Geopolitics
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Afghanistan
Saudi Company Signs Oil and Gas Deal with Taliban; Khalilzad Attends Ceremony
DID Press: Taliban administration has signed a contract with Saudi company Delta International for the exploration and extraction of oil and gas in the Kashk–Tirpul basin in western Afghanistan. The agreement also covers the use of natural gas in Herat…
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Afghanistan
US Setbacks from Kabul to the Strait of Hormuz
DID Press: A review of U.S. foreign policy and military doctrine reveals what the author describes as a recurring pattern of costly and interventionist engagements that have drawn Washington into prolonged conflicts. The experience of Afghanistan, the article argues, offers…
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Government
Retired US General: Washington Has Lost Access to 15 Middle East Bases
DID Press: Retired US General McCaffrey has claimed that the U.S. military has permanently lost access to 15 military bases in the Persian Gulf, following damage sustained during the recent conflict with Iran. McCaffrey said in a recent interview that…
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Government
Foreign Affairs: U.S. Military Dominance No Longer What It Was
DID Press: Foreign Affairs argues in a new analysis that the United States no longer enjoys the level of military superiority it possessed in 1991 and can no longer rely on relatively low-cost military force to compel other countries to…
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Government
Is a Middle East NATO on the Way?
DID Press: On August 7, 2026, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye signed the Mecca Mutual Defense Pact. Under the agreement, an attack on any one of the members would be considered an attack on all. Dr. Ahmad Shah, a law…
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Government
Fareed Zakaria: Trump’s Policy Volatility Is Eroding US Credibility
DID Press: Fareed Zakaria, a prominent journalist and international affairs analyst, wrote in a recent Washington Post column that Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan have signed a joint defense agreement in Mecca, pledging to treat an attack on one as…
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Afghanistan
Five Years After US Withdrawal, Afghanistan and the Legacy of Endless Wars
DID Press: Five years after the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Kabul, Afghanistan has become, in the view of international public opinion, a symbol of the failure of a major power, according to an analysis by Simon Tisdall, senior…
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Former Ghani Adviser Calls for Girls’ Education, National Unity in Afghanistan
DID Press: Ali Muhammadi, a former adviser to Ashraf Ghani and political activist, has argued that the failures of Afghanistan’s politicians cannot be explained solely by external factors, saying that resolving the fundamental issues of girls’ education and creating a…
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Government
Mecca Agreement Raises Questions Over a NATO-Style Security Pact
DID Press: The newly signed Mecca Agreement has raised questions over whether it could evolve into a collective-defense framework resembling NATO in the Middle East, according to Javid Hassan, former head of an economic advisory group and a geopolitical analyst.…
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Afghanistan
From Backer to Enemy — How Pakistan Turned on the Taliban
DID Press: Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban administration have shifted from decades of strategic cooperation to growing public confrontation, reflecting Islamabad’s diminishing influence over the movement it once regarded as a cornerstone of its regional security strategy. For more…
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