Pakistan is trying to sell itself as the southern hinge of Central Asia’s access to warm waters at the exact moment militant networks and militant propaganda are advertising their intent to rupture that hinge. By Dure Akram, from Lahore / Pakistan The latest UN sanctions-monitoring report puts a hard edge on a question the region has tried to keep diplomatic: ...

Interview with Professor Barış Adıbelli from the Dumlupınar University in Türkiye US Vice-president J.D. Vance conducted a two-day-visit to the South Caucasus, meeting with the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. During both visits, the US signed fundamental agreements with its counterparts. In Armenia, cooperation on nuclear energy and the sales of drones were agreed upon. ...

More Than Neighbors By Mehmet Enes Beşer In a world that is grappling with an evolving geopolitics order—defined by frayed multilateralism, economic nationalism, and intensifying great-power competition—the evolving China-Vietnam relationship has another tale to tell. Too often seen in the narrow context of their border conflicts and historical challenges, Sino-Vietnamese relations are being constructed in low-key style as a pragmatically ...

The strengthening of the security and military camp in managing the country may, in the coming months, extend into the economic sphere as well. Over the past year, Iran has been going through an extremely turbulent period. A full-scale 12-day war—which, despite the killing of senior Iranian military commanders, ultimately turned into a powerful demonstration of Iran’s missile capabilities and ...

Indonesia has consistently championed the rights of peoples since the 1955 Bandung Conference. By Ahmed Mahmoud, Columist & managing editor at Ahram Online This title leaped to mind as I sat down to write this article about the roundtable discussion organized by the Hiwar Center for Political and Media Studies and the Embassy of Indonesia in Cairo. I had the ...

Bridges Over Balance Sheets By Mehmet Enes Beşer The United States likes to cite one number boastfully in its relations with Southeast Asia: it is still ASEAN’s single largest foreign investor. On paper, the statistic verifies Washington’s economic significance to a place that is central to global trade and geopolitics. Behind the balance sheets, however, is a more nuanced—and growingly ...

But Japan’s real test is just beginning. Here’s why. By Orçun Göktürk, President of the Turkish-Chinese Studies Center, from Beijing / China The elections in Japan have concluded. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) once again managed to remain at the center of the system and secured a victory that strengthened its power beyond expectations. The coalition led by the Liberal ...

Israel’s goals and threats, US pressure, and Iran’s survival instinct. By Adem Kılıç, Political Scientist/Writer Although it is only the second month of 2026, the world continues to witness events that are reshaping the entire global system. Following events that marked the first month of 2026, such as those in Greenland and Venezuela, the global system is now preparing to ...

The discussion has split the party mainly into two camps. It is no secret that the Trump administration supports nationalist right-wing parties across Europe. Trump, Musk, and numerous figures from the US administration have openly expressed their support in various meetings and statements, and continue to do so. Now, one of those parties, the AfD, is going through an internal ...

The relation is one of strategy-driven trust, politics-driven comfort, and development-driven pragmatism. By Mehmet Enes Beşer As President Xi Jinping’s Southeast Asian tour in last year makes headlines, it is the symbolism rather than the content of his meeting that contradicts the Chinese leadership’s priorities in the region. Among the highlights is China’s enhanced partnership with Cambodia. China’s ideology diplomacy, ...

Interview to Turkish daily newspaper Aydınlık. France’s recent flurry of diplomacy in Damascus, Baghdad and Erbil has prompted commentary suggesting a potential move toward the country’s “lasting presence” in Syria. On February 5, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot visited Damascus, Baghdad and Erbil in a day. Especially Barrot’s meetings with Kurdistan Regional Government President Nechirvan Barzani and PKK/YPG leader Mazlum ...

In today’s Middle East, security is an indivisible commodity. By Mohammad Reza Moradi, General Director of Mehr News Agency’s Foreign Languages and International News Department, from Tehran / Iran Strategic analysts know well that the collapse or severe weakening of a key actor in an unstable region such as the Middle East never leads to a simple power vacuum. Such ...