Articles

The proposed military branch is not just a stunt or a campaign promise. It is a path to a better future.

History has shown that a U.S. policy that relies on Chinese pressure on North Korea will fail, and that progress toward peace can only be achieved despite Beijing’s involvement, not because of it.

Suddenly, Russia has emerged as the Middle East's indispensable nation.

Just how durable is the Iranian economy, really? As the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran marks its one-year anniversary, that’s the question many policymakers in Washington are asking.

On November 5th, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani announced that his government was planning to restart sensitive nuclear work prohibited under the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

On the heels of his controversial decision to pull out of Syria and abandon the Kurds, our close allies in the fight against the Islamic State, the President’s move to cap Iraqi refugees is sure to raise further doubts about why people in foreign lands should risk their lives to work with the United States.

Beijing won’t tolerate dissent at home. But when foreigners criticize its geopolitical tactics, it listens.

China and Russia have not only expanded their military cooperation but are also undertaking more extensive technological cooperation, including in 5G, artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, new media and the digital economy.

Sino-Russian relations have been adapting to an era of great-power rivalry.

Today’s anti-regime activism actually has more than two dozen public faces. And if they become better known globally, these personalities could help galvanize still greater resistance to the country’s clerical regime.

Trump administration should not be tempted to consider its mission accomplished. ISIS is an enduring threat to America, its interests and its allies.

The October 22nd deal should thus be seen for what it is: a clear victory for Moscow.

A new phase of the Syrian civil war appears to have been averted — at least for now.

Oil-rich Azerbaijan is undergoing a major process of top-down modernization. Here’s why the reforms are happening now—and why Washington should take an interest.

The White House's October 6th announcement that it plans to pull U.S. troops out of northern Syria, paving the way for a Turkish invasion of the territory, has been greeted with widespread dismay both in the United States and abroad. Yet in truth, it should not have been altogether surprising.

President Donald Trump’s controversial interactions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky must not distract attention from the important question of U.S. policy toward Russia in connection with its war in Ukraine.

The US armed forces are waking up to the fact that cities are likely to be the main environment for tomorrow’s battles and that they have some catching up to do with their rivals, as Jacob McCarty reports.

[T]o compete with the CCP, think like the CCP. Bringing this imperative to scale will require Washington to relearn the basics of grand strategy.

Suddenly, Iran's clerical regime doesn't seem quite so powerful.

Today, there is near-universal acknowledgement that America’s critical satellite infrastructure is at risk and needs to be better protected.

Both nations need to work closer together on this critical issue.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is betting big on China.

With joint dialogues, incubators, and technology parks, Beijing and Moscow are seeking to overcome deficiencies and compete with the United States.

A famed Russian technical university is helping to lead the government’s push for public-private efforts to develop AI technologies and applications — including a joint project with China’s Huawei — and to stop top talent from flowing to the West.

[W]hatever happens on the political front, the country's foreign policy outlook, and its security priorities, will stay largely the same.

The breakdown of Hong Kong’s autonomy is a failure for China, as its current President Xi Jinping has no good options from which to choose.

After forty years of draconian religious rule, meaningful change may be possible in Iran.

At a time when the relationship between Israel and American Jewry is already under significant strain, this would be an added stressor, and perhaps a significant one.

[H]ow Washington responds to the incident will have profound implications, both for its continued credibility in the region and for the future of its relations with Iran.

- President Tokayev seeks to "maintain continuity" yet nonetheless calls for "systemic reforms." He appears to mean both.
- In the effort to engage society more deeply in governance, Kazakhstan will institute and seek to manage reforms from above.
- In continuing the principle of balance in its foreign policy, which Tokayev invented two decades ago, Kazakhstan will seek increased engagement and investment from the West.

On August 29th, Iran attempted to put its newest commercial satellite, the Nahid-1, into orbit from a test range in the country's north.

Israel’s Syria campaign has demonstrated that, despite their best efforts, Iran and its proxies “have no deterrence whatsoever” against Israel. But this may not last.

This week’s revelations that the International Atomic Energy Agency found traces of uranium at an undeclared nuclear site in Iran’s Tehran Province — revelations which the regime has refused to explain — shows that the Iranian nuclear issue is far more complicated than U.S. and Iranian jockeying of recent days suggests.

The draft, produced by the country's largest bank, focuses on data, training, and ethics. The final version is due next month.

China has well and truly arrived in the Middle East. After years of relative passivity, the People's Republic of China (PRC) is now making a concerted effort to expand its strategic presence and economic clout in the region.

Does the United States have a vision of future spacepower grand enough around which to organize a new space force?

The Voice of America's Persian News Network opts out of covering protests

Tomorrow, the Trump administration will formally inaugurate the newest U.S. Combatant Command, U.S. Space Command.

Israel's activism, showcased in the mid-July airstrike in Iraq as well as other recent sorties against Iranian-linked targets in neighboring Syria, is understandable.

There is a second trade war happening in Asia, and it is in America’s interest to take action.

In late July, Mousa Ghazanfarabadi, the conservative head of Tehran's Revolutionary Court, announced publicly that the Iranian regime had identified a new "hostile government" with whom interaction was henceforth banned, punishable by up to a decade in prison.

Sept. 1 marks the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland — an event that heralded the beginning of World War II.

With the stand-up of the U.S. Space Force and initial operating capability of U.S. Space Command, it is time to revise the Unified Command Plan (UCP) to reflect the geographic responsibilities of U.S. Space Command, and align their formal responsibilities with the expectations of the American people.

Moscow detains nearly 1,400 protesters after a bloody crackdown and returns its most prominent opposition figure to jail after what he suspects was a state-ordered poisoning that put him in the hospital. Beijing hints that it will send its army to quell protests against Hong Kong's China-backed government.

When it comes to influence, the future lies in the cities.

The Turkic people has an ancient language and traditions. Even Mao didn’t expect to erase it.

Iran's strategic position atop the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global waterway through which a fifth of world oil passes, is a key asset for Tehran – and a serious worry for regional oil suppliers and foreign oil consumers alike.

With massive protests continuing in Hong Kong against China’s efforts to erode its freedoms, Washington is missing a sizable opportunity to promote our ideals, encourage democratic forces elsewhere, and leverage Beijing’s need for a trade deal.

For Middle Eastern nations, China's expanding stake in the region ranks as one of the most consequential, albeit underreported, trends of recent years.