(By Khalid Masood) INTRODUCTION: A NAME FORGED IN EMPIRE AND ECHOED IN CONFLICT “Whoever controls Hormuz controls the jewel in the ring of the world.”— Arab geographer’s description, 10th century CE The name Hormuz carries over a millennium of Persian heritage, maritime ambition, and strategic resonance. Etymologically, it derives from the Middle Persian Hormoz or…
(By Khalid Masood) I. Introduction: A Crisis No Longer Contained “We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks — we’re going to bring them back to the Stone Age, where they belong.”— President Donald Trump, Prime-Time Address, April 2026 When the White House deployed rhetoric of civilisational erasure, it…
(By Khalid Masood) Introduction: The Paradox of Modern Power In the annals of military history, victory has traditionally been measured by the destruction of enemy capabilities, the seizure of territory, and the imposition of political will through overwhelming force. Yet, the recent confrontation between the United States and Iran presents a strategic paradox that challenges…
(By Khalid Masood) “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”— Sun Tzu, The Art of War The modern landscape of geopolitical conflict is undergoing a stark transformation. What began as a regional confrontation involving Israel, Iran, and proxy networks has evolved into a strategic stress test for the global order….
(By Khalid Masood) Introduction: When the Sky Turns Against You On March 25, 2003, a wall of sand—brown, choking, and absolute—slammed into the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division as it advanced toward Baghdad. Visibility dropped to less than 50 meters. Fine grit infiltrated rifle mechanisms, clogged tank treads, and jammed the switches on communication gear….
(By Khalid Masood) Deep inside the fortified national command centers of Washington, Jerusalem, and Tehran, the same maps glow on screens—but the strategies drawn upon them could not be more different. Missiles arc across the sky, proxy militias shift positions, and diplomats burn the midnight oil. Yet, despite sharing the same battlefield, the United States,…
(By Khalid Masood) I. Introduction: The Paradox of Israeli Military Power For decades, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has cultivated an aura of invincibility. Propagated through Western media and reinforced by swift victories in the 20th century, the narrative of Israeli military supremacy has become a cornerstone of the state’s deterrence strategy. However, as 2026…
(By Khalid Masood) Introduction: The Quiet Coup In the world of geopolitics, there are two ways to make headlines.Method A: Shout loudly, move troops, and break things.Method B: Invite everyone over for tea, close the door, and whisper until everyone agrees to stop shouting. Recently, Pakistan chose Method B. While the world was busy watching…
(By Khalid Masood) 1. Introduction The Middle East security architecture has undergone significant transformation since the early 2020s. The normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab states, the evolving nuclear threshold status of Iran, and the shifting priorities of the United States toward great power competition have created a volatile equilibrium. In early 2026, following…
(By Khalid Masood) In the pre-dawn darkness of March 18, 2026, Israeli warplanes violated Iranian airspace once again, launching a cowardly strike that murdered Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, alongside Basij Commander Gholamreza Soleimani and several brave defenders of the Islamic Republic. The blood of these martyrs stains not just the…
