August, 2025

• 24 August

  The ‘slow genocide’ in the West Bank—Palestinian speaks out

  “Every day there is a new demolition operation. Every day settlers take more and more land. Every day there is violence. ” Gaza is not the only focus of Israel’s terror regime. In the West Bank, settlers and the Israeli occupation is destroying the lives of Palestinians. Mahmoud lives in …

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• 24 August

  Pro-Kremlin network targets Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan with disinformation campaign

  

  On May 30, multiple media platforms published the news that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had bought a luxurious villa overlooking Marseille for 3.1 million euros ($3.6 million). The articles claimed that, in order to purchase the property, Pashinyan had misappropriated funds from the French Development Agency (AFD) and the …

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• 24 August

  Five Gaza children feared abducted by Israeli forces while seeking aid

  

  At least five Palestinian boys have gone missing in recent weeks while searching for food aid in northern Gaza, raising alarm among families and rights groups who fear they have been abducted by Israeli forces. The disappearances happened in the Zikim border area between 24 June and 2 August, according …

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• 24 August

  Iraqi Militias Come Under Pressure to Demobilize

  

  Bottom Line Up Front Amid major setbacks for Iran and its Axis of Resistance, Iraq’s political leaders are trying to gain firm control over militias that are duly constituted forces but act outside the national chain of command.An armed clash at a government building between security forces and militia commanders …

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• 24 August

  Syria aid workers abducted en route to Sweida

  Five aid workers have been abducted in Syria while delivering supplies to the besieged province of Sweida this week, in what their colleagues told The National was an alarming development. On Monday, seven of eight vehicles carrying privately donated aid from the Damascus suburb of Jaramana were ambushed and looted …

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• 24 August

  Iran Update, August 22, 2025

  

  Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary Ali Larijani gave an interview on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s website on August 22 in which he discussed Iran’s post-war defense and considerations for future conflicts.[1] Larijani warned that adversaries may seek new opportunities to attack Iran and that Iran must correct its defensive …

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• 24 August

  Russia’s Geopolitical Turn Post-Ukraine War

  

  We must look at how the war has reshaped Moscow’s concept of international relations and global power projection if we are to appreciate Russia’s changing geopolitical strategy in the post-Ukraine war era. Since the beginning of the war with Ukraine, Russia’s strategic thought has radically changed, as Russian policymakers realized …

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• 24 August

  Trump Must Put ‘Extra Heat’ on Putin, Diplomat Who Knows the Russian says

  

  The attire may have been unusual. But the message was unmistakable. When Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov showed up last week at the Alaska Summit between President Trump and Vladimir Putin, there was no shortage of double takes when onlookers noticed he was wearing a grey sweatshirt with the letters …

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• 24 August

  Ukraine Will Not Be a Pawn

  

  For almost everyone involved, the diplomacy around ending the war in Ukraine seems to be an exercise in faking it till they make it. Russian President Vladimir Putin is pretending he wants peace. U.S. President Donald Trump is riding along with him, pretending (or perhaps truly thinking) that Putin is …

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• 24 August

  By Land or by Sea: Continental Power, Maritime Power, and the Fight for a New World Order

  

  Great-power competition once again defines international relations. But the exact contours of today’s contest remain the subject of debate. Some observers emphasize ideological precedents from the Cold War. Others focus on changing military balances. Still others highlight leaders and their choices. In truth, modern conflicts over the international system flow …

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