Global Rivalries

On June 14, 2026, UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer announced that the British Armed Forces had intercepted an oil tanker in the English Channel linked to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet. Although this marked the UK's first such interception, the operation forms part of a broader pattern of efforts to disrupt Russian maritime networks used to circumvent sanctions imposed on Moscow following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.   This trend was...

The United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia are moving ahead with a major new defense project under the AUKUS alliance, focusing on advanced underwater drone technology. Their goal is to protect critical undersea cables, improve maritime surveillance, and strengthen military cooperation at a time of growing concern over maritime security.   The uncrewed undersea vehicle (UUV) technology is expected to be operational by 2027. The U...

China is flooding global markets with low-cost robots. The concern is not just that these machines are becoming cheaper, smarter, and more widespread. It is that they are increasingly mobile, networked, and packed with sensors capable of seeing, mapping, moving, transmitting data, and interacting with the physical world.   As robots become more connected and autonomous, some security analysts warn that foreign-made systems operating inside...

The Arab Gulf states are under growing pressure to pick a side in the ongoing United States-Iran-Israel war. But across the Middle East, many leaders now fear that choosing either camp could pull the region deeper into instability, economic shocks, and permanent conflict.   Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain all sit at the center of one of the world’s most dangerous geopolitical fault lines. The ...

On May 4, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced a $100 million plan to build a new paramilitary mining guard to protect some of the world’s most valuable mineral sites. The country holds major reserves of cobalt and rare earth minerals that power electric vehicles, smartphones, and advanced defense systems. As global demand rises, so does competition, particularly between the US and China.   Mining Guard Plan Signals a...