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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping enter the hall during a signing ceremony on May 20, 2026, in Beijing, China. (Getty Images)
Middle East
Middle East
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Armed Taliban security personnel sit atop a Humvee armored vehicle as they ride along a street in Badakhshan on September 1, 2024. (Getty Images)
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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin walks with China’s President Xi Jinping and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un before a military parade in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on September 3, 2025. (Getty Images)
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USS Essex departs the Pride of California Dry Dock in San Diego, California, on September 8, 2023, following a maintenance period. (United States Navy)
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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent takes questions during a press conference at the Treasury Department in Washington, DC, on August 24, 2026. (Getty Images)
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An Iranian national flag waves on a street in downtown Tehran, Iran, on August 23, 2026. (Getty Images)
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A C-130J-30 Super Hercules aircraft is being built by Lockheed Martin Corp. for the US Navy’s E-130J program in Marietta, Georgia, on September 12, 2024. (DVIDS)
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A US sailor directs a Eurocopter AS-332 Super Puma on the flight deck of USS Abraham Lincoln during a replenishment-at-sea on August 16, 2026. (US Navy)
Experts
Hillel Fradkin
Senior Fellow and Director, Center on Islam, Democracy, and the Future of the Muslim World
Husain Haqqani
Senior Fellow
Ludovic Hood
Senior Fellow, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Can Kasapoğlu
Senior Fellow (Nonresident)
William Luti
Adjunct Fellow
Joel Rayburn
Senior Fellow, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Zineb Riboua
Research Fellow, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Peter Rough
Senior Fellow and Director, Center on Europe and Eurasia
Jonathan Schachter
Senior Fellow, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Abram N. Shulsky
Senior Fellow
Richard Weitz
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Political-Military Analysis
Nir Yaron
Visiting Fellow, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
