U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will hardly ever manage to make his way to Persepolis. But Alexander the Great did—and not only that: urged on by an intoxicated woman, he set the city ablaze. In the end, only a few lonely columns were left standing.
An intoxicated woman?
Ancient historians tell us her name was Thais. She may have been in her twenties or thirties when she joined Alexander on his bloody conquest of Persia. The empire was so vast it could make one dizzy, stretching from the Mediterranean to India. When the drama was over, tens of thousands lay dead on the battlefield.
We must go far back in time—to the year 334 BC. That was the year the young Alexander set out on a campaign that would shake large parts of the known world. He was only 22 when he took the field. Yet as the young king of Macedon and the son of the murdered Philip II of Macedon, he radiated a rare authority. Moreover, he had received military training from childhood and several years of instruction from none other than Aristotle.
søndag 29. mars 2026
India’s calculated silence on the Iran war
The escalating confrontation in the Gulf is entering uncertain territory, with risks extending well beyond the region. For India, the stakes are unusually high—economically, strategically and politically—sparking calls for India to step in as a mediator.
Given its deep economic stakes and wide-ranging relationships in the region, India appears, at first glance, to be a natural candidate. Yet New Delhi has shown little appetite for such a role. This is not a missed opportunity, but a demonstration of a deliberate and evolving strategic choice.
Given its deep economic stakes and wide-ranging relationships in the region, India appears, at first glance, to be a natural candidate. Yet New Delhi has shown little appetite for such a role. This is not a missed opportunity, but a demonstration of a deliberate and evolving strategic choice.
India’s External Affairs Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, has made it clear that India does not see itself as a “broker” in complex geopolitical conflicts. This position underscores a broader doctrine of strategic autonomy—one that prioritizes flexibility, avoids entanglement, and relies on calibrated engagement rather than high-visibility intervention.
China’s ocean-floor push blurs the line between mining and war
China is rapidly expanding its deep-sea research and mapping efforts across key global waters, raising concerns that these activities may support future undersea conflict. This month, Reuters and CNN reported that China is expanding a vast deep-sea research and mapping effort across the Pacific, Indian and Arctic oceans, combining resource exploration with strategic data collection that analysts say could support future submarine warfare against the US and its allies.
Dozens of state-linked Chinese research vessels have spent years surveying seabeds, deploying sensors, and mapping underwater terrain in areas near Taiwan, Guam, the Philippines, and key maritime chokepoints, generating data on temperature, salinity, and acoustic conditions critical for submarine navigation and detection, the reports said.
CNN shows at least eight Chinese vessels conducting deep-sea mining exploration missions over five years, often exhibiting patterns — such as disabling tracking systems and operating beyond licensed zones — that experts say suggest dual-use, military-civilian objectives aligned with China’s “military-civil fusion (MCF)” strategy.
CNN shows at least eight Chinese vessels conducting deep-sea mining exploration missions over five years, often exhibiting patterns — such as disabling tracking systems and operating beyond licensed zones — that experts say suggest dual-use, military-civilian objectives aligned with China’s “military-civil fusion (MCF)” strategy.
Ghost of Suez haunts Trump’s Iran war
To a student of Middle Eastern history, the parallels with October 1956 are not merely suggestive — they are, in their essential structure, almost embarrassingly precise. Recall the anatomy of the Suez adventure. Britain and France, chafing at the nationalist pretensions of Gamal Abdel Nasser and the loss of the canal, entered into a secret arrangement with Israel.
The plan was elegantly cynical: Israel would attack Egypt across the Sinai; London and Paris would then “intervene” as ostensible peacemakers, demanding both sides stand down from the canal zone — which they knew Egypt would refuse — thereby furnishing a pretext to seize the waterway themselves.
The justifications offered to the public shifted kaleidoscopically: it was about freedom of navigation; it was about containing Soviet influence; it was about preventing a dangerous authoritarian from acquiring too much power.
