Security

The conflict in Ukraine has brought about a change in the psychology and geography of the oil and gas markets, and the ramifications will be felt across the energy complex for years.

Recent Iranian military developments are a signal of the regime’s growing perception of vulnerability amid domestic unrest; its suppression strategy benefits from a military operation outside Iran’s borders that it can use to overstate separatist threats.

Recent fighting in Shabwa highlights lack of unity of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, threatening its ability to present a common front against the Houthis.

Iranian leaders may find the current international circumstances more amenable to a dash to nuclear deterrence. But the risks are truly grave.

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces will obstruct any reforms in Iraq that jeopardize the status quo and the militias’ political influence and hold over the state’s coffers.

If the United States wants to avoid a disaster scenario in Yemen, it should shift its focus from the failed attempt to resurrect a single Yemeni state to laying the groundwork for a divided Yemen.

Unmanned systems and artificial intelligence could help bridge the manpower gap in Gulf navies and provide new opportunities for the United States and its partners to maintain maritime security.

Yemen’s fragile truce is being extended, but there is still a massive amount of work needed to bring the conflict to an end.