Seth J. Frantzman The June 22 attack on the Mar Elias Church in Damascus underscores the threat of extremism in Syria even after the fall of Assad. The new government must demonstrate control and protect minorities. An attack on a church on Sunday, June 22, killed 25 people …

Brandon J. Weichert For Jerusalem, the existing ceasefire would leave Iran’s nuclear program in place, and could never be allowed to hold. “I suggest the toothless snake-head in Tehran understand and beware: Operation Rising Lion was just the trailer for new Israeli policy—after October 7th, immunity is over.” …

Desmond Lachman Despite falling interest rates and rising tariffs, US bond yields, a weakening dollar, and soaring gold signal foreign investors’ unease with Trump’s budget, risking inflation and financial instability. As Congress attempts to get President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act to his desk by July 4, …

Dayon Lee South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae-myung, has prioritized de-escalation with North Korea, creating a diplomatic window for renewed Trump-Kim talks amid global instability and stalled US efforts elsewhere. During his inaugural ball on January 20, 2025, President Trump was on a video call with US troops …

Christians remained the world’s biggest religious group. However, Christians (of all denominations) did not keep pace with global population growth from 2010 to 2020. 2 The number of Christians rose by 122 million — reaching 2.3 billion. Yet, as a share of the world’s population, Christians fell by …

Nourinne Akhtar The idea of democracy has been more than a political system over centuries; from Plato’s Republic to the rise of twenty-first-century populism, it has been a moral aspiration, a promise of collective self-rule based on justice, equality, and human dignity. And today, that moral core seems …

Pham Quang In the international relations structures in Southeast Asia, “strategic trust” acts as a glue between countries that are diverse in terms of institutions, histories, and national interests. Strategic trust can be understood as the extent to which one country believes that another country will not harm …

Brian Hudson Despite Israel’s considerable military power in the Middle East, it can never achieve regional hegemony—a position that requires unquestionable dominance over all competitors and acceptance of its authority by neighboring countries. Since its establishment in 1948, Israel, relying on its military superiority and broad Western support, …

Throughout modern history, Great Britain has consistently stood as the most influential political and economic power in the world. The country led the Industrial Revolution, established global trade routes, and was the ruler of a vast colonial empire; thus, Britain not only significantly changed the nature of the …