By Seymur Mammadov In the South Caucasus today, transport corridors are no longer merely lines on the map. They have become instruments of power, influence, and long-term geopolitical positioning. Whoever controls connectivity shapes trade flows, political alignments, and ultimately the region’s future. Against this backdrop, Azerbaijan’s simultaneous engagement with both the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway and […]
Read MoreThe European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has sharply expanded its footprint in Central Asia and Mongolia, committing nearly $2 billion in investment in 2025. In an article posted by Anton Usov, the scale of the funding is presented as a clear signal of the EBRD’s growing confidence in the region’s economic potential, as well […]
Read MoreWhen Türkiye and Uzbekistan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the mining sector at the end of January 2026, the agreement initially looked familiar: another bilateral document added to the long list of accords that usually accompany high-level presidential visits. Such memoranda are common in diplomacy, often signaling goodwill rather than immediate […]
Read MoreBy Maria Siow Russia’s call to revive a troika with China and India is unlikely to be greeted with enthusiasm by New Delhi, with critics pointing to tense border stand-offs and India’s reluctance to be seen as part of an “anti-West” grouping. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this month lauded Moscow’s bilateral ties with […]
Read MoreBy Iman Muttaqin Yusof Muhammad Syafiq, a 25-year-old banker from Kuala Lumpur, has started noticing something recently that felt like “real politics” compared with the soft sell of an election campaign poster at train stations in the Malaysian capital. “One government programme I think is pretty solid is the People’s Income Initiative, or IPR [Inisiatif […]
Read MoreBy Aidan Jones Thailand’s slump in visitors from China has become so acute that Chinese tourism workers in Phuket are learning English for the first time to attract new customers, according to a boat tour organiser. Chanchanat Boonlon said her catamaran business was once a cash cow, fully booked each day during high season by […]
Read MoreBy Maria Siow A visit by a United States warship to a Cambodian port built with major Chinese backing has underscored Phnom Penh’s superpower balancing act, but observers say American concerns will linger over the facility’s usage being dominated by Beijing. The USS Cincinnati arrived on Saturday at Ream Naval Base as part of a […]
Read MoreBy Alyssa Chen China ramped up its South China Sea patrols in 2025, maintaining an “unprecedented” nearly year-round presence at contested sites like Scarborough Shoal to assert maritime claims, according to a new US-based think tank report. An analysis published on Thursday by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) – a research programme affiliated with […]
Read MoreBy Abdulrahman Al-Rashed Our region is strewn with long-buried landmines, any one of which could spark unintended consequences. This is not meant to refer to the Saudi-Emirati dispute in southern Yemen, despite it being one of today’s heated issues that could still be resolved through direct talks. Beyond these landmines, however, the more dangerous issue […]
Read MoreBy Tural Heybatov In Recent Weeks The Military Posture Of The United States And Israel Across The Middle East Has Shifted In Ways That Many Defense Analysts Interpret As Exceeding Routine Deterrence Signaling And Moving Into The Realm Of Concrete Operational Preparation. The scale, composition, and geographic dispersion of deployed assets increasingly point to contingency […]
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