Introduction: The Rediscovery of Central Asia The statement made by the President of the European Commission at the EU–Central Asia Samarkand Summit in 2025—“Central Asia was once the middle of nowhere; today it is the center of everything”—is not merely diplomatic […]
Türkiye sits at the center of one of the world’s most contested regions. It possesses a combination of geographic, demographic, economic, and military advantages unmatched by any of its immediate neighbors. Yet these advantages coexist with diplomatic fragility, alliance mistrust, […]
Mali, one of West Africa’s landlocked countries, has been facing a fuel shortage since September. Because electricity production in the country relies on oil-powered thermal plants, the lack of fuel oil has shut these plants down. As a result, the […]
Executive Summary Two landmark diplomatic meetings in early November 2025 — the 3 + 1 Energy Ministerial in Athens (Greece, Cyprus-Greek Cypriot Administration, Israel, United States) and the C5 + 1 Summit in Washington (the U.S. and the five Central […]
The Vatican’s recent announcement that Pope Leo will make his first overseas visit to Türkiye has drawn both religious and political attention worldwide. Though officially described as a pilgrimage rather than a diplomatic mission, the visit is expected to have […]
For millions of Turkish citizens today, obtaining a visa to visit, study, or work in developed countries has become an exhausting, humiliating, and often fruitless process. Whether it is the United States, European Union members, the United Kingdom, Japan, South […]
Guest Writer Cengiz K. Fırat (R) Ambassador The Hejaz Railway stands as one of the most evocative infrastructure projects of the late Ottoman era: a narrow-gauge line that once stretched from Damascus toward the holy cities of Islam, designed to […]
Guest Writer Cengiz K. Fırat (R) Ambassador In late September 2025, the United States witnessed an unprecedented move: every serving general and admiral, including those in command abroad, was ordered to report in person to Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. […]
Guest Writer Cengiz K. Fırat (R) Ambassador For centuries, Türkiye’s geography has been both a blessing and a curse. Straddling Europe and Asia, controlling access to the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean, and bordering some of the most volatile […]
On the eve of the revolutionary uprisings that began in late 2010, the Arab regimes represented an almost century-long status quo. True, many of them were not the ones which were installed earlier in the 20th century. Nationalist single party regimes […]
