For Saudi Arabia, the surprise mutual defense pact signed last week with Pakistan during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Riyadh is a double deterrence tool. The Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement (SMDA) “states that any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both”, and “aims to develop aspects of defense cooperation between the two countries and strengthen […]

Is the new Turkish-Saudi-Pakistani defense pact an attempt at an Islamic NATO or a strategic self-sabotage? The idea of a budding “Islamic NATO” under Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia might seem bold and fresh in a period of Middle Eastern “realignment.” But don’t dismiss it out of hand as the emergence of a symbolic new regional alliance: the trilateral convergence […]

Brazil’s decision to allow a Chinese military hospital ship to dock in Rio de Janeiro could provide a case study of how Beijing is expanding its naval presence in the Western Hemisphere. It also demonstrates how regional powers are dealing with the pressures arising from the intensifying competition between the United States and China. This past fall, China requested authorization […]

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday that Islamabad has “complete evidence” of close ties between the Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan (TTA) and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “There is a close relationship between the TTP and the TTA. You say there is no link, but we have complete evidence,” Sharif told a meeting of religious scholars. “All kinds of facilities are […]

Visiting Pakistani Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir meets with Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Maged Saqar and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ahmed Khalifa Fatehi Pakistan and Egypt on Thursday discussed bilateral defense cooperation and regional security, said an official statement. Visiting Pakistani Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir met with Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Maged Saqar and […]

Both want to “save face” after Israel’s attack on Qatar and remind fellow Muslims about the importance of more intra-Ummah military-technical cooperation, not set the stage for an Israeli-Pakistani nuclear standoff or Saudi Arabia imposing an oil embargo on India like some suspect. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan just signed a “Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement” (SMDA). According to their joint statement, […]

Islamic Nato in the making? Turkey is seeking to join a defence alliance between nuclear-armed Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, this can be seen as an effort in direction to reshape security alignments in the Middle East region and beyond, as Bloomberg reported.The pact, initially signed by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in September, reportedly states that “any aggression” against one member […]

Decades of covert ops have led to this tense moment in the Islamic Republic. If the regime is toppled, India will be strategically strained on more than one front What began as protests against soaring inflation and currency collapse across Iranian cities on December 28 quickly evolved into broader political demands, including calls for reform and, in some quarters, regime […]