Asia Pacific

The growing relationship between Israel and Somaliland is not merely another diplomatic breakthrough. It is part of a broader geopolitical contest unfolding across one of the world’s most strategic regions: the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Horn of Africa. While much international attention remains focused …

History has a habit of producing unlikely winners. As the closure of the Strait of Hormuz sends shockwaves through global energy markets and forces oil exporters to scramble for alternative routes, one country—long written off as a geopolitical and economic casualty—has emerged as an unexpected beneficiary: Syria. For …

The conflict began after U.S. and Israeli strikes targeted Iranian military and nuclear facilities. Washington framed the campaign as necessary to eliminate Iran’s nuclear threat and weaken its regional military network. However, the war evolved into a broader regional confrontation. Iran demonstrated its ability to disrupt global energy …

Dr. John Calabrese Chinese PSCs are state-adjacent actors embedded in China’s overseas economic expansion, particularly under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), generating new arenas of US–China security competition in fragile environments. Existing regulatory frameworks have not significantly constrained this trend. International rules remain fragmented, while domestic regulation …

Mugdha Joshi The spokesperson for India’s External Affairs Ministry, Randhir Jaiswal, said in March that “India is actively engaging with member countries of BRICS to arrive at a common position on the ongoing conflict in West Asia.” These talks ended up an exercise in futility, with member states …

Pranjal Saraswat Imagine a policy analyst in Brussels arriving at work on an ordinary morning, carrying coffee in one hand and reports on European cyber resilience in the other. Before her meeting begins, she opens an advanced artificial intelligence platform she regularly uses to map cyber vulnerabilities and …

Taiwan has sharply rejected China’s latest maritime patrol east of the island, declaring that its sovereignty “cannot be violated” after Beijing concluded a days long coast guard operation in waters that Taipei considers beyond Chinese jurisdiction. The patrol came after Japan and the Philippines announced plans to begin …

Sarah Wu North Korea’s latest declaration that denuclearization is a “settled issue” should not be dismissed as routine rhetoric. Rather, it represents a blunt acknowledgment of a strategic reality that many policymakers have been reluctant to accept: Pyongyang no longer views its nuclear arsenal as a bargaining chip, …

Dr. Shehab Al-Makahleh The headlines trumpet ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon, and along Israel’s northern front with Iran’s proxies. Politicians breathe sighs of relief. News anchors speak of de‑escalation. But let us be brutally honest: this is not the end of war. This is the suspension of war. Across …