Articles

Moscow’s efforts to keep data on home soil are of interest to other authoritarian states — and even some liberal democracies.

Here are a list of important questions for Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett to ask prospective candidates in her quest to find the CSO with the right vision for the future:

The world is witnessing a modern-day nightmare in Xinjiang, China. Estimates vary, but by some counts over 2 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Muslims are detained in “vocational skill education training centers,” the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Orwellian moniker for reeducation camps.

Quite suddenly, the Islamic Republic finds itself facing serious setbacks in the Middle East.

The targeting of Soleimani – which followed on the heels of U.S. military strikes on multiple facilities in Iraq operated by Kataib Hezbollah, a key Iranian regional proxy – has ushered in a qualitatively new phase in the Trump administration’s confrontation with Iran. Chances are, it will be one punctuated by heightened hostilities

The current quest for an Iranian constitution reflects a realization by opponents of the Iranian regime that, if they hope to galvanize support from the Iranian “street,” they need to paint a much clearer picture of the future they desire.

The United States must make it abundantly clear that the CCP can no longer enjoy the benefits of American policy without fulfilling its obligations.

Next year is shaping up to be a crucial test for one of America's most enduring Middle Eastern alliances.

China is actively looking for partners to show that the BRI is a truly international project, rather than simply a geopolitical expansion plan.

Iran is a complex and cosmopolitan melting pot made up of multiple, competing ethnic identities kept in check by a strong central authority — but just barely.

Seventy years after the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty and the formation of the Atlantic Alliance, the West's most powerful and enduring military bloc is suffering from deep systemic dysfunctions.

After centuries of being played against one another, the Central Asian states have linked arms to advance their common welfare.

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