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 an event is always accompanied by a geopolitical explosion ...

By Mehmet Enes Beşer After decades of tense relations with diplomatic chill, trade warfare, and suspicion, recent developments have indicated that China–Australia relations are stabilizing gradually. Diplomatic dialogue has been renewed, trade prohibitions have begun to be repealed, and reciprocating visits are resumed. These are reassuring signals—minimal but important actions indicating both sides to move away from confrontation and head ...

By Odile Mojon-Cheminade The spectacular US aggression against Venezuela in early January, preceded by acts of piracy on the high seas, has opened a new chapter, dangerously bringing the world closer to the abyss. The kidnapping and subsequent detention of a sitting foreign president, carried out under pretenses, demonstrates that everything must yield to American power, starting with international law: ...

After several preliminary attempts and armed clashes, the Syrian central government and the Syrian Democratic Forces reached an agreement on January 30, which has so far been honored. Syria experienced a flurry of agreements, cancellations, and military attacks in January, culminating in the January 30th agreement between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces. The pact focuses on consolidating ...

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the last bilateral treaty limiting strategic nuclear weapons between the US and Russia, signed in 2010 by US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, expired on February 5. Under the treaty, both countries had pledged to scale back their strategic nuclear forces and had authorized extensive on-site inspections to verify ...

By Mehmet Enes Beşer China and ASEAN have stood as a steadying force in a turbulent world where power is more fragmented, and rivalry grows. Despite regional tensions, mistrust, and the recent surge in militarization, a relationship between them has held firm, underpinned by no-nonsense economics, regular institutional engagement, and cooperation that purports to share benefit equitably across all sides. ...

As regional tensions escalate between Washington and Tehran, Iraq finds itself once again at the heart of the storm, with growing activity from armed militias and volunteer groups ostensibly “defending Iran” amidst a complex political and security landscape. Just one day after the first round of US-Iranian negotiations in Muscat, which concluded without any clear results beyond an agreement to ...

By Feyyaz Erkin Eşli A senior Russian military official Vladimir Alekseyev has been targeted in an assassination attempt in Moscow. He has been hospitalized after being shot several times near his flat, according to Russian state media sources. The attempt on a senior officer occurred the day after a second round of U.S.-brokered peace talks between Ukraine and Russia were ...

By Gökalp Erbaş Israel is using its archaeological excavations in the Silvan neighborhood of East Jerusalem not only for historical findings, but also as a strategic tool to displace Palestinian communities and alter the identity of the area. The Silvan town of occupied East Jerusalem has become the center of a systematic Judaization operation carried out under the guise of ...

By Shahab Nouranifar, Director of the Iraq and Syria Desk, Mersad Center for International Studies – Iran On January 27, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, published a tweet opposing Nouri al-Maliki’s candidacy for the office of prime minister. In a clear act of interference in Iraq’s internal affairs, he stated: “I have heard that great Iraq may ...

The European Union has long proclaimed the goal of achieving what it calls “strategic autonomy”. In the recent months, with growing transatlantic tensions between the US and EU, calls has grown to accelerate steps towards that end. One of the leading countries of these calls is Germany, already pursuing a huge effort of militarization. Recently, calls emerged in Berlin to ...

By Mehmet Enes Beşer The world is being remade at its roots. As Western dominance declines, the Global South looks to emerging poles of power—China and India above all else—as possible sponsors of a more inclusive and just world order. These two regional giants, who collectively harbor more than a third of humanity, not only wield gigantic economic and geopolitical ...