Diplomacy - Diplomacy & Politics (Page 3)

The Indispensable Bad Actor

Pakistan seeded the nuclear crisis it is now asked to resolve. Abdul Qadeer Khan transferred centrifuge designs to Iran. Washington pardoned Islamabad without consequence. Now the same Washington routes its Iran diplomacy through Pakistan. The bad actor designation expires when you become useful.

By Sunny Peter

/ 30 Mar 2026

The Dignity Deficit: When Leaders Stopped Being Serious

There was a time when the men and women who led nations understood the office demanded something of them. That seriousness — imperfect, sometimes hypocritical, but real — has largely gone. What replaced it is performance. The world is run by people who confuse visibility with leadership.

By Sunny Peter

/ 21 Mar 2026

The Dignity Deficit: When Leaders Stopped Being Serious

The Bargain That Broke: How the Iran War Shattered the Abraham Accords' Founding Logic

The Abraham Accords were built on a premise: Arab states could normalise with Israel in exchange for security guarantees and American backing. The US-Israel war on Iran shattered that premise. The Accords still exist on paper. The logic that held them together does not.

By Sunny Peter

/ 9 Mar 2026

The Bargain That Broke: How the Iran War Shattered the Abraham Accords' Founding Logic

Semiconductor Chessboard: How the US-China AI Race is Redrawing Global Alliances and Diplomatic Strategy

The US-China rivalry has found its sharpest edge in semiconductors. Washington uses export controls to choke Chinese access to advanced chips. Beijing races to build domestic capacity. Every state in between is being forced to choose sides in a contest they did not start.

By Sunny Peter

/ 12 Nov 2025

Semiconductor Chessboard: How the US-China AI Race is Redrawing Global Alliances and Diplomatic Strategy

The New Scramble for Syria: Turkey, Iran, Russia, and the Gulf States Jockey for Power in Post-Assad Syria

Assad is gone. The scramble has begun. Turkey wants buffer zones. Iran wants its corridor. Russia wants its bases. The Gulf states want influence without commitment. Every outside power has a stake and an agenda. The Syrians are, once again, the last consideration.

By Sunny Peter

/ 8 Nov 2025

The New Scramble for Syria: Turkey, Iran, Russia, and the Gulf States Jockey for Power in Post-Assad Syria

Syria's New Era: Ahmed Al-Sharaa's Historic Washington Visit Marks Potential Shift in US-Middle East Relations

Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s visit to Washington was the most consequential meeting between a Syrian leader and an American president in decades. It signals a potential reset — but the conditions attached, and the history behind them, counsel caution before calling it a breakthrough.

By Sunny Peter

/ 8 Nov 2025

Syria's New Era: Ahmed Al-Sharaa's Historic Washington Visit Marks Potential Shift in US-Middle East Relations

Putin Cancels Russia-Arab Summit as Middle East Influence Wanes

Vladimir Putin cancelled the Russia-Arab summit without explanation. The cancellation is itself the explanation. Russia is overextended, its credibility in the Middle East strained by the Iran conflict, and the Arab states it once courted are recalibrating toward Washington and Beijing.

By Sunny Peter

/ 15 Oct 2025

Putin Cancels Russia-Arab Summit as Middle East Influence Wanes

They Predicted AI Would Rationalize Diplomacy. It Made Everything Worse

The promise was that AI would make diplomacy more precise — faster analysis, better decision support, reduced miscalculation. What happened instead is that it accelerated information overload, amplified disinformation and gave every actor more tools to confuse the picture.

By Sunny Peter

/ 11 Oct 2025

They Predicted AI Would Rationalize Diplomacy. It Made Everything Worse

Kabul Under Pressure: India's Diplomatic Gambit and Pakistan's Airstrikes Reveal Shifting Power Dynamics

India’s quiet engagement with Afghanistan and Pakistan’s airstrikes against TTP positions inside Afghan territory reveal a triangle of competing interests. The Taliban sit at the centre, playing each neighbour against the other with considerable tactical skill.

By Sunny Peter

/ 10 Oct 2025

Kabul Under Pressure: India's Diplomatic Gambit and Pakistan's Airstrikes Reveal Shifting Power Dynamics

Civil Society's Frontline: How Aid Flotillas Are Reshaping Conflict Diplomacy

Aid flotillas are not humanitarian operations — they are political acts. They challenge blockades, generate confrontations and force governments to respond. Civil society has learned to use the tools of conflict to expose it. The flotilla model is not going away. It is spreading.

By Sunny Peter

/ 9 Oct 2025

Civil Society's Frontline: How Aid Flotillas Are Reshaping Conflict Diplomacy

Between Technocracy and Sovereignty: Can International Administration Work in Gaza?

Some have proposed internationally administered governance for Gaza as an alternative to Hamas or Israeli occupation. The idea is serious — and seriously complicated. International administration has a poor track record. But the alternatives being proposed are no more promising.

By Sunny Peter

/ 7 Oct 2025

Between Technocracy and Sovereignty: Can International Administration Work in Gaza?

Can Iran and Israel Really Become Friends? Trump Thinks They Can

The Trump administration floated Israeli-Iranian normalisation as part of a regional realignment. The proposal misreads both states. Iran and Israel are not estranged partners — they are ideological adversaries whose hostility is structural, not diplomatic.

By Sunny Peter

/ 1 Oct 2025

Can Iran and Israel Really Become Friends? Trump Thinks They Can