The South China Sea is a critical world trade route. In 2023, 10 billion barrels of petroleum and petroleum product and 6.7 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) passed through the South China Sea.1 The sea stretches from Singapore and the Strait of Malacca in the southwest to the Strait of Taiwan in the northeast. The sea […]

The United States is assigning responsibility for Friday’s attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed more than 130 people on the Islamic State terror group’s Afghan affiliate, known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-Khorasan. A State Department official confirmed to VOA that the U.S. gathered intelligence suggesting IS-Khorasan was planning an “imminent” attack in the Russian capital, leading to a […]

On March 25, 2024, the Al-Azaim Foundation, a media outlet linked to the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), published an English-language poster threatening to carry out attacks against Russians, including President Vladmir Putin.[1] The poster capitalized on the March 22 attack in Moscow, which the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for without specifying in its three statements which regional branch […]

Following the March 22, 2024 attack on the Crocus City Hall music venue in Moscow, in which an estimated 137 people were killed and for which the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility, Hasht-e-Subh, a prominent independent daily in Afghanistan, has warned that support for the Afghan Taliban government has led to the strengthening of a range of jihadi organizations, such […]

Following the March 22, 2024 attack on the Crocus City Hall music venue in Moscow, in which an estimated 137 people were killed and for which the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility, major Urdu-language and English-language dailies in Pakistan published editorials arguing that both the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA, i.e., the Afghan Taliban) and the Islamic State Khurasan Province […]

The suburban Moscow concert hall assault last Friday that killed more than 130 people was the deadliest attack inside Russia in 20 years. It raised major questions about the capabilities and ambitions of the terror group that U.S. officials believe was responsible: ISIS-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, an affiliate of the self-declared Islamic State that emerged in Afghanistan. In multiple documentaries and […]

U.S. military and defense officials are increasingly concerned that as China and Russia forge ever stronger ties, they might attempt to challenge Western unity and eventually alter the balance of power on the world stage. The commander of U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific told lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee that the evolving relationship between Beijing and Moscow is […]

The Indian Navy and its marine commandos Marcos have come in for global praise for its multi-focal special operational capability on high season during their recent operations to rescue Indian; Pakistani and Bangladeshi sailors taken hostage by Somalian pirates. Indian army’s parachute commandos have already demonstrated deep penetration strike capabilities in enemy territory but the force that has come in […]

After Shehbaz Sharif was elected earlier this month to another term as the Pakistani Prime Minister, he knew his new government didn’t have any time to hesitate since the country faced maybe its worst economic–political–security crisis. Putting aside the growing inflation and the urgent need for a new, costly agreement with the IMF, Sharif needed to find a proper solution […]

For Gulf states, balancing the use of the dollar and the renminbi will become a way of maintaining strategic neutrality amid global geopolitical fragmentation. As China’s geo-economic influence expands across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), countries in the region are becoming acutely aware of the risks emanating from their dependence on the U.S. dollar. From a ground-breaking Chinese […]