(By Khalid Masood) Introduction In the autumn of 2001, the United States discovered that counterterrorism was the most convertible currency in international politics. Within weeks of the September 11 attacks, Washington had assembled what senior State Department officials described as “a coalition against terrorism unlike any other”: more than ninety nations arrested or detained over…
An In-Depth Analysis of the 30–31 August Escalation and Its Global, Regional, and Gulf Implications (By Khalid Masood) I. Executive Summary The overnight exchange of 30–31 August 2026 — a US precision strike on Iranian launchers at Larak Island followed by Iran’s first-ever ballistic missile attacks on American air bases in Jordan — represents the…
(Quratulain Khalid) The Dichotomy of August 15 Today, as India marks its 79th Independence Day with elaborate military parades, flag-hoisting ceremonies, and sweeping declarations of its rise as a global power, a radically different narrative unfolds just a few hundred kilometers away in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir. There, August 15 is not…
(By Khalid Masood) I. Background: From Aid Recipient to Defence Partner The United States-Israel Defence Technology Cooperation Initiative did not emerge from a vacuum. It is the culmination of a seven-decade military relationship that has evolved from arms sales and financial aid into something approaching structural fusion. Understanding this trajectory is essential to grasping why…
How Tehran Turned the World’s Oil Artery into a Sword — and Why Neither Side Can Afford to Keep It Open (By Khalid Masood) On the morning of 28 February 2026, the first cruise missiles arced across the Persian Gulf and the war with Iran began. Five months later, the Strait of Hormuz is no…
(By Khalid Masood) Introduction: When Geography Defeats Military Superiority Throughout history, geography has often neutralized military superiority. From the mountains of Afghanistan to the jungles of Vietnam, powerful armies have repeatedly discovered that overwhelming firepower alone cannot guarantee strategic success. The Persian Gulf—and particularly the Strait of Hormuz—represents another such battlefield where geography, economics, and…
(By Khalid Masood) I. Introduction: A Nation at War with Itself There is a peculiar tragedy unfolding in Iran today — a nation winning on the battlefield but losing at the negotiating table, not because of enemy cunning, but because its own military elite refuses to let it win the peace. The 2026 Iran war,…
How a single attack on a Cyprus-flagged vessel on 12 July 2026 reignited the most dangerous confrontation in the Middle East — and why the world may not escape a wider war this time. (By Khalid Masood) I. The Incident The first reports came in the early hours of Saturday, 12 July 2026. In the…
(By Khalid Masood) I. The Breaking Point In the marble halls of the Turkish presidential palace in Ankara, President Donald Trump stood before a gaggle of reporters on the evening of July 8, 2026, and delivered a verdict that sent tremors through capitals from Tehran to Tokyo. “To me, I think it’s over,” he said,…
(By Khalid Masood) I. The Speech That Revealed the Crack On the evening of June 21, 2026, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage at the Jerusalem News Syndicate (JNS) Policy Summit and delivered a statement that sounded like a declaration of independence. “In the United States, they say that President Trump does everything…
