​The Munich Security Conference is taking place from 13 to 15 February. European leaders, together with major geopolitical actors such as China and Iran, have gathered to express and exchange their positions on the war in Ukraine, a conflict that has persisted for four years since Russia launched its “Special Military Operation” on 22 February 2022. With more than two million casualties on both sides combined, the scale of devastation underscores the urgency of the moment. European leaders incre

Long before it became a theatre of geopolitical calculation, the Arctic was a stabilizer of life on Earth. Its vast ice sheets reflect solar radiation back into space, moderating global temperatures. Its cold waters help regulate thermohaline circulation, influencing weather systems across continents. Its permafrost has locked away immense quantities of carbon accumulated over millennia.

On February 5, 2026, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) between the United States and Russia is set to expire, potentially ending the last remaining legally binding framework limiting the world's two largest nuclear arsenals. If no interim arrangement or successor is reached, the U.S. and Russian strategic forces would operate for the first time since the early 1970s without agreed constraints. The expiration comes amid ongoing conflict in Ukraine, strategic competition in the A

As global leaders gathered in Davos, the familiar language of cooperation and reform gave way to a more sober reckoning with fragmentation and power politics. Unlike previous editions that emphasized globalization, climate consensus, and technological optimism, this year’s agenda was shaped by geopolitical rivalry, economic constraint, and social polarization. Slowing growth, persistent inflation, and fiscal pressures narrowed policy space, while strategic competition increasingly governing trad

The Arctic, once a beacon of scientific collaboration and environmental stewardship, is now becoming a flashpoint of geopolitical confrontation. The United States' recent escalation in its Arctic strategy – evidenced by its relentless pursuit of Greenland and militarization of the region – reveals a dangerous shift from multilateral cooperation to unilateral dominance. This approach, rooted in one-sided actions and hegemonic logic, threatens not only Arctic stability but the very foundations of

The year 2025 marks neither a dramatic collapse nor a triumphant renewal of the international order. Its significance lies elsewhere: in the growing recognition that the conceptual, political, and spatial maps through which the world has been governed no longer coincide. Power, legitimacy, territory, climate risk, and technological capacity now follow diverging logics. What once appeared as a single navigable global landscape has fragmented into overlapping, sometimes contradictory cartographies

On November 23, during an inspection visit to Yonaguni Island, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi announced that plans were underway to deploy medium-range surface-to-air missiles on the island. Yonaguni Island is located at the westernmost point of the Yaeyama Islands in the Ryukyu Islands Archipelago, only about 110 kilometers east of China's Taiwan region. This move represents a significant step in the Japanese government's efforts to advance the Southwest Shift of the Japan Self-Defe

Recently, the erroneous remarks on Taiwan region made by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi have led to a sharp deterioration in Sino-Japanese relations. In response, the Chinese side initiated a series of resolute countermeasures, and voices criticizing her remarks also emerged within Japan. However, recent opinion polls conducted by Japanese mainstream media outlets suggest that the approval ratings of the Takaichi Cabinet have not declined noticeably, and in some cases, have even shown a

What are the characteristics of global economic crashes and how do economies adapt to them? Harold James, in his Seven Crashes: The Economic Crisis That Shapes Globalization, addresses this question that is fundamental to economic historians, investors, and policymakers. He argues that global economic crashes happened due to either supply or demand shocks; and in each crisis, major economies had to go beyond expectation to restore economic order and confidence.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been the largest infrastructure project devised by a single country in history. It was first announced in 2013 by President Xi Jinping and has since then become China’s flagship strategic initiative. Over the past decade, the cumulative BRI investments around the world have been over 1 trillion USD. A crucial question that many policymakers and researchers ask is, Has the BRI been a success or a failure?