a remote coral atoll about …

Since the U. S. seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, interim President Delcy Rodriguez has focused on consolidating her power. She has appointed loyalists to critical positions to protect herself from internal threats while complying with U. S. demands to increase oil production. Rodriguez, who previously served as vice …

Governments expressed caution in response to U. S. President Donald Trump’s invitation to join his “Board of Peace” initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts. Only Hungary, whose leader is close to Trump, openly accepted the invitation, while others refrained from public comments due to concerns about how the …

Jamal Ladam By 2026, the global system is undergoing critical changes, marked by political uncertainty, economic fears, and security concerns. The idea of a unipolar world, which seemed dominant before, is slowly declining, making way for a clearer picture of a multipolar order in which decision-making power is …

Mohammed Ayoob Multiple, intersecting Middle East crises combined with an unpredictable United States augur a tumultuous 2026 for the region. The current protests in Iran and the Donald Trump administration’s threat to take military action against the Iranian regime, if it continues to suppress dissent violently, demonstrate how …

The Donald Trump administration has not divulged many details about how it plans to initiate Venezuela’s energy and political transition.   President Donald Trump has decapitated Venezuela’s socialist government and shaken up regional and global politics with his daring operation to capture—and effectively depose—the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, …

Yannis Bassias and Evangelos Flitris* Europe finds itself at a moment where industrial competitiveness, energy security, and climate ambition must be reconciled. The slow rollout of CO₂ storage capacity, especially when compared with the United States, has become a defining strategic concern. Through the Net Zero Industry Act …