South East Asia

When I think about the journey of heroin from its source to a European market, I don’t picture a criminal mastermind directing a supply chain from beginning to end.

What I see instead is a farmer, then a transporter, a courier and perhaps a broker who moves the drugs only as far as the next village. Another broker might get them across a border, after which a gang takes over one stretch of the journey before handing it to another. By the time the heroin arrives in Europe, still more people may be responsible for moving it to wherever it eventually ends up.

September 27, 2024 – The deadly pager attack in Lebanon has sparked global concerns over supply chain security. Chinese international relations scholar Shen Yi stated that China should take some measures in response to the U.S.’s increasingly aggressive stance in the strategic competition with China.

Key Takeaways:

An RFE/RL analysis says Al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) are more tightly linked since the Afghan Taliban returned to power, with AQ helping TTP strategy, training, and media as attacks into Pakistan rise. A May checkpoint attack in northwest Pakistan killed 21.

UN monitors and some researchers describe practical and public AQ backing for TTP (including an April Al-Sahab statement), plus alleged help for other outfits (BLA, IMP/AQIS). Kabul is said to have given sanctuary and ID cards to several groups. Experts disagree: Abdul Sayed calls the AQ–TTP operational bond a “myth” and says TTP influence from AQ has faded since 2014.

25 years after 9/11, bin Laden’s caliphate may have failed, but he triggered wars that have since weakened US power in the Middle East, writes Hesham Gaafar.

A quarter-century tends to sharpen questions that once sounded indecent to ask out loud. On the eve of the 25th anniversary of 11 September 2001, one of them refuses to go away: did Osama bin Laden win?

En 2018, Washington déclenche une guerre technologique contre Pékin sur le terrain des semi-conducteurs. Pourtant, les derniers modèles d’IA chinois rivalisent aujourd’hui avec les meilleurs modèles américains. Décryptage d’une montée en puissance irrésistible.

Key Takeaways:
The essay reads West Asia through neorealism and burden-sharing: Washington still wants influence but prefers partners (Turkey, Gulf states, Pakistan) to carry more of the security load after Assad’s fall.
Turkey’s Syria role, plus the Aug. 7, 2026 Mecca/Makkah pact among Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan, is framed as flexible balancing and autonomy—not a finished anti-Iran alliance; success depends on exercises, industry, and crisis aid.
Iran’s “strategic depth” via Syria and Hezbollah is described as under pressure if a Turkey-friendly Syrian order takes hold; the author sees a fluid multipolar balance, not a single bloc.
Strategic Reconfiguration of the Middle East: An Assessment Through International Relations Theory
A phase of structural adjustment is about to begin in the West Asian geopolitical order. Neither the United States nor regional powers are merely stepping in to fill the void left by the United States’ withdrawal from the Middle East. Rather, Washington seems more open to encouraging skilled allies to take on more responsibility for regional security while maintaining American strategic sway.