Blog Layout

Chokepoint Checkers: Iran’s Strait Of Hormuz Gambit – Analysis

In the aftermath of the coordinated United States (US)-Israel airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Islamic Parliament of Iran passed a resolution recommending a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz—a 32-kilometre-wide passageway between Iran and Oman that opens in the Arabian Sea. Although the final decision rests with Iran’s Supreme …

Read More »

Russian FSB raids Syktyvkar cultural center in treason case amid wave of searches targeting journalists and activists

Agents from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) raided the independent cultural space Revolt Center in Syktyvkar, the capital of the Komi Republic, on Tuesday morning. According to the Telegram channel Novaya Respublika, officers also searched the homes of the center’s staff, “from managers to baristas.” The raids are reportedly linked …

Read More »

‘The Rotenbergs invested heavily in him’

Roman Starovoit, Russia’s former transport minister, was officially dismissed from his post on July 7. That very evening, news broke that he had died by suicide. Investigators say his body was found with a gunshot wound inside his personal vehicle in the Moscow region. Before his appointment to the Transport …

Read More »

What Comes Next: Iran’s Options After US Strikes On Its Nuclear Sites

US air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities have upended the already tense standoff between Tehran, Washington, and Israel, raising urgent questions about what comes next — and just how far Iran might go in its retaliation. Tehran faces the difficult task of crafting a response that is neither too weak …

Read More »

With Iran Weakened by US and Israel, ISIS Rejoices and Resurges

While uncertainty lingers in the wake of President Donald Trump’s surprise ceasefire announcement in a war that has raged between Iran and Israel—and drawn in direct U.S. intervention—another archnemesis of Tehran lurks in the shadows. The Islamic State militant group (ISIS) operates both east and west of Iran and has …

Read More »

Stateless Fighters, Stated Goals: Syria’s Precarious Balancing Act

The fall of the Assad regime in December 2024 has not ended Syria’s security challenges, as episodes of sectarian violence and Islamic State resurgence persist, exacerbated by foreign fighters embedded within fragmented militia networks. Initial international efforts to expel foreign fighters fell short, leading to a policy shift toward integrating …

Read More »

Iran-Israel Conflict Shifts Regional Geopolitics

The Iran-Israel conflict confirmed a shift in the regional balance of power away from Iran, but might set the stage for further combat. U.S. and Israeli officials have defined a “new normal” in which either will take further military action if Iran tries to advance its nuclear program. Gulf and …

Read More »

What U.S. Diplomats Thought After Meeting Syria’s Jihadist-Turned-Statesman Ahmad al-Sharaa

Less than two weeks after rebel forces led by Ahmad al-Sharaa ousted Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, a U.S. State Department delegation arrived in Damascus to talk with the country’s new leader. It was a meeting few could have predicted. Roughly a decade earlier, the U.S. had declared al-Sharaa — …

Read More »

West Bank: Israeli forces arrest, injure Palestinians in raids as settlers also attack

The West Bank on Sunday witnessed heightened levels of Israeli violence with arrests, vows to continue home demolitions and settler attacks. Israeli forces carried out a series of raids on the occupied West Bank early on Sunday, arresting and injuring almost a dozen Palestinians, including children. In the Hebron governorate, …

Read More »