Eurasia

5 Traps for Trump and Xi

At Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Xi Jinping put a question to Donald Trump, the answer to which has profound consequences not only for China and the U.S., but the whole world. “Can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm of major …

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Iran-Backed Houthis Assist Resurgent Somali Pirates

The western section of the Indian Ocean, with its key trade routes and its maritime chokepoints, has faced no shortage of crises between disruptions caused by the Houthis in Yemen and their backers in the Islamic Republic of Iran. That situation has now been compounded by a returning Somali pirate …

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Iran Update Special Report, May 14, 2026

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and The Critical Threats Project (CTP) at the American Enterprise Institute are publishing daily updates to provide analysis on the war with Iran. The updates focus on US and Israeli strikes on Iran and Iran and the Axis of Resistance’s response to …

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Iran Update Special Report, May 12, 2026

Key Takeaways Iran’s consistent pursuit of international recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz reinforces ISW-CTP’s previous assessment that Iran views control of the waterway as its most important tool of deterrence against future US or allied military action, because such recognition would allow it to restrict activity …

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