Military & Security

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 …

Keir Starmer has a new defence minister but is still facing major challenges, including limited finances and political demands. Even if a new prime minister takes charge, these issues will persist. Starmer might soon confront a leadership challenge from figures like Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and former …

Jenny Williams There is a familiar cruelty in the way Lebanon is treated whenever Israel wants to change the regional conversation. A village becomes a message. A suburb becomes a signal. A border town becomes a lever in someone else’s negotiation. Last night’s escalation was not an isolated …

Marta Rehnman As the world seeks to mitigate climate change by transitioning to renewable energy sources, geopolitical actors are entering a new resource race to secure access to critical minerals like lithium, cobalt and copper, crucial for green technologies like EV batteries, wind turbines and solar panels, as …

Lama Al-Rakad The image was striking. In Washington, the leader of Syria’s transitional government, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was welcomed as a legitimate political actor after years in which he and his organization were synonymous with jihadist militancy. Whether viewed as diplomatic necessity or geopolitical pragmatism, the transformation raises one …

Dr. John Calabrase A tentative U.S.–Iran memorandum of understanding appeared close to completion in late May, but Iran’s decision to suspend indirect talks over Israel’s expanding operations in Lebanon has thrown the process into uncertainty. What had looked like an emerging framework now appears less a pathway to …

Residents in Gaza, southern Lebanon, northern Israel, and Kuwait faced ongoing violence this week, despite ceasefires arranged by the U. S. supposed to be in place. Israeli airstrikes targeted Gaza and Lebanon, while Hezbollah launched rockets into northern Israel and Iran attacked Kuwait’s international airport. President Donald Trump …

For decades, geopolitical scholars have been concerned about a potential hot war between China (the “rising” power) and the US (the “ruling” power) because of the Thucydides Trap, which warns that conflict between the two will very likely occur when a rising power becomes strong enough to unseat the ruling …

Since the public launch of large-language models like ChatGPT and OpenAI in 2020, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gaining ground across a variety of private and public areas,  the prospect of not only facilitating mundane tasks but also revolutionising labor markets, research, medicine and militaries. The gilded age of …