By Mehmet Enes Beşer The second term of President Donald Trump signals the dawn of a new era in US-Japan relations, with opportunities and challenges. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s government has the daunting task of reconciling security commitments with economic interests, while adjusting to meet the evolving Indo-Pacific dynamics. Security Cooperation: Deepening the Alliance The US-Japan alliance has long been ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer As a region ever more characterized by strategic realignment and multipolar competition, growing defense cooperation between the Philippines and Japan has garnered international attention—and no small degree of controversy. The February 2025 meeting between Philippine Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, which resulted in enhanced military-technical and surveillance cooperation, has been touted ...
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 infrastructure in reaction to a demanding China. While as Indo-Pacific geostrategic stakes mount—around Taiwan, in the ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer New Zealand foreign policy has long been a balance between being close friends and maintaining sovereignty. In an age of heightening geopolitical rivalries, most prominently between China and the United States, New Zealand must steer the intricate challenge of balancing its security interests with long-time allies while reorienting towards high-level economic relations with China. This research ...
Despite a mutual agreement not to target energy infrastructure, the Ukrainian army launched an attack on the Sudzha natural gas distribution station located in Russia’s Kursk region. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reacted saying “This news clearly shows how trustworthy Zelenskyy, and his team really are”. The Russian Ministry of Defense described the attack as “a deliberate provocation by the Kyiv ...
UWI author, historian and political scientist Mehmet Perinçek shared his views with Sputnik Türkiye on Türkiye’s application for membership in BRICS. The interview was translated into English by UWI. “Türkiye’s joining in the Eurasian front will drastically change the balance of power in the world” Mehmet Perinçek emphasized that Türkiye’s future should lie in the “geography where rising economies are”. ...
By Onur Sinan Güzaltan UWI author, political scientist Onur Sinan Güzaltan gave an interview to Russia Today France on the Türkiye’s application to join the BRICS. We present the interview translated into English. What is the point for Türkiye to join the BRICS? There are several reasons. Geographically, Türkiye is an Asian country and has strong relations with countries like ...
By Gökalp Erbaş The foreign agent law, as it is known in the public opinion, appears under different names and scopes in the laws of each country where it is in force. Although it came into force in the Russian Federation in 2012 and a similar law was discussed in Ukraine in 2014, it is actually a much older law. ...
By Mohammed Sabreen It has become clear that the successive developments in the Middle East region imposed “urgent needs” on the countries of the Middle East. These were translated into intense consultations between the major countries in the region on the Palestinian issue, and the Gaza war came to highlight a rare moment of harmony between these countries regarding the ...
By Mansoor Faizy* In a dramatic move on August 15, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan for the second time as they stepped into the Presidential Palace in Kabul. The historical palace has remained the center of power and the tug-of-war over it has been going on since the nineteenth century. From Emir Abdur Rehman to the Western-backed Ashraf Ghani, ...