Middle East

Hrair Balian On August 8, 2025, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia signed a joint declaration for peace at the White House, with President Donald Trump as witness. Their foreign ministers also initialed, pending “further actions” before signing, an Agreement on Establishment …

Dimitra Staikou Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s presence at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Tianjin at the end of August underscores a shifting global order in which India is emerging not as a junior partner to China and Russia, but as a pivotal swing power. While …

Alexander Langlois In the short term, normalization between Damascus and Jerusalem is not likely. But progress is still possible. In a major moment somewhat overshadowed by the Middle East’s competing headlines, Syria’s transitional government confirmed that it held a second trilateral meeting with Israeli and US officials on …

Donald Trump’s tariffs on India signal that Washington, far from abandoning New Delhi, wants to see more effort and less hedging. When the State Department finally placed the “Foreign Terrorist Organization” label on the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its suicide outfit, the Majeed Brigade, on August 11, …

David M. Hart Instead of being a story of evolution and technological development, the story of China and EVs is one of “involution.” The Chinese economy suffers from an excess of competition. Too many products are chasing too few buyers, which is a recipe for plunging prices and …

Paul R. Pillar Even if they don’t solve the fundamental issues of a conflict, ceasefires are still preferable to continuing carnage.  Ceasefires—the stopping of a war without full resolution of the underlying political issues—have not been in vogue lately. A recent feature article in The New York Times …

A. Wess Mitchell Diplomacy with Russia is not capitulation, and talking to Vladimir Putin is not a reward for good behavior. The recent hardening of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s position on Ukraine has led some critics to claim that the Trump meeting in Anchorage was a waste of …

David Sauer China dominates the rare earth industry—and has shown it is willing to weaponize its market power to wring concessions from its competitors. America needs a way to fight back. This week, Xi Jinping will host Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un at a major military parade in …

Emily Day Nuclear Energy Now tracks the latest nuclear energy developments across technology, diplomacy, industry trends, and geopolitics. Poland Announces Plan for SMRS  Poland is moving ahead with plans to deploy small modular reactors (SMRs), after state energy giant Orlen reached an agreement with Synthos Green Energy (SGE). The project will …