Tracking the World, One Axis at a Time
A collection of my editorials focused on uncovering what lies beneath the headlines
The security Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Taliban administration and the Russian Federation on 27 May has generated considerable interest across the region. Although the contents of the agreement…
The announcement that Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to North Korea for his first state visit in nearly seven years would have been significant under any circumstances. Yet the…
The growing strategic partnership between Japan and the Philippines is no longer a peripheral development in the Indo-Pacific. What began as maritime cooperation and coast guard coordination has evolved into…
For decades, NATO’s nuclear architecture rested on a relatively stable formula. The United States stationed nuclear weapons in a handful of Western European countries, maintained strategic control over them, and…
For years, Armenia tried to balance between East and West, maintaining its strategic alliance with Russia while gradually expanding ties with Europe. That balancing act is now reaching its limits.…
Military conflicts are often judged by what is destroyed. Far less attention is given to what survives. Yet in wars of attrition, survival can be just as important as victory.…
Major strategic transformations rarely arrive with dramatic announcements. More often, they emerge through legislation, institutional reforms and policy decisions that gradually alter the foundations of international relationships. A provision currently…
The latest announcement by the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom at the Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore signals that AUKUS is entering a new phase. For years, public…
For years, discussions about Eurasia have been dominated by great power competition, sanctions, military conflicts, and competing transport corridors. Yet Russian President Vladimir Putin’s latest state visit to Kazakhstan suggests…
The latest dispute between Poland and Ukraine is not about military aid, NATO membership, sanctions, or battlefield strategy. It is about history. Yet history, particularly in Eastern Europe, has never…