Last month, Beijing hosted the deputy foreign ministers of Iran and Russia to discuss the future of Tehran’s nuclear program. Following the summit, the three countries called on the international community to abandon sanctions as a means for pressuring Iran to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions. This approach markedContinue Reading
As the world is grappling with the shocks of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Mongolia finds itself reflecting on the implications of a second Trump presidency – not as an abstract geopolitical puzzle but as a small democracy navigating life between two resurgent authoritarian powers. Trump’s first presidencyContinue Reading
March marked the fourth year that Afghan girls were told their minds are still unwanted, and that education for any female over 12 was still impossible. Their tears and acts of self-harm are unheeded. International attention is now aimed at papering over the problem. In the same month, in NewContinue Reading
The fate of the Caspian Sea hangs in the balance. A vital and irreplaceable natural treasure, the world’s largest landlocked body of water is being plundered in secrecy, its future dictated by international oil and gas giants operating behind closed doors. This opaque system, facilitated by the Ministry of Energy,Continue Reading
The inaugural Central Asia-European Union Summit and the International Climate Forum – held in Samarkand last week and attended by EU leaders António Costa and Ursula von der Leyen alongside the heads of the five Central Asian nations – stood out as a significant moment amid today’s turbulent global context.Continue Reading
Since the devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar two weeks ago, the official death toll now exceeds 3,600 – and the real number is likely to be much higher. Many ancient cultural and religious sites have been completely destroyed. Homes have collapsed. Thousands of people are sleeping in the open airContinue Reading
It’s been three and a half years since the Taliban resumed power in Afghanistan. Unrelenting in the pursuit of profit and control, the Taliban have repeatedly marketed themselves as the best guarantors of stability, but their claims are regularly disproven by their actions. Lies, extremism, violence, and graft remain centralContinue Reading
The Sarawak state government’s announcement in February that it will no longer grant provisional leases to palm oil companies is hugely significant for Indigenous peoples and their forests. Previously, the state government granted “provisional” leases to palm oil and timber companies to develop plantations before the state had surveyed theContinue Reading
The geopolitical shock of Trump’s second presidency has gripped Australia – but it was a long time coming. China’s rise has upended our strategic environment. The war in Ukraine showed the contours of a world in which might is right. Trump 2.0 has marked the arrival of the new worldContinue Reading
In a surprising and unexpected move, the United States recently removed the names of three top leaders of the Haqqani Network – Sirajuddin Haqqani, Yahya Haqqani, and Aziz Haqqani – from its “Rewards for Justice” program. This list had previously offered large cash rewards for information leading to the captureContinue Reading
