Middle East

In a world grappling with geopolitical rivalry, rising protectionism, and development disparities, the relationship between China and Africa stands as a shining example of solidarity, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation. The recent announcement by China to expand zero-tariff treatment on 100% of tariff lines for all 53 African …

The current Iran-Israel conflict has rapidly escalated into a major non-contact kinetic war of attrition. The conflict ignited when Israel preventively struck Iranian military, civil, and nuclear infrastructure using airstrikes, drones, and covert operations. These strikes have resulted in the deaths of Iran’s senior military leaders, including General …

Mohammad Fouad In economic policy discourse, numbers are presumed to speak truth. GDP growth, poverty rates, unemployment figures, and fiscal balances are the dashboards of modern governance—objective metrics designed to inform planning and enable accountability. Yet numbers can mislead. When indicators become ends in themselves—targets to hit rather …

Alisya Kinyara Is the digital economy truly empowering and inclusive, or is it silently reinforcing new forms of exploitation, masked behind algorithms and convenience? This question grows more urgent as millions of gig workers across Southeast Asia, particularly motorcycle taxi drivers in countries like Indonesia and Vietnam, begin …

Jenny Adams Yet another exciting session of the ‘Understanding AI Program’ presented by the Silkroad 4.0 Platform, the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) and their consortium of partners (such as Modern Diplomacy, ICCD, D-8, IAF, THC, and the like), the focus turned to how …

In today’s fast-changing world, where uncertainty and power rivalries are on the rise, some voices are calling for a return to old-style diplomacy—a new version of the 1945 Yalta Conference. This idea, often referred to as “Yalta 2.0,” imagines the world’s major powers—the United States, Russia, and China—coming …

Peter Rogers The image of Donald Trump shaking hands with Ahmad al-Sharaa, Syria’s current leader, in Riyadh is one that, until recently, would have seemed unimaginable. Al-Sharaa, once on the U.S. most-wanted list with a $10 million bounty for information leading to his capture, now stood alongside Trump …

By Hussein Murdada For decades, Israel’s nuclear posture has been shrouded in calculated ambiguity- a deliberate silence designed to deter adversaries without triggering international scrutiny. That strategy may now be in ruins. In a bold and unprecedented move, Iranian intelligence claims to have extracted thousands of highly classified …

In today’s digital age, we live in an ever-accelerating cycle of technological consumption. Every year, millions of people around the world rush to replace their smartphones, laptops, televisions, and other electronic devices with newer, faster, thinner models. But there’s a pressing question we rarely ask: Where do all …