March 16, 2026
European leaders met in Berlin on August 12, 2025, two days before the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska. They issued a statement affirming that the people of Ukraine must have the freedom to decide their future and that the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine. Hungary chose not to associate itself with the statement.
Continue readingMarch 9, 2026
On March 1, the next day of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, President Trump stated that the US military intends to sustain its assault on Iran for “four to five weeks” if necessary, insisting that it “won’t be difficult” to maintain the intensity of the battle, even as he warned of the possibility of further American casualties.
Continue readingMarch 2, 2026
In the 2012 presidential elections, Hassan Rouhani was elected with a very carefully worded program of change. The President and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif appeared to agree that confrontation with the West over the nuclear program was doing more harm than good to Iran. Thus, on July 14, 2015, the P5+1 (China, France, Russia, the UK, the US, and Germany) and Iran reached an agreement on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program would be exclusively peaceful.[i]
Continue readingFebruary 25, 2026
Yesterday, February 24, marked the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began Europe’s bloodiest conflict since the Second World War. Tomorrow, the Iranian and US delegations will meet again in Geneva. The question is whether the meeting will be followed by another round of talks or US strikes against Iran, in other words, another Middle East war.
Continue readingFebruary 18, 2026
The 62nd Munich Security Conference took place from February 13 to 15, 2026. With the war in Ukraine and strains in transatlantic relations, the conference attracted global attention. Starting with Chancellor Merz, as the leader of the host country, many other European leaders, Secretary of State Rubio, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi addressed the meeting. All Western participants who delivered remarks agreed that the so-called “international rules-based order” has ceased to exist. They also agreed that if there had been a unipolar moment following the collapse of the USSR, with the rise of China, that too was over.
Continue readingFebruary 9, 2026
Only a few years ago, the “rules-based international order” was the northern star of American foreign policy, a recurrent theme in policy statements by senior officials of the Biden administration.
In an interview with Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC on May 6, 2021, Secretary of State Blinken said, “… we are determined to uphold the so-called rules-based international order that we’ve invested so much in over so many decades and that has been good for us and good for the world, and I think even good for China.”[i] (emphasis added)
Continue readingFebruary 2, 2026
On September 29, 2025, the White House announced President Trump’s Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict.[i] The first phase of the ceasefire came into effect on October 10.
On November 17, 2025, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2803 (2025).[ii]
Continue readingJanuary 26, 2026
The US-Israel-led Western project to remake the Middle East started with the invasion of Iraq and continued with the regime change project in Libya, followed by Syria. In December 2024, the HTS seized the capital Damascus unopposed after a lightning advance that sent President Assad to Russia after a 13-year civil war and six decades of family rule.
Continue readingJanuary 19, 2026
The anti-regime protests in Iran were the top development of global attention over the past weeks. In the background was the nature of the Iranian regime, its controversial and confrontational regional outreach, which, to a large extent, resulted from the US invasion of Iraq, the Syrian conflict, regional rivalries, and the failure of the Iran nuclear deal. The last one compelled me to look back at the past.
Continue readingJanuary 12, 2026
The abduction of President Maduro and his being brought, handcuffed, to New York shocked the world. Yet President Trump’s press conference about Operation Absolute Resolve, American military might, and plans for Venezuelan oil was an even greater shock. During the past week, the US President has continued to stun the world, particularly Washington’s NATO allies.
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Diplomatic Opinion - Ali Tuygan 