ContextPresident Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met this week in Beijing, a summit originally scheduled for April and was stalled due to the ongoing US-Iran war. What was expected to be a reset moment for US-China relations was overshadowed by the Middle East conflict, which carries significant implications for the global economy. Conflict…
Context The Middle East’s contemporary realignment did not begin with the war between Iran and Israel, nor with Iranian strikes on U.S. bases across the Gulf. It began earlier, with the slow erosion of faith in a security order built on American primacy, Israeli military overmatch, and the assumption of Arab strategic compliance. The Israeli…
The Fragile Chessboard of South Asia’s New Reality A Shifting Regional Order In the aftermath of the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021—formalized through the Doha Accords of 2020—South Asia has entered an entirely new and volatile phase. The Taliban’s return to power, their continued lack of international recognition, and the deepening conflict along…
Trump, MBS, And The Remaking Of U.S.–Saudi Relations When Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi in December last year to attend the 23rd annual India-Russia summit, expectations were ripe for breakthrough agreements in energy and defense. Yet, despite the two countries agreeing to expand economic cooperation and reaffirming their “special and privileged strategic…
ContextAfter several rounds of intensive negotiations mediated by Qatar and Türkiye, Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to extend their ceasefire despite failing to achieve a major breakthrough. The decision followed a series of fierce cross-border clashes that caused heavy casualties on both sides. According to Türkiye’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both countries also consented to establish…
Gaza Plan and the Middle East Security Alignments Context U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed 20-point Gaza peace plan represents an ambitious attempt to reshape the strategic landscape of the Middle East by reframing the terms of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and subsuming regional security structures into a U.S.-led framework. Unlike previous mediation efforts, which sought to…
Trade Wars, Tariffs, and the New Realpolitik President Donald Trump’s second term has ushered in a foreign policy that departs sharply from the liberal internationalist consensus of the post–Cold War era. Instead of multilateralism and institution-building, the Trump administration has embraced transactional diplomacy, tariff-based leverage, and a CEO-style approach to global power. The guiding logic…
ContextAfghanistan’s strategic outlook is undergoing a dramatic overhaul amid escalating connectivity disputes, geopolitical realignments, and regional conflicts. The combined pressures of India–Pakistan instability, U.S. trade friction with India, Iran-Israel hostilities, and Pakistan’s rising diplomatic leverage are forcing Kabul into a balanced posture— nurturing Indian, Iranian, Chinese, and Pakistani ties while maintaining neutrality in broader conflicts….
Context The recent meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Field Marshal Asim Munir has stirred considerable global attention in particularly regarding what led to the meeting and what could have been discussed. It marks the first-ever instance of a sitting U.S. president holding a one-on-one meeting with Pakistan’s…
Context The recent brief yet intense escalation between India and Pakistan has further exposed the fragile nature of South Asia’s security landscape. The fourday-long tit-for-tat cross-border military confrontation between the two nuclear-armed rivals has significantly undermined prospects for normalization, redefining the rules of engagement and signaling a shift in how both countries may manage their…
