The 12-day Israel-Iran war (June 13-25) marked a major escalation in the Middle East’s geostrategic landscape. It started with Israel launching attacks on Iran’s nuclear […]
Category: Middle East
Gaza’s Fragile Ceasefire is a Test of U.S. Leadership
It was meant to be the beginning of calm after one of the most devastating wars Gaza has ever seen. On October 9, U.S. President […]
Ambiguity as strategy: The Saudi-Pakistan defence deal causes a stir
On 17 September 2025, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia formalised a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) in Riyadh, under which aspects of defence cooperation between the two countries will be […]
Türkiye’s Steel Dome: Redefining Air Defence and Strategic Autonomy
Recent decades have witnessed a transformation in the notion of national security, wherein conventional military capabilities are increasingly complemented by high-tech defence systems. The face […]
Iran’s Strategic Calculus: Between Survival and Influence
Iran’s regional security strategy has long been a subject of debate among scholars of international politics and Middle Eastern affairs. Iran often projects itself through […]
The Saudi Arabia–Pakistan Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement and Its Implications for Iran’s Security Outlook
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan formalised their longstanding security cooperation through the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement on September 17. Though the agreement is primarily being seen […]
The Anatomy of Saudi-Pakistan Defense Agreement: The Timing, the Message and the Noise
In an argument on what collective security really means, the influential realist thinker Hans Morgenthau remarked, it means “One for all and all for one”. This […]
The Qatar Strike and the Illusions of Gulf Security
It is often said that the only predictability about the Middle East’s geopolitics is its unpredictability, and yet what has remained remarkably consistent is the […]
Review of Ahmed Rashid’s “Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia”
As the United States withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in 2021 after two decades of fighting the Afghan Taliban following the 2001 invasion, it ironically […]
Russia-Taliban Relations: A Strategic Embrace or a Risky Gamble?
On July 3rd, Russia announced its decision to formally recognise the Afghan Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) regime as the country’s legitimate government. This […]