Executive Summary: Moscow seeks to boost its struggling economy through increased development of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) as a real competitor to the Suez Canal and the Bosphorus Strait. Moscow wants the INSTC to open pathways to new markets that circumvent Western monitoring... MORE

Executive Summary:  Armenia has announced it is suspending cooperation with the Moscow-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a signal that Yerevan may soon reduce or even end other forms of cooperation with Russia. The almost universal assumption that Armenia, because of its geographic location and... MORE

Executive Summary Thailand has managed to secure the release of its 18 hostages from Hamas with the help of a Thai professor at al-Mustafa International University in Qom, who acted as a mediator. Thailand has avoided taking an explicitly critical position on Hamas, despite the... MORE

Executive Summary Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) conducted two massive bombings at Qassem Soleimani’s grave on January 3, killing over 90 people and injuring 300 others. The attack was the deadliest terrorist incident in Iran since 1979. Iran and its proxies retaliated against many... MORE

Executive Summary Central Asian governments have increased security at Israeli and Jewish sites and expressed neutrality on the Gaza conflict, but unrest could inspire extremist attacks. Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) propaganda has called for attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets in Uzbekistan, sharing... MORE

Executive Summary: BeiDou enhances both the PRC’s strategic autonomy and its influence across the world. It has signed agreements with numerous countries to expand its use, including for military applications. An interoperability agreement with the US government diminishes the strategic value of GPS by eliminating... MORE

Executive Summary Iran’s supply of surface-to-surface ballistic missiles to Russia is unprecedented, further diminishing any room for rapprochement between the West and Tehran. Tehran and Moscow’s military cooperation has been steadily growing and is nearing a formal alliance. The new interstate treaty will shape bilateral... MORE

Executive Summary: Iran and Russia have steadily strengthened their bilateral cooperation over the past couple of years, primarily based on the destruction of common adversaries, a shared ideological alignment, and expanded military collaboration. Tehran and Moscow have intensified their arms trade and technical assistance on... MORE

Executive Summary Globally, recent alleged Hamas-inspired attacks have lacked sophistication compared to past IS attacks or white nationalist shooters over the past decade. Even so, "lone wolves" motivated by news from Gaza pose an unpredictable threat. Recent examples of this include the several assaults that... MORE

Executive Summary Hamas deputy leader and head of the West Bank al-Qassam Brigades Saleh al-Arouri was killed in a January 2024 Israeli drone strike while meeting with Hezbollah. He is the senior most Hamas leader killed by Israel since the start of the war. Al-Arouri... MORE