Geostrategic Media Political Commentary, Analysis, Security, Defense
During his first week in office, US President Trump took aim at the norms and institutions of the post-Cold War order, from global management of climate and health to international trade rules. For a decade or more, big players – including Washington – have edged away from the …
January, 2025
-
31 January
Nuclear Power in Central Asia: The New “New Thing”?
The Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan are exploring the development of nuclear power. Last fall, Kazakhstan passed a controversial referendum to build a nuclear power plant. In 2024, both Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan signed memorandums of understanding with Rosatom to construct smaller plants. Despite the region’s …
-
31 January
Remaking the World Order: No Small Feat
The United States needs to redefine its role in world affairs, what does that mean and what will it take? The liberal rules-based international order it built and sustained in the years after the Second World War is disintegrating at an accelerating pace. After a period of comity …
-
31 January
Trump 2.0 and Palestinians: From Reversal to Repression and Deportations
In my new book, The Fall of Israel (2025), I examine the activities of all US postwar administrations regarding the Israelis and Palestinians. The first Trump administration did not just differ from its precursors. It turned upside down five decades of US policies regarding Palestinians. In the next …
-
31 January
The Imminent Consequences of Trump’s Executive Orders
In the past decade, the U.S.-led geopolitics and trade/tech wars have undermined international cooperation setting the stage for stagnation in global economic prospects. Trump 2.0 will escalate the status quo, weaponizing executive orders in the name of “national security.” Over half a decade ago, I first warned about …
-
31 January
Iraq on Edge: The Regional Fallout from Syria’s Unraveling
The abrupt collapse of the Assad regime in Syria has sent shockwaves across the region, placing Iraq on high alert. As Syria embarks on an uncertain political transition guided by newly appointed caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir and the interim ministers from the former Syrian Salvation Government, regional …
-
31 January
Syria and the Levant: Building Stability Amidst Shifting Ambitions
The Levant has long been a stage upon which the drama of history has unfolded- a region where empires collided, faiths converged, and civilizations either flourished or crumbled. Far from being a mere relic of the past, this ancient nexus remains a cornerstone of global security and economic …
-
23 January
Jordan’s Political Quagmire: Reform or Relapse?
Eng. Saleem Al Batayneh A society that fails to ask the right questions cannot expect to arrive at meaningful answers, let alone true knowledge. In Jordan, questions critical to our democracy are either silenced or confined far from the decision-making centers that shape our future. Chaos reigns where …
-
23 January
Is Donald Trump a Great President?
Is Donald Trump a great president? That’s the question posed by John F. Harris in Politico, less in the spirit of endorsing Trump than suggesting that he is nothing less than “the greatest figure of his age.” Trump has now dominated American politics for over a decade. The Biden administration increasingly …
