The recent presence of Russian warships In Havana —including the frigate Admiral Gorshkov and the nuclear submarine Kazan— for naval exercises has drawn considerable attention in strategic communities all over the world. Considering comparisons to historical precedents and the degree of tension in the current dynamics of great power strategic …

[A]ny Iranian politician must be prepared to impose the government’s Islamist laws rigorously and crush any form of opposition to the Islamic Republic. The political landscape in Iran does not tolerate dissent or deviation from these core principles, ensuring that only those who conform entirely to the regime’s ideology can …

Latest Developments Turkey is open to repairing ties with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad more than a decade after severing diplomatic relations with Damascus at the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011. On July 4, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he is prepared to invite Assad and …

Political challenges among NATO members, the spectre of a second Trump presidency, and a bleaker military situation in Ukraine – compared to the expectations at the 2023 Vilnius Summit for the Ukrainian counteroffensive – made Washington feel like a ‘pre-storm summit’. The Washington Summit – double-hatted as the NATO 75th …

“We are an unwavering NATO ally. However, we do not believe that this impedes our ability to establish positive relationships with nations such as China and Russia,” Erdogan told Newsweek. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said U.S. President Joe Biden and his administration are complicit in what he called Israeli …

Since the early days of independence in late 1991, the governments in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have pointed to the map to show Central Asia’s potential as a major transit hub for east-west and north-south trade. Realizing that potential has not been so easy. China was anxious to …

In recent days, widespread protests have erupted across many Turkish-controlled towns and cities in the countryside to the north of Aleppo and around Idlib. Some protests have escalated into violence, as clashes have broken out between local armed groups and Turkish forces, resulting in multiple casualties among both protesters and …

INTRODUCTION At a time when there is widespread anxiety around the world about the fate of democracy but not enough debate on the future of autocracy, Turkey presents an interesting case for scholars and policy-makers. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spent two decades in power taking steps to build his …

An incident in the central Anatolian city of Kayseri last week sparked a wave of anti-Syrian attacks across Turkey, just as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s normalisation efforts with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reach a pivotal point. The events were triggered by the arrest of a Syrian national accused of sexually …

Iran’s new president urges dialogue, cooperation, and solidarity in the region, guided by the teachings of Islam and mutual respect in this exclusive editorial At the start of my tenure as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, voted in by the people of Iran, I wish to address our …