(By Khalid Masood) As of November 11, no side is fighting a full-scale war, and no side is negotiating one openly. Israel is pressing Washington to restart strikes on Iran. Washington says its blockade and sanctions make major combat unnecessary for now. Tehran denies any talks, insists no enriched uranium will leave the country, and…
(By Khalid Masood) In the realm of strategic studies, few primary sources offer as unvarnished a look into the mechanics of Cold War espionage as the Mitrokhin Archive. Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin’s The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World is not merely a historical recounting of…
Israel’s political transition has opened a new chapter in the country’s domestic politics. But will the possible departure of Benjamin Netanyahu change the realities of Gaza, or will a new government continue the same strategic policies under different leadership? (By Quratulain Khalid) Introduction: A Change in Leadership, but What About Gaza? For Palestinians living in…
(Khalid Masood) In most democracies, the decision to send soldiers into battle is the gravest a state can take — and, in constitutional theory at least, never the prerogative of one man. The American republic was founded on precisely that suspicion of unchecked executive force. Two and a half centuries later, that founding anxiety has…
(By Khalid Masood) In the heart of Islamabad’s heavily secured Red Zone, where the avenues are lined with the seats of power and the diplomatic enclaves of the world, stands a 13.5-acre anomaly. Originally earmarked to serve the nation as a prestigious five-star hotel, the plot at Constitution Avenue instead became “One Constitution Avenue”—a towering…
(By Khalid Masood) I. The Morning After: A Mandate for Confrontation WASHINGTON — Forty-eight hours after the most consequential midterm election in a generation, the message from Capitol Hill was unmistakable. Democrats had not merely won control of Congress; they had been handed a mandate to check a presidency that had operated without restraint for…
(By Khalid Masood) I. The Verdict WASHINGTON — The world awoke this morning to a transformed American political landscape. After months of uncertainty, voters delivered a resounding judgment on Donald Trump’s second, non-consecutive presidency: Democrats have seized control of both chambers of Congress, flipping the Senate and House in a wave that exceeded even the…
(By Khalid Masood) November 3, 2026 I. The Scene DES MOINES, Iowa — At 7:14 a.m., as the sun burned through October’s last fog, Marlene Kesterson pulled her Ford F-150 into the parking lot of the Franklin Township Community Center. The 61-year-old corn and soybean farmer had already fed the hogs, checked the diesel tank—prices…
Analysis: The 2025 vote confirms a permanent rightward shift, but reveals a society traumatized, fragmented, and increasingly isolated from global democratic norms. (By Khalid Masood) I. Introduction: The Verdict of a War-Weary Nation The polling stations had not yet closed when the first exit polls flickered across Israeli television screens, but the mood in Tel…
Pakistan, Iran, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia in Tehran — 26 October 2026 (By Khalid Masood) PART I — EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On 26 October 2026, Tehran hosted the first quadrilateral security meeting of Iran, Pakistan, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia, hosted by Major General Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and attended by Saudi…
