China is expanding its amphibious military capabilities with an aim to “project power far from home,” Reuters reported this week, posing a challenge to America’s naval dominance. For decades, China’s main aspiration for its military was to secure its borders and dominate its coastal waters. But recent evidence suggests that …

French President Emmanuel Macron has clearly decided to up the ante in a standoff with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean, where France is backing Greece and Cyprus in their dispute with Ankara over natural gas reserves and maritime boundaries. First, Macron ordered a temporary reinforcement of French aerial and naval …

On July 24, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined thousands of worshippers in the streets around the historic Hagia Sophia in Istanbul for a doubly symbolic moment. Surrounded by a swarm of politicians, soldiers, security forces and imams, the Turkish leader made his way into the giant, former Byzantine cathedral …

Germany has accused Russia of seeking provocation with its troop buildup in the occupied Crimean Peninsula and along the border with Ukraine, while rejecting Moscow’s claim that it was responding to threats from NATO. “My impression is that the Russian side is trying everything to provoke a reaction,” German Defense …

An alleged act of sabotage against a key Iranian nuclear site appears to have complicated newly launched negotiations aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. Two days after the attack — which Iran has blamed on Israel –Tehran announced it will start enriching uranium at 60 percent purity, higher than …

The plan to pull troops from Afghanistan could give terrorist groups like al-Qaida and Islamic State a chance to regenerate the capabilities they would need to carry out an attack against the United States, according to top U.S. intelligence officials. Their warning, coming the same day U.S. President Joe Biden …

Revelations the Hungarian government is considering taking a huge, opaque and disadvantageous Chinese loan to pay for the construction of Fudan University’s new Budapest campus shows the depths that Orban’s Fidesz is willing to kowtow to Beijing. When Hungary’s top diplomat openly criticised the EU for sanctioning some of the …

Despite the West’s growing suspicions about China, its role in the Western Balkans is likely to become even more central in the post-COVID-19 era. The global public has never talked as much about China as it has during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 struck China first, causing mayhem in Hubei Province. …

The involvement of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his Vetevendosje party in backing opposition candidates in Albania’s elections risks creating divisions between the two countries when they should be working together to tackle the pandemic. Members of Kosovo’s government and MPs from the ruling Vetevendosje party headed to neighbouring …

Montenegro’s technocrat government made big promises when it took power in December, but it is struggling to retain the support of the parliamentary majority that voted it into office. Voted into office by a parliamentary majority comprising three political blocs, Montenegro’s technocrat government finds its hands tied by that same …