Geostrategic Media Political Commentary, Analysis, Security, Defense
The fundamental challenge facing the United States and the West today is not how to adapt to an Asian Century. It is how to live in a world with many illiberal regimes— and resist the illiberal pressures at home. During the Cold War, it was arguably more simple …
February, 2025
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1 February
The Middle East That President Trump Has Inherited
The Middle East needs U.S. foreign policy to address two key threats: a weakened but unpredictable Iran and the resurgence of Sunni extremism in Syria. As President Trump begins his second term, he inherits a Middle East from his predecessor that has undergone unprecedented changes. Today, the region’s …
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1 February
China is Winning, the World is Losing: U.S. is Struggling to Counter China’s Asymmetric Tactics
Recent years have seen a noticeable ramp-up of China’s aggressiveness in the South China Sea. While China previously held a far more passive stance in regards to its neighbors, it seems that shaky footage of Chinese Coast Guard vessels or fishing boats shadowing and attacking Philippine vessels with …
January, 2025
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31 January
Erdogan’s Plan to Shape Syria’s Future
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has long longed for this moment of vindication. For him, it is a moment ripe with opportunities — economic, political and geostrategic. It is also a moment when Erdogan and his team could attempt to craft a success story for an Islamist entity …
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31 January
The Armed Conflict Survey 2024
The global prospects for peace remain dim, with a surge in intractable conflicts driven by a proliferating number of parties, overlapping and diverse drivers, and escalating geopolitical tensions and fragmentation. Meanwhile, the intensity and human toll of armed conflicts continue to increase, with a 37% rise in fatalities …
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31 January
Can the international order survive Trump 2.0?
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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
