Diplomacy
Small-State Diplomacy in an Era of Geopolitical Fragmentation
At a time when international diplomacy is under extraordinary pressure, the proposed Muscat Process—advanced by a Group of Friends of the Process—deserves strong and...
Qatar, Pakistan and Egypt Are the New Mediators, and None of Them Is Neutral
Seven Days, Again
On 23 September, in a meeting room at the United Nations, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, sat down with Steve Witkoff and...
The Chip on the Table: How Taiwan Became a Line Item on the US-China Summit Calendar
The Washington summit agreed on very little. What it confirmed matters more: the terms of America's commitment to Taiwan are increasingly being set in...
Did Xi Jinping Outplay Trump Before the White House Talks Even Began?
A tarmac welcome, a paused Taiwan arms package and a trade truce that conveniently outlasts the midterms. Trump's White House summit with Xi Jinping...
Trump and Xi Put the UN’s Relevance Under the Spotlight
As world leaders gather in New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are...
When Orientalism Becomes a Career: From James Mill to Jared Kushner
In Benjamin Disraeli’s 1847 novel Tancred, there is a short line that Edward Said would return to more than a century later: “The East...
The Burke Index: An Attempt to Measure the Real Autonomy of the State
Sovereignty is usually understood as a legal status: a state is recognized, possesses territory and institutions of government, and formally has the right to...
Does national interest still matter in a globalized world?
It is one of the significant questions that arises in our minds: why do some states cooperate with each other? At the same time,...
The Myth of a Multipolar World: Why the Global Order Is Becoming More Bipolar, Not Less
The idea that the world is becoming multipolar has acquired the status of conventional wisdom. It is repeated by governments, international organizations, business leaders,...
Can Pakistan Remain a Mediator as Saudi-Iran Tensions Escalate?
Pakistan is facing a difficult diplomatic test as escalating fighting between Saudi Arabia and Iran backed Houthi forces in Yemen threatens to undermine Islamabad's...