The plan was elegantly cynical: Israel would attack Egypt across the Sinai; London and Paris would then “intervene” as ostensible peacemakers, demanding both sides stand down from the canal zone — which they knew Egypt would refuse — thereby furnishing a pretext to seize the waterway themselves.
The justifications offered to the public shifted kaleidoscopically: it was about freedom of navigation; it was about containing Soviet influence; it was about preventing a dangerous authoritarian from acquiring too much power.
India: When floods come, survival is a roll of the dice
Last year, as monsoon rains pushed the Brahmaputra River over its banks in India's northeastern state of Assam, Amir Hussen knew one thing — he will need to rebuild his life. Again.
"I have lost my house 17 times to riverbank erosion," said Hussen, 47, a resident of Kharballi village in Assam's Barpeta district. "Wherever there are floods, there is erosion… When we try to find our footing, due to floods, our house gets washed away."
In villages like Kharballi, built along shifting riverbanks, floods routinely erase homes, farmland and livelihoods. Families move repeatedly, often rebuilding on borrowed land or narrow strips of earth left behind by the river.
For them, a flood means losing their homes and livestock but also documents and land records. This is especially risk for Muslim families in Assam. The state has been at the center of India's citizenship crackdown, where recent policies and verification drives have placed Muslims under closer scrutiny. Lost papers could mean legal troubles and even loss of citizenship.
"I have lost my house 17 times to riverbank erosion," said Hussen, 47, a resident of Kharballi village in Assam's Barpeta district. "Wherever there are floods, there is erosion… When we try to find our footing, due to floods, our house gets washed away."
In villages like Kharballi, built along shifting riverbanks, floods routinely erase homes, farmland and livelihoods. Families move repeatedly, often rebuilding on borrowed land or narrow strips of earth left behind by the river.
For them, a flood means losing their homes and livestock but also documents and land records. This is especially risk for Muslim families in Assam. The state has been at the center of India's citizenship crackdown, where recent policies and verification drives have placed Muslims under closer scrutiny. Lost papers could mean legal troubles and even loss of citizenship.
US rebuilding WWII Pacific airfields amid China threat
Airstrips that were constructed on remote islands in the Pacific to target Japan in the closing stages of World War II are quietly being repaired and restored as the US builds up its defensive posture amid the growing challenge of China in the region.
Chinese vessels frequently test maritime claims by South Korea and Japan in the northern Pacific. To the south, Beijing carries out frequent large-scale military exercises around Taiwan, which it says will one day be "reunited" with mainland China.
Beijing also claims most of the South China Sea as Chinese territory, despite a 2016 international tribunal rejecting these claims. "China is, of course, the big concern in the region and this appears to be a response to China building out its own capacity," Dan Pinkston, a professor of international relations at the Seoul campus of Troy University and a former US Air Force officer, told DW.
Chinese vessels frequently test maritime claims by South Korea and Japan in the northern Pacific. To the south, Beijing carries out frequent large-scale military exercises around Taiwan, which it says will one day be "reunited" with mainland China.
Beijing also claims most of the South China Sea as Chinese territory, despite a 2016 international tribunal rejecting these claims. "China is, of course, the big concern in the region and this appears to be a response to China building out its own capacity," Dan Pinkston, a professor of international relations at the Seoul campus of Troy University and a former US Air Force officer, told DW.
US lawmakers say they’ll visit Taiwan before Trump’s summit with China’s Xi
A bipartisan group of four senators has plans to visit Taiwan, Japan and South Korea in the coming days on a trip meant to bolster U.S. alliances seen as important to countering China’s dominance in Asia.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced the trip Saturday. She will be joined by Sens. John Curtis, R-Utah, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev. Their visits to Taipei, Tokyo and Seoul are coming before President Donald Trump’s trip to Beijing in May for a rescheduled summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The lawmakers’ stop in Taiwan could draw scrutiny from China, which opposes such relations and sees them as a challenge to its claim of sovereignty over the self-governing island. Taiwan relies on American backing for its democracy, but recent moves by Trump, such as discussing a potential weapons sales to Taiwan with Xi, have raised questions about the future direction of U.S. policy.
