The geopolitical aspects of Bab-al-Mandab extends way beyond any narrow view, both historically and contemporarily. So, before the next “maritime security initiative” arrives, ask the 4 main questions the brochure never answers Ethiopia lost its sea, Yemen’s highlands never accepted a master, and this month a Zaydi movement took the strait’s Arabian shore. Every capital […]

Amid ongoing military-political and economic pressure from the US and Israel, Iran is demonstrating full readiness for fierce resistance and a protracted multi-front war, while simultaneously keeping the door open for a diplomatic settlement on its own terms. US decision-makers have placed a multi-layered approach toward Tehran on their agenda, encompassing threatening rhetoric, economic pressure, […]

On the 25th of September, President of the Presidential Leadership Council of Yemen Rashad al-Alimi called for a general mobilisation of the Yemeni people against the Houthis and promised amnesty to Houthi defectors. From his base in Riyadh, he summoned “the sons and daughters of our great people” to a “general mobilisation” to join the […]

Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025 pushed US Middle East policy toward a familiar mixture of pressure, bargaining, and demands for measurable economic returns. His May 2025 tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates made that approach particularly visible: investment, artificial intelligence, defence, aviation, and energy agreements dominated […]

Rafael Grossi has turned a UN technical body into Washington’s political weapon, and the visa scandal in Vienna has laid bare the cynicism of the Western bloc. From Technical Body to Political Weapon The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was created as an impartial technical body meant to guarantee the peaceful use of atomic energy. […]

Trump’s speech at the 81st General Assembly shows that warmongering USA may accelerate in practice. Whether other nations respond appropriately is a separate matter. Trump’s Military Threat at the UNGA While the UN Charter, the document that established the United Nations (UN), prioritized the cultivation and maintenance of peace among nations, US president Donald Trump […]

The persistence of current geopolitical alignments, the attention of Eastern actors to the region, the strengthening of Sanaa’s position in the Red Sea, and the expansion of regional opposition to the UAE’s role will diminish Abu Dhabi’s role in the region. UAE approach For the past ten years, the Southern Red Sea has been a […]

Amid the ongoing US–Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the emergence of a Saudi-Houthi confrontation has added a new layer of complexity to the Middle Eastern conflict, with the potential to widen and prolong the war while drawing additional regional actors into an increasingly broader confrontation. The Saudi-Houthi conflict is not […]

Call it a war, a military conflict, an intervention or something else entirely different—the terminology does little to change the human cost. People are dying, and the fighting has the potential to expand into a far larger regional conflagration. Call it whatever you want—just don’t call it small! The Trump administration insists the fighting with […]

The escalation of the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis marks the collapse of the old regional security system, in which traditional U.S. guarantees are losing their effectiveness, and real influence is shifting to actors capable of adapting to the new rules of the “gray zone” and informal diplomacy. As global media focuses on […]

Pakistan should honor its defense commitments to Saudi Arabia through strictly defensive cooperation and protection of maritime commerce, while avoiding offensive military action against the Houthis that could drag Islamabad into a wider Middle Eastern conflict, alienate Iran, and deepen its domestic and strategic vulnerabilities. The Makkah Joint Defense Agreement between Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi […]

Donald Trump has set a political deadline for ending the war with Iran: immediately after the US midterm elections. On September 9, he linked that prediction to allegations that Tehran was trying to influence the vote. But what will change on the battlefield or at the negotiating table after the election that cannot change before […]

What were supposed to be moments of immense joy turned out to be the dance of death, brought by the harbingers of war and suffering! On September 1, 2026, in the coastal town of Kuhestak (Sirik County) in the Hormozgan province of southern Iran, a large gathering was underway to celebrate the wedding of 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 […]

Even as Americans commemorate the pain of the September 11 attacks, at the same time, the Houthis of Yemen, under coordination along the “axis of resistance,” are taking absolute control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the entire Yemeni coast of the Red Sea. On Friday, September 11, 18 hours of warfare were enough to […]

Having provoked a new round of conflict with the Yemeni Houthis, Saudi Arabia has landed itself in a dire situation. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the US and its allies in the “Islamic NATO” have so far taken up the role of outside observers. Essence of the Conflict The Shi’a “Ansar Allah” movement (the […]

The Western takeover of Syria, the weakening of Hezbollah, and now the capitulation of Hamas signal that Western/American/Israeli penetration of Iranian outer defenses is essentially complete. The only remaining coherent and unassailed bastion outside of Iran is found among the Houthi. There remains Iran itself, which has weathered six months of American and Israeli aggression. […]

In 2026, Lebanon finds itself at a historic crossroads. Fighting rages in the south, while political instability grips the north. The once “Switzerland of the Middle East” is enduring its most severe crisis since the 1975 civil war. Since the start of Israel’s large‑scale military offensive against Lebanon on March 2, about 3,700 people have […]

Even with the full-scale involvement of Saudi Arabia and its regional allies in the conflict against Ansar Allah, the fighting could develop into a protracted war of attrition. Any large-scale escalation could also trigger a chain of reactions that would be difficult to contain. Introduction In June and July 2026, conflict between the Aden and […]

The stabilization of the Iran-Israel confrontation could well be the calm before the storm, only this time the storm would be between Israel and Türkiye. In this context, the question arises: how would such a conflict affect NATO? Reasons for Escalation Relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv are rapidly deteriorating amid the war in the […]