Salman Rafi Sheikh

The ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine (and NATO) has brought many changes to the global political order, with many states shifting their alliances in favor of new ones. More recently, the West, i.e., the US and the EU, have begun to renew their engagement with countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus. The belief that because Russia is busy in Ukraine and there is a vacuum in the region, the ongoing regional and global scenario presents an optimal situation for them to exploit. A recent report in the US-government run United States Institute of Peace said that “Central Asian…

The Trump administration’s proactive pursuit of ‘peace’ in the Middle East by helping establish diplomatic ties between Israel and the Arab states, e.g., the UAE and Bahrain, was at best a one-sided peace formula and a recipe of disaster at its worst. For one thing, The Abraham Accords focused on something where there was no conflict, i.e., between Israel and the UAE, while ignoring the epicenter of tensions, i.e., the constant tension between Israel and Palestine. Ignoring this seems to have contributed massively to the Palestinian’s frustration with Israel and the rest…

The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) was hailed as a major geopolitical breakthrough immediately after it was announced at the 2023 G20 summit held in India in the second week of September. The IMEC is a trade corridor that will connect India with Europe via sea and rail links passing through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel. Most political pundits from around the world saw this development as an “obvious” alternative to China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI)…