North Korea conducts engine test for missile capable of targeting US mainland
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed a test of an upgraded, high-thrust, solid-fuel engine for weapons and hailed it as a signficant development to boost the country’s strategic military capability, state media reported Sunday. While the test was in line with Kim’s stated goal of acquiring more agile, hard-to-detect missiles targeting the United States and its allies, some experts speculate North Korea’s claim may be an exaggeration.
The Korean Central News Agency reported Kim watched the ground jet test of the engine using a composite carbon fiber material. It said the engine’s maximum trust is 2,500 kilotons, up from about 1,970 kilotons reported in a similar solid-fuel engine test in September.
Ross Andersen: The Shocking Speed of China’s Scientific Rise
If China finally eclipses the United States as the world’s preeminent scientific superpower, there won’t be an official announcement. Neither will there necessarily be a dramatic Promethean demonstration, a bomb flash in the desert, a satellite beeping overhead, a moon landing. It will be a quiet moment, observed by a small, specialized subset of scientists who have forsaken the study of the stars, animals, and plants in favor of a more navel-gazing subject: the practice of science itself.
This moment may now be at hand. American science has been the envy of the planet since the Second World War at least, but it has recently gone into decline. After President Trump took office last year, his administration started vandalizing the country’s scientific institutions, suspending research grants in bulk and putting entire lines of cutting-edge research on ice.
This moment may now be at hand. American science has been the envy of the planet since the Second World War at least, but it has recently gone into decline. After President Trump took office last year, his administration started vandalizing the country’s scientific institutions, suspending research grants in bulk and putting entire lines of cutting-edge research on ice.
fredag 27. mars 2026
Man charged with planting explosive device at US military base had fled to China
A man who has since fled to China was charged with placing an improvised explosive device outside the visitor’s center at a Florida military base housing US Central Command, which is leading the joint US-Israeli war effort against Iran. During a press conference Thursday, US Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, Gregory W. Kehoe, detailed how investigators believe the man, Alen Zheng, placed the IED at the base and how his sister — Ann Mary Zheng — helped him cover up his crime and flee to China.
Kehoe said investigators do not have evidence that a foreign country is connected to the crime and are still investigating Zheng’s possible motivations.
Kehoe said investigators do not have evidence that a foreign country is connected to the crime and are still investigating Zheng’s possible motivations.
The China lessons India can ill-afford to ignore
Two months ago, China’s Communist Party leadership held a key gathering in Zhongnanhai. On January 30, the Politburo’s first study session signaled its strategic priorities.
Yet in India, the event passed with barely a whisper. No major paper or academic institution has analyzed the discussion. This silence signals a deeper failure to grasp the scale of the challenge across the Himalayas.The session launched China’s 15th Five-Year Plan. It did not address macroeconomic stabilization or geopolitical posturing, typical topics at such events. Instead, it focused entirely on planning and developing future industries. If the idea of “new quality productive forces” introduced two years ago was the strategy, this meeting laid out the plan.
China’s leaders were clear: seize the top positions in science and technology, and drive national development. Mastering future industries is not optional in great power competition; it is a compulsion. Those who lead these technologies will shape the global economy.
Yet in India, the event passed with barely a whisper. No major paper or academic institution has analyzed the discussion. This silence signals a deeper failure to grasp the scale of the challenge across the Himalayas.The session launched China’s 15th Five-Year Plan. It did not address macroeconomic stabilization or geopolitical posturing, typical topics at such events. Instead, it focused entirely on planning and developing future industries. If the idea of “new quality productive forces” introduced two years ago was the strategy, this meeting laid out the plan.
China’s leaders were clear: seize the top positions in science and technology, and drive national development. Mastering future industries is not optional in great power competition; it is a compulsion. Those who lead these technologies will shape the global economy.
