By Yash Nitin Sapre There are two mistakes a civilisation can make when it studies the fire gathering at its gates. The first is to see conspiracy in every flame. The second is to wait until the palace is burning before admitting there was a pattern. India today stands between these two errors. Across its …
The Ring Around Bharat: Instability, Influence and the New Geography of Pressure Read More »
By Professor Habib Al Badawi The Sahel occupies an increasingly central position in global geopolitics, where the strategic ambitions of external powers intersect with the fragile realities of local governance. This paper examines two successive waves of geopolitical transformation — the military-coup era of 2020–2025 and the emerging multipolar reordering of 2025–2026 — through a …
SHADOWS OVER THE SAHEL: Rivalries and Resilience Read More »
Prof. Habib BadawiLebanese University, Beirut, LebanonEmail: [email protected] | [email protected]: 0000-0002-6452-8379 – Scopus ID: 58675152100 Dr. Allali Khadija Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tetouan, Morocco Email: [email protected] ORCID: 0009-0000-1873-0894 Abstract This study investigates whether cultural diplomacy can function as a semi-autonomous framework for sustaining China–Taiwan relations in the absence of formal diplomatic recognition. By integrating six theoretical traditions …
By Professor Habib Al- Badawi What We Think We Know: The Patron-Client Paradigm The dominant framework for understanding Saudi-American relations holds that Riyadh occupies the subordinate position in a classic patron-client security arrangement. In exchange for American military guarantees — codified in base access agreements, arms transfers of extraordinary scale, and an implicit nuclear umbrella …
How Saudi Arabia Escaped Trump’s Trap and Thwarted the Israeli-American War Plan Read More »
Abstract This paper examines the strategic implications of Japan’s ongoing defence transformation for the Indo-Pacific regional order through 2030. Drawing on Japan’s 2022 strategic documents, the 2025–2026 procurement cycle, and the evolving Taiwan contingency, it argues that Japan has crossed a threshold from declaratory posture to fielded operational counter-strike capability — a transition with qualitative …
By Professor Habib Al Badawi “This paper examines the elevation of Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the position of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi as an exercise in strategic regime design rather than hereditary inevitability. Drawing on verified Reuters reporting from 2023–2026, the analysis situates the succession within three interlocking structural …
By Habib Al-Badawi Introduction: From Shadow Diplomacy to Historic Breakthrough The escalating conflagration in Sudan has commanded international attention since April 2023, when a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted into full-scale civil war. Yet the emergence of Massad Boulos as U.S. Senior Advisor for Africa …
The Boulos Factor: Shadow Diplomacy and the Quest for Peace in Sudan Read More »
1. The Strategic Paralysis of Rawalpindi By the end of 2025, the way things work in South Asia’s geopolitical landscape changed a lot. This major shift was mainly caused by a deep change in how the Indian military thinks and plans its operations. The long-standing strategic balance between India and Pakistan was, for many years, …
WHAT IS THE COLD START DOCTRINE AND WHY PAKISTAN IS “SHIT SCARED” OF IT Read More »
By Nishant Kumar Hota In Iran’s modern history, the recurring fact is simple and unromantic. Protest begins in the street, but it is the Bazaar that decides whether a revolt lives or dies. In the rough triangle of the Palace, the Mosque, and the Bazaar, the merchants form the most practical link between belief and …
The Iranian Tipping Point, The Decisive Role of the Bazaar Read More »
By ISSF Admin The Fracture of the Khaleeji Shield The air over the Gulf of Aden was thick with humidity and the smell of salt spray on the morning of December 30, 2025. In the ancient port city of Mukalla, Yemen, dockworkers were busy unloading the Greenland, a cargo vessel flagged out of St. Kitts. …
Brothers in Blood: The Secret War Between Saudi and the UAE Read More »
