The modern international system is no longer characterized by the conflicts based on the territorial boundaries but the tensions concerning the strategic routes that support the global economy. Among them, there is a revival of maritime chokepoints as an essential arena of power rivalry. The more recent uproar …
Read More »War First, Diplomacy Later: How the Iran Conflict Is Rewriting the U.S.–China
The postponement of a high-stakes summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping is more than a scheduling delay. It is a signal—quiet but consequential—that global diplomacy is being reordered by war. What was meant to be a carefully choreographed meeting in Beijing, following cautiously optimistic trade talks in …
Read More »Iran Expands the War—and Exposes the Illusion of Trump’s Control
The war between Iran, the United States, and Israel has crossed a dangerous threshold. What was once framed as a contained confrontation has now spilled decisively into the Gulf, as Tehran expands its strikes to include U.S.-aligned states. Attacks on energy infrastructure in Fujairah and Abu Dhabi are …
Read More »The Iran-Israel Conflict Enters a Dangerous New Phase
The war between Iran and Israel has escalated beyond what anyone could have anticipated, transforming from targeted strikes into a broader regional conflagration. Each attack now provokes a harsher retaliation, while diplomatic efforts to contain the violence are increasingly ignored. The human and economic toll is mounting, and …
Read More »Riyadh Takes the Helm: Can Arab Diplomacy Contain the Iran War?
Saudi Arabia has positioned itself at the center of regional diplomacy as it hosts a high-level consultative meeting of foreign ministers from across the Arab and Islamic world in Riyadh. The aim is clear: to address the growing instability unleashed by the ongoing conflict with Iran—a war that …
Read More »Strategic Decapitation: How U.S. Strikes Are Reshaping Iran’s Leadership
Since February 28, a coordinated series of strikes by the United States and Israel has targeted the upper echelons of Iran’s leadership, representing one of the most significant and deliberate assaults on the Islamic Republic in decades. These operations, carried out amid ongoing nuclear talks mediated by Oman, …
Read More »Why These Islands Are the Key to the Strait of Hormuz
Abdulla Al Junaid Capturing the Kharg, Qeshm, Abu Musa, and Tunb Islands would untangle Tehran’s stranglehold on the Persian Gulf. The ongoing US-Israeli operations against Iran, while so far tactically successful, will not achieve Iran’s capitulation unless Tehran loses its most potent weapon: control over the Strait of …
Read More »The US Still Needs an Iran War Strategy
Lawrence J. Haas The US’ tactical successes against Iran would have a greater effect if they served broader objectives. The US military campaign against Iran is both long overdue and impressive. Washington is finally striking back wholeheartedly against a regime that’s been at war with the United States …
Read More »How the Iran War Will Accelerate Iran’s Nuclear Program
Mohammed Ayoob The lesson that Tehran will take away from this conflict is that it needs an ironclad deterrent in the form of a nuclear weapon. The primary objective of the war now unfolding following the attack by Israel and the United States on Iran is clear: preventing …
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