Ukraine’s minerals have become central to global geopolitics, with the US president, Donald Trump, seeking a deal with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky to access them. But what are these minerals exactly and why are they so sought after? Ukraine is often recognised for its vast agricultural lands and industrial heritage, …

The report “NATO-2030”, presented in early December in Brussels, recognizes Russia as the main threat to the coming decade. The alliance is moving to a deterrence strategy characteristic of the Cold War. Military columnist Alexander Golts believes that the unity of the West is especially evident against the background of …

Operation Iron Wall comes as an advanced episode of the war in the Gaza Strip, and part of the Israeli Prime Minister’s previous promises to redraw the features of the Middle East. This is evident through a series of Israeli measures aimed at re-engineering the Palestinian and Syrian geography, spatially …

Mounted atop a former warehouse in Hamburg’s industrial-era docklands, the billowing form of the Elbphilharmonie concert hall rises above Germany’s second-largest city like an ocean wave. The glass-panelled building crowns a new, forward-looking section of the city, a modern and elegant counterpoint to the seedy Reeperbahn nearby. Built with the …

“And are we not guilty of offensive disparagement in calling chess a game? Is it not also a science and an art, hovering between those categories as Muhammad’s coffin hovered between heaven and earth, a unique link between pairs of opposites: ancient yet eternally new.” Once again, Stefan Zweig got …

Any talk of negotiating a new nuclear agreement—before Iran meets strict preconditions—is a dangerous mistake. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington marked an important moment in US-Israel relations. As the first foreign leader received by President Trump in this new phase of his presidency, Netanyahu was welcomed with …

Russian forces are collapsing the northern part of the Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast following several days of intensified Russian activity in the area. Geolocated footage published on March 8 indicates that Russian forces seized Novaya Sorochina (northwest of Sudzha), Malaya Loknya (just south of Novaya Sorochina), and Lebedevka (south …

He may have said it out of conviction or perhaps to please Rawalpindi. But by demanding that former army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa “must be questioned about why he resettled these [Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP] militants,” Pakistan Defence Minister Khwaja Asif could well have unwittingly annoyed the top brass …

When the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the world watched with bated breath. Would this radical regime, after two decades of insurgency, succeed in transforming itself from a militant force to a functioning government? The answer is becoming increasingly clear: the Taliban’s fragile grip on power is …

The Indo-Pacific, a vast and geopolitically significant region stretching from the east coast of Africa to the Pacific Islands, has emerged as a focal point of global technological evolution. At the heart of this transformation lies artificial intelligence (AI), a disruptive force reshaping economic, security, and strategic dynamics. As countries …