Since the war that erupted on October 7, a profound crisis has unfolded in Turkish–Israeli relations. One of the main manifestations of this crisis is the legal campaign Turkey is waging against Israel. Turkey is operating in this arena to entrench a lasting narrative of Israel’s culpability while refusing to recognize its security needs vis-à-vis a murderous terrorist organization and by portraying Israel as having violated international law, an act that must be punished. The Turkish moves have implications that go beyond the damage...
In recent months, the Trump administration has intensified its campaign against proponents of political Islam. This effort has been reflected in state-level proclamations by the governors of Texas and Florida, designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) as “foreign terrorist organizations,” as well as in a presidential order stating that branches of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon should be considered “terrorist organizations.” These moves have reignited discussion in...
Relations between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have shifted in recent years from a close partnership to open competition over leadership, prestige, and regional influence. Behind the façade of “Gulf unity” lies a deep rift stemming from differing threat perceptions and a struggle for economic and regional primacy. The rise of Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudi aspiration to lead the Arab world clash with Abu Dhabi’s activist foreign policy, which has sought to free itself from Saudi hegemony. This competition is...
US military aid to Israel has, for decades, constituted a central pillar of the strategic relationship between the two countries and a foundational component of Israel’s national security concept. Beyond its financial scope, this aid serves as an institutional, political, and symbolic anchor of the alliance between Jerusalem and Washington, embodying the United States’ commitment to preserving Israel’s qualitative military edge in a challenging regional environment. The current multiyear agreement (2019–2028), signed in 2016, sets...
The accelerated growth of high-performance computing—particularly for artificial intelligence applications—has driven a sharp increase in electric demand, water consumption for cooling, and land use in dense urban areas. These trends are placing unprecedented pressure on existing data-center infrastructure. Against this backdrop, an innovative approach has emerged in recent years: the deployment of subsea data centers, which leverage the maritime domain as an alternative infrastructure platform, with both environmental and...
Tensions between Iran and the United States, which escalated following an American military buildup several days after the outbreak of protests across Iran, are currently in a temporary lull. This pause comes amid plans to hold a meeting between the two countries on February 6 in Oman (after a last-minute crisis that put the talks at risk was likely resolved). President Trump is aware of the risk to the credibility of US deterrence should no meaningful achievement vis-à-vis Iran be attained, given the expectations created by the...
For Turkey, Iran’s stability is not merely a foreign policy issue but a core component of national security with direct implications for the Turkish economy. Sharing a long border with the Islamic Republic, Ankara views any significant upheaval in Tehran as a potential multidimensional threat. These threats range from waves of migration and disruptions in the energy and trade markets to the central concern of a governing vacuum that could strengthen Kurdish separatist actors (the PKK and its affiliates) along the shared border....
The Board of Peace was initially conceived as a focused initiative intended to support the stabilization and reconstruction process in the Gaza Strip, as part of President Trump’s 20-Point Plan, which was anchored in the UN Security Council Resolution 2803. However, a review of its charter indicates a substantial deviation from its original purpose: the board is now defined as a global conflict-resolution mechanism outside the UN framework, with no reference to Gaza and no limitation to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. This gap...
The brutal suppression of the protest wave in Iran has led to a radical shift within the reformist camp toward the regime. Senior reformist figures, who in the past adhered to a cautious and restrained discourse and affirmed their commitment to the Islamic Republic’s core principles, have in recent days expressed positions that challenge the very political conception underpinning the current regime. This shift follows years in which reformists emphasized the necessity of evolutionary change over revolutionary transformation. Together...
This article examines the document that Hamas published in December 2025 summarizing the war and, in particular, the intensifying battle of narratives between Hamas and Israel. Hamas addresses three target audiences: the Palestinian and Arab public, Israel, and the international community. The article focuses especially on Hamas’s appeal to Western audiences, primarily in English, and its use of Western concepts, such as referring to Hamas terrorists as “freedom fighters.” Hamas also employs gaslighting tactics and makes...
The US administration has declared the transition to Phase II of the Trump plan for stabilizing the Gaza Strip, presenting both the international “Board of Peace” (BoP), which is meant to support the management and reconstruction of the Strip, and the Palestinian technocratic committee that will administer Gaza’s affairs. The general who will head the International Stabilization Force (ISF) was also announced. Israeli and Palestinian reactions reveal a gap in expectations and concerns: Israel seeks to slow the pace of progress, as...
The recent transit of the Istanbul Bridge, a China-linked container ship, through the Russian-controlled Northern Sea Route (NSR) marks an important milestone in the history of Arctic navigation. The vessel departed from the Port of Ningbo on September 22, 2025, and arrived at Felixstowe, United Kingdom, on October 13, 2025. It was the first liner service to traverse the Northern Sea Route (NSR). It demonstrated that the NSR could potentially become part of global container shipping networks, linking Asian manufacturing centers to...
