By Mehmet Enes Beşer People often call ASEAN the “central” player in the region — a forum that helps Southeast Asia avoid getting caught up in the games of bigger powers. But behind the rituals of summit diplomacy, one problem keeps coming back, and ASEAN has never really cracked it: leadership. Not charismatic, personality-driven leadership, but the sort that can ...

The biggest development during the past week was not merely the announcement of Saudi Arabia’s proposal, but the joint statement formally endorsing the creation of the coalition. According to the joint declaration issued after the inaugural meeting in Riyadh, 14 countries agreed to establish what they described as a “framework for maritime defense cooperation.” The founding participants are Saudi Arabia, ...

By Elshad Mirbashiroglu, Member of Parliament of Azerbaijan (6th Term) The international conference entitled “The Alliance to Prevent a Great War,” organized by the World Civilizations Initiative Research Center, was held at the Meyra Palace Hotel in Ankara on 18–19 July 2026. UWI will present the speeches held on the conference during the coming days. The conference, which featured presentations ...

Energy pipelines have never been merely engineering projects. Throughout the modern history of the Middle East, they have served as instruments of geopolitical influence, strategic leverage and regional power projection. Every major pipeline has reshaped political calculations as much as it has redirected the flow of oil. The decision by Iraq and Syria to revive the historic Kirkuk–Baniyas oil pipeline ...

By Mehmet Enes Beşer Every time the “New Silk Road” comes up, the conversation always drifts toward trains, ports, highways, and cables. Everyone seems to think it’s just a giant construction project. But honestly, that misses what’s really going on. The real question is who’s in charge—who sets the rules, who gets the upper hand, and who finds themselves dependent ...

By Ali Özgündüz, former Member of Turkish Parliament The international conference entitled “The Alliance to Prevent a Great War,” organized by the World Civilizations Initiative Research Center, was held at the Meyra Palace Hotel in Ankara on 18–19 July 2026. UWI will present the speeches held on the conference during the coming days. The conference, which featured presentations by speakers ...

By Yıldıran Acar, Political Scientist The targeting of civilian tankers in the Black Sea, which play a critical role in Kazakhstan’s energy exports, has once again highlighted the war’s repercussions extending beyond the front line. As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues, energy supply, maritime trade and transport security are increasingly becoming the focus of geopolitical competition. In the ...

By Mehmet Enes Beşer Rare earths are the kind of material you never think about—right up until you can’t stop thinking about them. They sit inside the stuff we now treat as normal: EV motors, wind turbines, missile guidance, medical scanners, smartphones, factory robots. Tiny inputs, huge consequences. And in the Indo-Pacific, they’ve become a simple, uncomfortable test: can we ...

As is always his habit, US President Donald Trump seems to draw from a well fundamentally different from that of his predecessors. Consequently, all his political stances and decisions appear as a rebellion against the constraints that bound the occupants of the White House for decades. At times, he looks like a rebel with no respect for the legacy of ...

By Aleksandr Galushka, Former Minister for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, President, “Kristall Rosta” Foundation, Russia The international conference entitled “The Alliance to Prevent a Great War,” organized by the World Civilizations Initiative Research Center, was held at the Meyra Palace Hotel in Ankara on 18–19 July 2026. UWI will present the speeches held on the ...