Blog Layout

Rewiring Eurasia: Mr. Patrushev goes to Tehran

The meeting this week between two Eurasian security bosses is a further step toward dusting away the west’s oversized Asian footprint. Two guys are hanging out in a cozy room in Tehran with a tantalizing new map of the world in the background. Nothing to see here? On the contrary. …

Read More »

How British intelligence weaponizes the Sunni clergy class

For decades, London has financed, trained, and sought to influence Islamic scholars, Imams, and their pious followers. The UK’s agenda is to mold Islamic influencers into promoting British narratives of the world. Leaked documents reviewed by The Cradle reveal the British Foreign Office is managing a number of covert projects …

Read More »

Defend. Resist. Repeat: Ukraine’s Lessons For European Defense – Analysis

Introduction Ukraine’s response to the Russian invasion holds vital lessons for the rest of Europe. Kyiv has placed cross-society resistance at the heart of its national defence, bringing all military and security agencies under a single command, assisted by support from the civilian population. Since 2014, the country has transformed …

Read More »

Iran-Made Drones Key To Russian Strategy – OpEd

Since Russia’s military strategy shifted to attack Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, Iran-manufactured unmanned aerial vehicles (UVAs) have been key to war effort. Gaining pace in October, Shahed-136 and Shahed-131 models have been used to target civilian buildings and have damaged about a third of the country’s power plants. For months, Tehran …

Read More »

US Needs To Play Larger Role As Swing Producer Of Oil And Gas in Current Crisis – Analysis

In response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, European nations have drastically reduced imports of crude oil, refined petroleum products, and natural gas from Russia. The 2021 levels of these energy imports were around 2.2 million barrels per day (mbd) of crude oil, 1.2 mbd of refined products, and 155 billion cubic meters (bcm) …

Read More »

Few-Friends Russia Embraces Iran – Analysis

Russia once viewed the G-20 group of leading economies as the world’s key cooperative forum. No longer. The November 15-16 meeting in Bali will not be attended by Vladimir Putin and there is therefore little chance that his isolation will be illustrated through face-to-face condemnations from Western leaders.  That’s not to say that Russia …

Read More »

Can Cyber Sovereignty Rein In Cyber Anarchy? – Analysis

In 1983 at Camp David, President Ronald Reagan watched the then new Hollywood thriller WarGames in which a teenager hacks into the North American Aerospace Defence Command causing World War III, prompting the shaken Reagan to ask, “Could something like this really happen?” Fast forward to 15 July 2022, the Albanian Government faced a cyberattack …

Read More »

As Russian Influence Plummets, China Capitalizes In Central Asia – Analysis

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has finally initiated its highly anticipated railway project to Uzbekistan. On the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit held in September 2022, the official decision was made to begin actively working on the railway (The Diplomat, September 26). This fits into trends …

Read More »

Yemen: Growing Uncertainty After The Ceasefire – Analysis

The UN-mediated ceasefire between the government and the Houthis in Yemen that began in April this year ended on 2 October as both sides could not agree to extend it further. The announcement of the ceasefire was intended to halt all military attacks, facilitate movement of fuel ships to Hodeida …

Read More »

Egyptians: We Do Not Want the Islamists to Return to Power

The Islamists, in other words, failed in their latest attempt to instigate unrest and violence in Egypt with the hope of returning to power. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and many other Egyptians seem to prefer less democracy and freedom of speech to the return of the Islamists to power. “The …

Read More »