On Sunday, 26 July 2026, Abbas Araghchi made a statement that read less like a protest than a strategic admission. Responding to a Ukrainian drone strike on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea, Iran’s foreign minister declared that the attack would not go unanswered, called it a breach of the UN Charter, and accused…
The strategic rivalry between the United States and China is reshaping the post-Cold War international order, with consequences for trade, technology, finance and security. Europe is deeply affected by this competition, but it does not constitute a third equivalent power. The European Union is an economic and regulatory heavyweight, yet it remains less politically and…
When Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited India as a country offering ‘tremendous support’ to Israel on a global news platform in July 2026, New Delhi was not consulted. Instead, India had found itself publicly compelled into a narrative it had strategically avoided. A state that has simultaneously abstained on United Nations Gaza ceasefire votes,…
The Question That Stayed With Me Several years ago, I attended a dinner party, shrimp cocktail, chicken Kiev, and carrot cake, if memory serves. While chatting with the guests about this and that, I was asked by a particularly distinguished-looking man, “What would you really like to understand?” I found the question intriguing. After giving…
The international order is changing before our eyes. Great-power rivalry is once again dominating global politics. Strategic competition increasingly overshadows cooperation. International law is applied inconsistently, if at all. Trust in multilateral institutions is weakening. The temptation is to conclude that the age of effective multilateralism is drawing to a close. That would be a…
According to a report presented in 2024 by the former head of the European Central Bank and minister-of-all-trades in Italy, Mario Draghi, the EU Member States and the EU institutions need to raise their ambition, invest on a larger scale, implement reforms faster, and increase their coordination regarding cross-border cooperation. In the report, he noted,…
Introduction Wars do not only destroy cities and human lives. They also test the institutions that claim to protect humanity. When political mechanisms appear unable to prevent suffering, people often search for other sources of hope and moral guidance. During the 2026 war between Iran, the United States and Israel, an unusual form of communication…
In 2025–2026, Pakistan’s economic crisis has begun to take on characteristics far deeper than those of a conventional fiscal collapse. Behind the negotiations for new bailout packages from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a silent yet highly consequential institutional struggle is unfolding over the future direction of the country’s economic governance. State-owned enterprises, energy facilities,…
The idea of “compassionate AI” in warfare appears paradoxical at first glance, yet it becomes analytically meaningful when defined with precision. For the purpose of this article, “compassionate AI” refers not to emotional sensitivity or moral intuition, but to the technical capacity of an autonomous weapon to apply the central principles of international humanitarian law…
Earth Day 2026 carried the theme “Our Power, Our Planet.” Yet from a Global South feminist perspective, Earth Day cannot remain a symbolic exercise of tree planting, corporate sustainability campaigns, or institutional self-congratulation. It must become a day of reckoning. The climate crisis is not merely environmental. It is deeply connected to histories of colonial…