As most people around the world prepare to say farewell to 2021 and herald the arrival of 2022 with optimism for a prosperous year ahead, it is worth looking into a few predictions and possibilities regarding Iran. Economy If you suppose the proposed budget bill of Ebrahim Raisi’s government could …

It has become widely accepted that the convergence of technological advances is leading to a revolution in military affairs or perhaps even a military revolution.1 One of the unanswered questions concerning this shift is whether it will lead to continued dominance by the offense or a period of defensive dominance. …

China’s regime has bought America’s academic community and turned it against America. “This case is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what needs to be done by the U.S. government to penetrate and prosecute China’s co-option of America’s academia.” — Kerry Gershaneck, the author of Political Warfare: …

The Iran-China 25-Year Cooperation Programme, signed in March in Tehran, was paid little attention by the mainstream media. The vague and broad text of the leaked draft agreement from the year prior and the absence of attention made it look like every other agreement for cultural cooperation between two countries. …

This July, as the COVID-19 pandemic pressed on for a second year, Xi Jinping had a clear message to deliver to the world in his speech honoring the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s founding. “We will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress, or subjugate us,” China’s …

Moscow is pleased with the results of the new phone talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden, Putin’s aide has said. Putin has, however, warned the US against escalating Russia sanctions policy. In a statement released after the phone talks between the Russian leader and his …

Will the United States (US) adopt the No First Use (NFU) policy? Those who had followed the Presidential/election campaign of Joe Biden and who generally read the formal and rhetorical statements of the leaders as truth, seemed optimistic. However, a closer scrutiny matched with the harsher reality or dynamics of …

Olaf Scholz, who succeeded Angela Merkel as chancellor on December 8, pledged [in a telephone call with China’s President Xi Jinping] to strengthen economic ties with China, but he failed to mention human rights or the destruction of democracy in Hong Kong. The telephone call will disappoint those who had …

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India has bridged some recent policy gaps between Moscow and New Delhi, but structural problems will continue to bedevil the relationship demanding a very calibrated approach to bilateral ties from both countries. The structural problems embedded in the uncertain international situation are reflected in …

On 24 December 2021, after procrastinating for more than a month, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno finally announced his country’s decision to not send a government delegation to the Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022. This follows a US-led move to boycott the Olympics to protest human rights violations …