Open Dialogue Research Journal
The latest confrontation around the Strait of Hormuz exposes a dangerous contradiction: measures intended to restore deterrence may be deepening the insecurity they promise to resolve. On September 8, Washington said it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers following missile attacks on an American warship. Tehran subsequently claimed attacks against ships […]
The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, signed by Saudi Arabia, T+rkiye and Pakistan on 7 August 2026, is more than a reaction to immediate Middle Eastern instability. It represents an attempt by three influential regional powers to reduce their dependence on external security guarantees and exercise greater control over their strategic […]
The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement was not created by the US-Israeli war on Iran alone, but the war transformed it from a diplomatic possibility into a strategic necessity. Signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan on August 7, 2026, it declares that an armed attack on one member will be […]
Egypt!s absence from the Mecca Joint-Defense Agreement is striking precisely because Cairo is not an outsider to the emerging alignment. The agreement, signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan on 7 August 2026, establishes a collective-defense principle under which an armed attack against one member is considered an attack against […]
The emerging Saudi-Pakistani-Turkish defense framework represents one of the most significant attempts in recent years to construct an autonomous security architecture linking the Middle East with South Asia. It is still premature to describe it as an “Islamic NATO,” because it lacks NATO’s permanent command structure, standardized operational doctrine and […]
Saudi Arabia’s importance to Middle Eastern stability can no longer be explained only through oil, military spending, or its alliance with the United States. Riyadh increasingly behaves as a regional system manager whose interests depend on limiting disorder. Vision 2030, foreign investment, tourism, logistics, and technology all require a predictable […]
The widening confrontation between Iran and the United States places China in an unusually influential but dangerous position. Beijing is Iran’s most important economic partner, the largest buyer of Iranian oil, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a strategic rival of Washington. Yet China is also […]
As of August 2026, Syria’s government under President Ahmed Al-Sharaa appears considerably stronger than it did after Bashar al-Assad’s fall in December 2024. Damascus controls most major cities, has recovered important oil and gas fields, secured sanctions relief, joined the international coalition against “Islamic State” and established working relationships with […]
As of July 23, 2026, the U.S. war with Iran has moved beyond the question of whether Washington can strike Iranian targets. It can. The United States has overwhelming military superiority in airpower, naval reach, intelligence, cyber operations, logistics, and precision weapons. The real question is whether this military superiority […]
Syria’s war has changed shape, but it has not disappeared. The country is no longer living through the same battlefield map that defined the Assad years, yet the forces that once tore it apart are still active beneath the surface: armed fragmentation, sectarian fear, economic despair, foreign rivalry, and the […]
Comments