Global Rivalries

War between Iran, Israel, and the United States is intensifying with no clear end in sight, as airstrikes, missile attacks, and mounting civilian casualties push the region deeper into crisis.   In recent days, the Iranian capital Tehran has been engulfed in smoke after Israeli and US strikes hit multiple oil depots and fuel facilities across the city. Massive fires sent thick plumes of smoke across residential areas, prompting health warn...

Missiles lit up the sky on February 28, 2026, after tense talks collapsed and the United States and Israel launched a major strike campaign against Iran. In a dramatic escalation, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a strike, leaving Tehran in shock and the region bracing for wider conflict. Global markets reacted immediately, pushing oil prices sharply higher and hitting families from Asia to Europe with rising fue...

For decades, national security meant tanks, troops, and missiles. The COVID-19 pandemic changed that thinking overnight. A virus brought nations to a standstill, overwhelmed health systems, shut borders, and crashed economies faster than any armed conflict.   COVID-19 exposed the hard truth that weak public health systems are a national security risk. Governments deployed militaries to build hospitals, transport supplies, enforce lockdowns...

The Middle East is entering one of its most unstable periods in decades, with dramatic consequences already extending well beyond the region. The turning point came last Friday in Geneva, where negotiations between Washington and Tehran collapsed. Iran’s foreign minister accused the United States of making “excessive demands.” Less than 24 hours later, Israel and the United States attacked.   The shift did not come withou...

Every year, Chinese fishing boats extract millions of tons of seafood from oceans far from home. Squid from the South Atlantic. Tuna from the Pacific. Catch from waters off West Africa, Latin America, and increasingly near the Arctic.   China operates the largest "distant-water" fishing fleet in history. Estimates of its size range from roughly 2,000 core vessels to more than 16,000 when militia-linked and foreign-flagged ships are include...