In this episode of Orion Talks, host Marta Furlan talks with Mehmet Metehan Ciftci about the socio-political harms linked to the mining of critical minerals. The conversation starts with Mete explaining the paradox of green minerals being extracted in the Global South, where their harmful impacts are felt, and end
Executive Summary At the beginning of the Cold War in the 1950’s the United States and the Soviet Union competed with arms and technology exports in their respective regions of influence. After the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia sold much of its Cold War-era military and technology arsenal to Soviet satellites,
Amidst threats to U.S. interests in the Red Sea and competition for regional influence, the United States must reassess its military posture in the Horn of Africa. The Horn of Africa, which includes Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, sits at the junction of global trade and strategic competition, commanding access
Recently, the U.S. has expressed the importance of who controls the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. In President Trump’s first cabinet meeting since returning to office, he and Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, discussed the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and subsequent loss of Bagram Air Base. In the meeting,
In recent years, Russian mercenaries in West Africa have gained considerable notoriety for, on the one hand, propping up post-coup military juntas and, on the other hand, suffering setbacks when supporting those juntas’ counter-insurgency efforts. For example, 87 Russian fighters who were part of Africa Corps (formerly known as Wagner
In this episode of Orion Talks, host Marta Furlan is joined by Kawa Hassan to discuss the Israel-Lebanon war and its implications for the region. The conversation starts with a reflection on the implications of the death of Hassan Nasrallah and other top Hezbollah leaders may have on Hezbollah as
This author interviewed Ali Maisam Nazary, head of the National Resistance Front’s Foreign Relations and Hamad Saifi, member of the NRF and former Afghanistan Army Commanding Officer, 5th Brigade of the 203rd Thunder Corps. In the three years since the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul, Afghanistan’s National Resistance Front (NRF) has
Last week, the Paris railroad system was disrupted by planned, coordinated arson attacks. This was not unique, but it signals that major cities must be even better prepared for this “softer,” less violent, but still disruptive form of terrorism. The attacks on Paris’ railroad system occurred just hours before the
A single breached password was used on the dark web to log in to a legacy VPN. Hackers reached servers, encrypted around 100 gigabytes of data, and asked for millions of dollars’ ransom. After five days of negotiations, the hackers were paid $4.4 million, but meanwhile, due to oil shortages
The members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have worked to maintain a balanced approach in their relationship with China and the US. ASEAN acts increasingly as a bridge and an intermediate market between superpowers. Nevertheless, rising trade barriers, sanctions, and tensions add further complexity to the delicate
In this episode of Orion Talks, Suat Cubukcu is joined by Travis Moran, a renowned expert in electric infrastructure security. Travis provides an in-depth overview of what constitutes critical infrastructure within the realm of electric energy, highlighting essential assets beyond nuclear power plants. He sheds light on the major threats
The international order has undergone a period of transition in recent years. Regional contexts are gaining relevance and autonomy. As a result, local actors have forced global actors to reposition themselves regionally. Given this context, liberal principles and values are facing more challenges. And so are the countries that have
