The Origins and the Blood of Empires (Shang to Qin) The history of the Chinese state is written on the bones of women. To understand the fundamental relationship between the ruling apparatus and female biology, one must start in the dirt of the Yellow River valley. The ancient practices of xunzang (accompanying burial) and renxun …
The State-Owned Womb: China’s 3,000-Year Autopsy of Female Sacrifice Read More »
By Yash Nitin Sapre There are two mistakes a civilisation can make when it studies the fire gathering at its gates. The first is to see conspiracy in every flame. The second is to wait until the palace is burning before admitting there was a pattern. India today stands between these two errors. Across its …
The Ring Around Bharat: Instability, Influence and the New Geography of Pressure Read More »
Date: June 16, 2026 Category: Research Announcements / Regional Dynamics The Indian Strategic Studies Forum (ISSF) is pleased to announce the launch of a comprehensive, internally funded research initiative titled “Hereditary Hierarchy and Institutional Stratification in China: Historical Origins and Contemporary Socio-Economic Impacts.” Conducted by ISSF’s in-house team of political sociologists, demographers, and regional analysts, …
By Professor Habib Al Badawi “The confirmation of Frank Garcia – a veteran naval officer and intelligence specialist – as United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs marks a significant departure in how Washington approaches the continent. Drawing on Garcia’s background and his stated policy priorities, this article examines the strategic implications of …
By Professor Habib Al Badawi The Sahel occupies an increasingly central position in global geopolitics, where the strategic ambitions of external powers intersect with the fragile realities of local governance. This paper examines two successive waves of geopolitical transformation — the military-coup era of 2020–2025 and the emerging multipolar reordering of 2025–2026 — through a …
SHADOWS OVER THE SAHEL: Rivalries and Resilience Read More »
Prof. Habib BadawiLebanese University, Beirut, LebanonEmail: [email protected] | [email protected]: 0000-0002-6452-8379 – Scopus ID: 58675152100 Dr. Allali Khadija Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tetouan, Morocco Email: [email protected] ORCID: 0009-0000-1873-0894 Abstract This study investigates whether cultural diplomacy can function as a semi-autonomous framework for sustaining China–Taiwan relations in the absence of formal diplomatic recognition. By integrating six theoretical traditions …
By Professor Habib Al- Badawi What We Think We Know: The Patron-Client Paradigm The dominant framework for understanding Saudi-American relations holds that Riyadh occupies the subordinate position in a classic patron-client security arrangement. In exchange for American military guarantees — codified in base access agreements, arms transfers of extraordinary scale, and an implicit nuclear umbrella …
How Saudi Arabia Escaped Trump’s Trap and Thwarted the Israeli-American War Plan Read More »
Abstract This paper examines the strategic implications of Japan’s ongoing defence transformation for the Indo-Pacific regional order through 2030. Drawing on Japan’s 2022 strategic documents, the 2025–2026 procurement cycle, and the evolving Taiwan contingency, it argues that Japan has crossed a threshold from declaratory posture to fielded operational counter-strike capability — a transition with qualitative …
By Professor Habib Al Badawi “This paper examines the elevation of Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the position of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi as an exercise in strategic regime design rather than hereditary inevitability. Drawing on verified Reuters reporting from 2023–2026, the analysis situates the succession within three interlocking structural …
By Habib Al-Badawi Introduction: From Shadow Diplomacy to Historic Breakthrough The escalating conflagration in Sudan has commanded international attention since April 2023, when a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted into full-scale civil war. Yet the emergence of Massad Boulos as U.S. Senior Advisor for Africa …
The Boulos Factor: Shadow Diplomacy and the Quest for Peace in Sudan Read More »
