(By Khalid Masood) A Call, and A Refusal On Thursday, as Houthi fighters pushed down Yemen’s Red Sea coast towards the shipping lanes of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince picked up the telephone — twice. Both times, according to Axios, Donald Trump declined to order American strikes against the Iran-backed movement. On…
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…
Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan have created a new security framework. Its significance, however, will depend less on the language of collective defence than on whether the three states can reconcile very different strategic interests. (By Khalid Masood) When Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin…
(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…
(By Khalid Masood) 1. Introduction & Background On 7 August 2026, the geopolitical landscape of the Muslim world shifted perceptibly when the Makkah Al-Mukarramah Summit for Joint Defence culminated in a trilateral defence pact among three of the most consequential Sunni-majority military powers: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Türkiye, and the Islamic…
Riyadh has assembled a maritime alliance to secure the world’s most critical oil chokepoint. The Houthis have declared “full escalation.” And 8,000 Pakistani troops, fighter jets, and air defence batteries are already inside the kingdom — bound by a defence pact that could drag South Asia into the Middle East’s widening war. (By Khalid Masood)…
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…
