(By Khalid Masood) As of February 21, 2026, the Persian Gulf and surrounding waters have become one of the most militarized regions on Earth. Two of the United States’ most powerful aircraft carrier strike groups—the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78)—are positioned in or approaching the Arabian Sea and Mediterranean…
(By Khalid Masood) The controversy surrounding former Indian Army Chief General M.M. Naravane’s memoir, titled Four Stars of Destiny, has erupted into one of the most significant political storms in India’s Parliament in recent months. As of February 10, 2026, the book remains unpublished, having been submitted for mandatory government clearance from the Ministry of…
(By Khalid Masood) On February 5, 2026, at midnight GMT, the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms—commonly known as New START—officially expired. This event marks a profound shift in global nuclear security. For the first time in more than half a century, the world’s two largest nuclear powers,…
(By Quratulain Mahnoor) As tensions in the Middle East reach a fever pitch in late January 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump has issued stark warnings to Iran: negotiate a nuclear deal swiftly or face consequences far more severe than previous actions. In a Truth Social post on January 28, Trump declared, “Hopefully Iran will quickly…
(By Khalid Masood) In late January 2026, the United States has significantly bolstered its military presence in the Middle East, centering on the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to waters near Iran. President Donald Trump has described this as a “massive armada” positioned to act with “speed and violence” if necessary,…
(By Faraz Ahmed) Pakistan’s formal accession to the U.S.-led Board of Peace (BoP) on Gaza—formalized at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 22, 2026—represents one of the more intriguing foreign policy moves by Islamabad in recent years. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s signature on the charter, alongside leaders from roughly 19 other nations (including…
(By Faraz Ahmed) In the space of just one week in mid-January 2026, three prominent Western leaders delivered powerful endorsements of closer ties with China, marking what many observers are calling a diplomatic hat-trick for Beijing. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney completed a landmark visit to Beijing from January 14–17, emerging with a new strategic…
(By Ayesha Mahnoor) The recent diplomatic exchange between India and Poland on January 19, 2026, in New Delhi has exposed underlying tensions in their otherwise improving bilateral relationship. Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski engaged in frank, at times sharp, discussions that highlighted divergences over…
(By Khalid Masood) The Greenland Crisis of early 2026 has thrust NATO into its gravest internal challenge since the Cold War, pitting U.S. President Donald Trump’s revanchist ambitions against European allies’ defense of sovereignty. Triggered by Trump’s insistence on “complete and total control” of Greenland—a Danish autonomous territory—via purchase, coercion, or force, the standoff has…
(By Khalid Masood) Introduction: An Extraordinary Ultimatum On the evening of January 17, 2026, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social a declaration that sent shockwaves across the Atlantic. He announced that the United States would impose an additional 10 percent tariff on goods imported from eight close allies—Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands,…
