Publications

The scale of Secretary General Xi Jinping’s military purges is shocking. More than 100 senior leaders have been removed since 2022. And that number keeps growing, with nine military officers purged just last week and three more retired generals removed from a senior advisory body in early March. 

As of late March 2026, the strategic landscape of Operation Epic Fury has shifted from a high-intensity “shock” campaign to a calculated war of attrition. According to Brig. Gen. (res) Eran Ortal, the conflict has entered a decisive third phase where the combined industrial and logistical weight of the United States, Israel, and the Gulf states is systematically dismantling the Iranian regime’s ability to project power.

This article examines how Uzbekistan can strengthen its economic security by leveraging its extraordinary cultural heritage and strategic positioning to transition from a volume-driven tourism model towards more of a value-driven approach.

The US’ tactical successes against Iran would have a greater effect if they served broader objectives.

With the Iran war in its third week, questions are swirling over the administration's aims, its conduct of the conflict and the trajectory that Iran itself might take.

In the early morning hours of January 3, 2026, the Trump Administration launched "Absolute Resolve," a military operation to apprehend Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and remove him from office. The effort marked the most consequential U.S. intervention in Latin America in decades, involving large-scale coordinated intelligence, air and special operations assets.

Iran is pounding U.S. military positions across the Middle East with missiles and cheap but highly effective drones, killing U.S. troops and wreaking havoc across the Persian Gulf. The cost to the U.S. of its defensive systems far exceeds the cost of Iran’s drones, and America and its regional partners are burning through their air defenses.

Big changes are coming to America’s space forces. 

The United States has proved its military superiority over Iran. Whether it can secure Iran’s enriched uranium, protect the Gulf states, and encourage popular protests is a different story.

Russia’s military manpower shortage has led it to entice over 1,400 people from across the African continent to fight in Ukraine.

America's newest military campaign in the Middle East is now in its second week.

As the Islamic Republic weathers U.S. and Israeli missile strikes on its infrastructure and the killing of key political figures, China remains on the sidelines

Ever since the Trump administration returned to office last year, a major foreign policy debate has raged inside the Washington Beltway.

Wiser leaders would stop picking fights with Washington over a war they can’t influence and that ultimately advances their own security

The three South Caucasus states are responding to the same geopolitical shock with radically different resources, constraints, and choices.

Are we headed toward a new war with Iran? The possibility looks increasingly likely.

President Donald Trump has now set out a June deadline for the end of the war, and the White House expects Moscow and Kyiv to reach some sort of settlement. The operative question is whether Russia’s economic calculus can truly be changed by then. 

In February 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Budapest to herald a “new golden age” of relations, signing a major civilian nuclear deal and pledging a “financial protective shield” for Hungary. This visit followed President Trump’s “complete and total” endorsement of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who currently trails challenger Péter Magyar in the polls ahead of the April 12 election. Critics warn that making bilateral relations contingent on individual leaders turns long-term alliances into fragile transactional affairs. Furthermore, Orbán’s continued energy dependence on Russia and his security ties to China present a significant paradox for the administration’s broader “Great Power” strategy.

After years of military involvement in the Syrian theater, America is understandably eager to turn the page. But doing so prematurely risks abandoning a known and capable counterterrorism partner for a still-untested arrangement. That is hardly a recipe for lasting stability.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has produced a paradox for US strategy: it has significantly reduced Russia’s strategic long-term power while hardening Moscow into a more dangerous, risk-tolerant adversary for the United States and its allies and partners in Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia.

The January 2026 internet blackout in Iran, following protests that erupted on December 28, has exposed the deep failures of the National Information Network (NIN).

China doesn’t need to invade America to control its farmland. It just needs to buy it. Through state-backed conglomerates, shell companies and global acquisitions, Beijing is doing just that, gaining fiduciary leverage over farmland across our nation and threatening America’s long-term food security. It is clear that more must be done to prevent the Chinese Communist Party, our foremost global competitor, from weakening America’s agricultural independence from within.

A deal with Iran at this moment may prolong the unnatural life of the mullah’s regime.

Iranians negotiate like they’re in the bazaar,” a Middle East scholar once wrote. “Westerners negotiate like they’re shopping at Macy’s.”

A change in Russia’s government is more likely to take place than conventional wisdom allows.

The strategic logic underpinning Israel's outreach to Somaliland, in other words, is compelling. It simultaneously provides the country with a strategic foothold opposite Yemen, greater proximity to the ongoing threat posed by the Houthis, a deeper stake in Red Sea security, and the potential to become a much bigger player in African politics. For those reasons, Israel's newest partnership is well positioned to endure.

The Organization of Turkic States has expanded beyond its cultural foundations to address regional challenges through green finance, digital innovation, and artificial intelligence initiatives. Led by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the OTS established the Turkic Green Finance Council and proposed collaborative AI networks, responding to economic pressures from sanctions and oil price fluctuations. 

The Organization of Turkic States has evolved its approach toward Tajikistan, shifting from explicit support for Kyrgyzstan during border conflicts to more inclusive language. Early OTS statements emphasized brotherly solidarity with Kyrgyzstan while implicitly attributing blame to Tajikistan, prompting sharp criticism from Dushanbe. Following diplomatic progress culminating in the March 2025 Kyrgyz-Tajik border treaty, OTS rhetoric shifted significantly.