China’s clean energy offer to Indonesia just got harder to refuse
China’s ambassador to ASEAN recently suggested that the current global energy shock triggered by war in the Middle East should be seen not only as a crisis, but as an opportunity to deepen cooperation on the transition to clean energy.
That framing may sound diplomatic. In reality, it is strategic — and increasingly hard to dispute. The disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has once again revealed a fundamental truth about the global economy: it runs on a fragile foundation.Roughly 20% of the world’s seaborne oil passes through this narrow corridor, much of it destined for Asia. When conflict chokes the artery, the consequences are immediately felt in supply shocks, price spikes and political instability that ripples far beyond the Middle East.
Across Asia, governments are scrambling to conserve fuel, stabilize prices and shield their economies from cascading impacts. Some, like the Philippines, have already declared energy emergencies. Others, including Indonesia, have so far maintained stability — but only within a system that remains deeply exposed to external shocks.
That framing may sound diplomatic. In reality, it is strategic — and increasingly hard to dispute. The disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has once again revealed a fundamental truth about the global economy: it runs on a fragile foundation.Roughly 20% of the world’s seaborne oil passes through this narrow corridor, much of it destined for Asia. When conflict chokes the artery, the consequences are immediately felt in supply shocks, price spikes and political instability that ripples far beyond the Middle East.
Across Asia, governments are scrambling to conserve fuel, stabilize prices and shield their economies from cascading impacts. Some, like the Philippines, have already declared energy emergencies. Others, including Indonesia, have so far maintained stability — but only within a system that remains deeply exposed to external shocks.
China industrial profits surge 15% to start year, but oil price shock threatens outlook
Chinese industrial firms saw their profits surge in the first two months of this year as officials pressed ahead with efforts to contain the fallout from industrial overcapacity and lackluster consumer demand. Industrial profits jumped 15.2% from a year earlier in the January-February period, National Bureau of Statistics data showed Friday, extending a sharp rebound from a 5.3% jump in December.
NBS chief statistician Yu Weining attributed the notable uptick to accelerated factory activity and rising product prices in the first two months this year. The high-tech manufacturing sector led the profit gains, Yu highlighted, with industrial profits surging 58.7% from a year earlier, driven by robust earnings growth in companies making unmanned aerial vehicles and semiconductors.
NBS chief statistician Yu Weining attributed the notable uptick to accelerated factory activity and rising product prices in the first two months this year. The high-tech manufacturing sector led the profit gains, Yu highlighted, with industrial profits surging 58.7% from a year earlier, driven by robust earnings growth in companies making unmanned aerial vehicles and semiconductors.
Iran war puts South Asia's Gulf remittances at risk
As the rich Arab states of the Persian Gulf are targeted by Iranian drones and missiles, protracted economic disruption brought on by the Iran war could threaten the hundreds of billions of dollars in remittances sent home every year by millions of South Asian foreign workers in the region. Most of them come from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and for decades they have helped drive the Gulf nations' economic boom, taking jobs in construction, hospitality, tourism and health care.
Their remittances have not only provided families at home with essential income, but also become a major source of foreign currency inflows for India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, acting like a financial cushion for their economies, and helping cover trade deficits.
With energy infrastructure under attack and oil and gas transit blocked in the Strait of Hormuz, the combination of prolonged high energy prices and a drop in remittances could pose a double threat for these developing economies.
Their remittances have not only provided families at home with essential income, but also become a major source of foreign currency inflows for India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, acting like a financial cushion for their economies, and helping cover trade deficits.
With energy infrastructure under attack and oil and gas transit blocked in the Strait of Hormuz, the combination of prolonged high energy prices and a drop in remittances could pose a double threat for these developing economies.
India sees spike in social media censorship amid Iran war
Over the past two weeks, internet watchdogs in India have reported dozens of removals of posts on social media that were critical of the government's failure to condemn the US-Israeli strikes on Iran. The timing is significant, with a spike in social media account restrictions beginning around March 11, and the Internet Freedom Foundation documenting at least 42 instances by March 19.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Israel in late February, just days before Israel launched its strikes on Iran, and his typically cautions stance on the conflict placed India's foreign policy under unusual domestic scrutiny.
