As political brinkmanship escalates after Kashmir’s tragedy, the real victims may be the rivers we drink from, the crops we rely on, and the air we breathe. by Dure Akram, from Lahore / Pakistan The Baisaran Valley, Kashmir, should have been a place of laughter. Instead, it became a killing ground. On April 22, tourists were gunned down at point-blank ...

Japan doesn’t seek to confront China directly, but it will so do if driven to it. By Mehmet Enes Beşer Japan’s foreign policy in the 21st century is in the midst of a tectonic change. No longer influenced by its pacifist constitution and intimate alliance with the United States, Japan now is reasserting its strategic autonomy and revamping its security ...

A historic perspective on the US President’s tariff policy. By Michael Roberts * President Donald Trump implemented his new range of tariffs on US imports called reciprocal tariffs. In addition to those announced last Wednesday (Liberation day), Trump included an extra levy on Chinese imports in retaliation to China’s decision to impose a 34% tariff on US imports, which in turn was ...

I believe that Arab countries should give a strong push to dialogue and openness with Iran. By Mohamed Sabreen, from Cairo / Egypt The Middle East is once again awakening to the wisdom of American political maestro Henry Kissinger: “To be an enemy of the United States is dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.” Middle Eastern countries must ...

ASEAN has traditionally enjoyed regional stability through diplomacy and consistency. Yet, with transnational crime, stability cannot be achieved through silence or soft coordination. By Mehmet Enes Beşer Southeast Asia is a center of global trade, digital technology, and urban growth. But it is increasingly also at the epicenter of transnational crime. From cyber-enabled fraud and human trafficking to drugs, environmental ...

New bill in Georgia to ban LGBT marches and events At the beginning of April, a new bill was submitted to the Georgian Parliament aiming to ban LGBT marches and events. Speaking about the bill, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili stated that the proposal was “initiated and signed” by Georgian citizens. Previously, on October 3, 2024, Georgia had enacted the ...

The era of single-market dependence is over By Dure Akram, Lahore / Pakistan Pakistan’s economy is feeling the pinch of U.S. protectionism after President Trump’s sweeping tariffs imposed a blanket 10 percent tariff on all U.S. imports, coupled with a punitive 29 percent surcharge on Pakistani goods—despite a modest $3 billion surplus with America—prompting Islamabad to scramble for relief. The ...

Between Sea and Strategy By Mehmet Enes Beşer In a more divided world in which global power balances are changing, and regional tensions are mounting, Japan again stands at a strategy fork. The decision it faces is both of the past and of the present: Will it adhere to an increasingly outdated security framework rooted in neo-realist power politics, or ...

The effects and possible repercussions of the developments in Syria on Western Asia. By Onur Sinan Güzaltan The US and Israel have won the first act of the war in Syria. As a result of the civil war they provoked in 2011, they succeeded in toppling the Bashar al-Assad government in December 2024. The power was taken over by al-Julani, ...

The global setting in front of the old continent with Trump’s presidency. By Ali Rıza Taşdelen As international dynamics shift toward a multipolar world and a new global order emerges, the EU is becoming increasingly isolated. Being in a geopolitically and geostrategically fragile position, the EU finds itself floundering, anxious, and in search of its place in the face of ...