Britain’s relationship with Israel is entering a new phase as the E1 settlement dispute collides with wider struggles over the Red Sea, Gaza’s energy resources, IMEC, intelligence technology and post-Brexit influence. As London pressures Israel while maintaining strategic cooperation, the question is whether Britain is changing the rules of the relationship-or preparing for a deeper […]

South Korea faces a difficult choice over whether and how to support maritime security efforts in the Strait of Hormuz. With pressure from the United States, risks from Iran, and the continuing threat from North Korea, Seoul must balance alliance commitments with its own security priorities. The Hormuz crisis has placed South Korea in a […]

As American troops face renewed danger in the Middle East, with Iran striking U.S. positions across the region, President Donald Trump is busy contemplating something rather more personal: renaming the Strait of Hormuz the “Trump Strait.” Perhaps “The Trump Quagmire” would be more appropriate—not as a name for a body of water, but for a […]

Along with India’s rapprochement with China, the New Delhi BRICS Summit showed that the group is no longer content to remain a platform for the Global South’s protest; it is beginning to build institutions, economic networks, and diplomatic alternatives of its own. A summit held during a period of international turmoil The 18th BRICS Summit, […]

In 2025, the US National Security Strategy paper would be broadly misinterpreted as a US plan to break with its historical pursuit of global primacy and instead retreat to the Western Hemisphere while somehow reconciling or coexisting with traditional targets of US aggression. Many analysts even claimed there was an absence of any direct mention […]

BRICS has yet again demonstrated its paramount importance as an institution by gathering the significant economies of the world and strengthening the multipolar world. Introduction The 18th BRICS Summit took place in New Delhi on September 12–13, 2026. BRICS has 11 members, including Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, […]

The Pentagon’s extraordinary use of polygraph tests on senior military personnel is not merely a hunt for leakers; it is a warning that loyalty to the president may increasingly matter more than loyalty to the institution, accelerating the ultimate American downfall. When Loyalty Becomes the Test There is nothing inherently unusual about a US administration […]

As India hosts the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, its policy of multi-alignment is under crucial scrutiny: whether New Delhi can achieve a balance between strategic autonomy and a real commitment to the Global South, or whether BRICS is simply another instrument of transactional, multi-alignment diplomacy? India is presenting its term as president of […]

On September 12, New Delhi will host one of the year’s most long-awaited events, namely, the 18th BRICS Summit. How has India’s presidency unfolded, what can we expect from the meeting, and why have experts started discussing the seemingly impossible intersection of Indian and Chinese interests? Principles in Action “Humanity first” and a “new format […]

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Jana Puglierin, senior policy fellow and head of ECFR’s Berlin office, in a World in 30 Minutes Emergency Room episode to discuss the latest in German politics.

The AfD’s win in the small eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt was widely expected, but the scale of the result and the collapse of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) have still shocked Berlin. For the first time since the second world war, a far-right party is within reach of governing a German Bundesland. Jana unpacks the AfD’s possible paths to power, the pressure on Merz and his grand coalition, and what the result says about the far right’s continued rise in Europe.

Why does an election in a state of two million people matter so much for a country of 84 million? Can the AfD govern without a formal coalition partner, and would CDU lawmakers break the historic “firewall” to make that possible? Why is the party still treated as beyond the pale, even as it leads national polls? And should Europe prepare for a Germany too absorbed in its own crisis to lead?

This episode was recorded on September 7th 2026.

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Despite serious geopolitical challenges, the intensification of confrontational trends globally, and the overall deterioration of the international situation, India is successfully and worthily conducting an active chairmanship of this major and authoritative association of Global South states. On September 12–13, 2026, the next BRICS summit will take place in New Delhi. It is expected to […]

On the margins of the 2026 SCO Summit in Bishkek, Armenia’s government once again demonstrated its foreign-policy indecisiveness and propensity to evade responsibility for making up its mind in favour of either the EU or the EAEU, whilst forgoing a nationwide referendum on the matter. From August 31 to September 1, 2026, the anniversary Summit […]

The Iran War has exposed the limits of US military power and weakened its credibility as a global security provider, accelerating the erosion of US-led unipolarity while reinforcing the emergence of a more competitive and multipolar international order. The US President Donald Trump termed the US-Israeli war on Iran a mere “short-term excursion”. However, even […]

Xi’s Cairo visit marks a strategic shift in the geopolitics of the Middle East. By strengthening its partnership with Cairo and promoting the concept of “regional autonomy,” China seeks to replace Western influence with a new architecture of security and economic cooperation. A Meeting That Means More Than Diplomacy It’s often said that the devil […]