This week, Modi acknowledged in a speech to parliament that the situation is "worrisome," but that India's "inherent" economic strength would allow the country to weather the "unprecedented challenges" posed by the conflict.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Israel in late February, just days before Israel launched its strikes on Iran, and his typically cautions stance on the conflict placed India's foreign policy under unusual domestic scrutiny.
This week, Modi acknowledged in a speech to parliament that the situation is "worrisome," but that India's "inherent" economic strength would allow the country to weather the "unprecedented challenges" posed by the conflict.
Southeast Asia revisits nuclear power plans for AI data centers as Iran war disrupts energy supplies
Nuclear power is getting a second look in Southeast Asia as countries prepare to meet surging energy demand as they vie for artificial intelligence-focused data centers.
Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region could, if they pursue those goals, have nuclear energy in the 2030s. Even countries without current plans have signaled their interest.
Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, while meeting growing power needs. The Iran war is underscoring the vulnerability of Asia’s energy supplies, raising the sense of urgency about finding alternatives to oil and gas in Southeast Asia, analysts say.
Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region could, if they pursue those goals, have nuclear energy in the 2030s. Even countries without current plans have signaled their interest.
Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, while meeting growing power needs. The Iran war is underscoring the vulnerability of Asia’s energy supplies, raising the sense of urgency about finding alternatives to oil and gas in Southeast Asia, analysts say.
Why Pakistan has emerged as a mediator between US and Iran
As fears of a wider regional conflict escalate following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that began in late February, Pakistan has emerged as an unexpected mediator, offering to help bring Washington and Tehran to the negotiating table.
Islamabad isn’t often called on to act as an intermediary in high-stakes diplomacy, but it’s stepped into the role this time for a number of reasons, both because it has relatively good ties with both Washington and Tehran and because it has a lot at stake in seeing the war resolved.
Pakistani government officials have said that their public peace effort follows weeks of quiet diplomacy, though they have provided few details. They have also said that Islamabad stands ready to host talks between representatives from the U.S. and Iran. Here’s what to know about Pakistan’s mediation effort.
Islamabad isn’t often called on to act as an intermediary in high-stakes diplomacy, but it’s stepped into the role this time for a number of reasons, both because it has relatively good ties with both Washington and Tehran and because it has a lot at stake in seeing the war resolved.
Pakistani government officials have said that their public peace effort follows weeks of quiet diplomacy, though they have provided few details. They have also said that Islamabad stands ready to host talks between representatives from the U.S. and Iran. Here’s what to know about Pakistan’s mediation effort.
onsdag 25. mars 2026
China Could Dominate the Physical AI Future
On Feb. 16, hundreds of millions of households watched as humanoid robots from four different Chinese companies danced, acted in a comedy skit, did parkour, and performed martial arts onstage at the Spring Festival Gala, China’s most-watched television broadcast. Across the country, drone shows lit up the night skies as China celebrated Lunar New Year, the synchronization of tens of thousands of drones coordinated by artificial intelligence.
The physical AI fervor has traveled across the Pacific. At the glitzy Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year, Chinese startups dominated the convention with AI-enabled hardware from smart home appliances and wearables to all kinds of robots.
While American frontier labs are battling each other across large language model leaderboards, China’s AI capabilities are showing up in physical ways—leaving screens and entering our daily lives. We’ve lived through over a decade of, in the words of venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, “software eating the world.” Now, metal and mathematics have converged and hardware is eating the world.
The physical AI fervor has traveled across the Pacific. At the glitzy Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year, Chinese startups dominated the convention with AI-enabled hardware from smart home appliances and wearables to all kinds of robots.
While American frontier labs are battling each other across large language model leaderboards, China’s AI capabilities are showing up in physical ways—leaving screens and entering our daily lives. We’ve lived through over a decade of, in the words of venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, “software eating the world.” Now, metal and mathematics have converged and hardware is eating the world.
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