Will Cuba be the Next After Maduro?
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Israel’s Recognition of Somaliland: Strategic Logic and Regional Implications
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Imdat Oner: The Good, the Bad, or the Ugly – What is Next for Venezuela?
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Why China May Be Emboldened by America’s 2025 National Security Strategy
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Promoting Evidence-based Policy and Good Governance

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Cyber Security & Info Technologies

Jan 17 , 2026

Policy Brief

Post-quantum cryptography is typically framed as a problem in quantum computing. It is something to address once fault-tolerant machines arrive. So, this framing is still incomplete. Every scaled AI system today depends on encrypted data pipelines, protected model weights, and secure inference infrastructure. The cryptographic standards protecting that infrastructure are

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Defense & Security, Americas

Jan 15 , 2026

Op-Ed

President Donald Trump has started to frame U.S. policy in Latin America through a tougher reading of the Monroe Doctrine. Some observers call this the “Donroe Doctrine,” reflecting his view that the Western Hemisphere is a region where Washington should assert control and limit the influence of hostile governments. In

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Defense & Security, Africa

Jan 13 , 2026

Policy Brief

Rather than an isolated diplomatic gesture, Israel’s decision to formally recognise the Republic of Somaliland constitutes a deliberate strategic intervention in the Horn of Africa. By extending recognition to a de facto sovereign entity that is not officially recognised, Israel has challenged long-standing international norms governing statehood, territorial integrity, and

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Defense & Security, Americas

Jan 8 , 2026

Podcast

In this Orion Talks episode, hosted by Suat Cubukcu, Dr. Imdat Oner joins the conversation to unpack Venezuela’s sudden political turning point following the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his transfer to the United States. Dr. Oner examines the immediate fallout in Caracas, the rise of interim president Delcy Rodríguez,

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Defense & Security, Indo – Pacific, South Asia

Jan 7 , 2026

Policy Brief

China is rapidly increasing its economic and military strength and asserting itself more aggressively on the world stage. Until President Xi Jinping assumed power in 2012, China was careful to downplay its ambition and growing international power. Now, the country is a near-peer competitor of the United States military in

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Crime & Justice, Transnational Crime, Terrorism & Extremism, Americas

Dec 22 , 2025

Op-Ed

The Trump administration’s recent designation of the Clan del Golfo Colombian armed group as a foreign terrorist organization marks a significant escalation in the Trump administration’s counter-narcotics policy in Latin America. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on December 16th that the Colombian group would join a growing list of

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Terrorism & Extremism, Indo – Pacific

Dec 18 , 2025

Op-Ed

On Sunday, December 14, 2025, at approximately 6:45 pm AEDT near Archer Park of Bondi Beach, Australia, two gunmen opened fire on a crowd of approximately one thousand people. Brutal and methodical, the event was a “targeted attack on Jewish Australians… (inspired by) Islamic State ideology” as stated by Prime

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Defense & Security, Americas

Dec 12 , 2025

Policy Brief

Foreign policy analysts had long suspected that President Trump was reviving a Monroe Doctrine–style policy for Latin America. With the release of the 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS), that idea now has a formal name: the “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine. This newly declared doctrine revives a two-century-old concept

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Democracy & Human Rights, Terrorism & Extremism, Africa

Nov 11 , 2025

Policy Brief

After 18 months of siege marked by starvation, targeted killings, and sexual violence, El Fasher – the capital of North Darfur – fell to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). As of the time of this writing, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) control most of the north, east, and central regions,

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Defense & Security, Africa

Nov 6 , 2025

Policy Brief

The Red Sea has shifted from a central shipping lane to a strategically important area linking Africa, Arabia, the Indo-Pacific, and global powers. The distinction between land and sea is fading — as are old assumptions about regional order. From Peripheral Sea to Global Chokepoint Long seen as a peripheral

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Defense & Security, South Asia

Oct 31 , 2025

Policy Brief

From October 25 to 28, the ASEAN 47th Summit in Kuala Lumpur became the world’s most important diplomatic scenario. The summit gathered thirty heads of state and government, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Li Qiang. The gathering, thus, has been crucial not only for the future of

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Americas

Oct 24 , 2025

Research

Executive Summary Many major American metropolitan public transportation organizations are confronting critical funding shortfalls in the coming years, which they warn will force them to implement drastic service reductions and fare increases without further investment. Among other benefits, public transportation is a vital resource for vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, who

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Defense & Security, Europe & Central Asia

Oct 22 , 2025

Policy Brief

Introduction In October 2025, cross-border conflict surged between Afghanistan and Pakistan over allegations of terrorist safe havens in Afghanistan and drone strikes carried out by Pakistan, reaching the deadliest levels since the Taliban seized power of Afghanistan in August 2021. After several days of fighting, Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to

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South Asia

Oct 10 , 2025

Policy Brief

Xi Jinping had a September full of diplomatic wins. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held its 25th summit in Tianjin, drawing the largest attendance in its history. Later, Beijing hosted a military parade commemorating the defeat of Japan in World War II, referred to in China as “The War of

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