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Global Affairs Session 68 28 July 2026 WAR ZONE EXPANDS Six fronts, one fragile pause As of 28 July 2026, the Middle East sits in a fragile pause rather than a genuine peace. A temporary halt in US–Iran strikes and an Omani plan for the Strait of Hormuz coexist with a widening map of flashpoints — a new Ukraine–Iran clash in the Caspian Sea, a reopened Houthi front against Saudi Arabia, and mounting strain on Qatar and Kuwait.

Global Affairs Session 33 11 May 2026 THREE FIRES RAGING Iran, Ukraine and US–China tensions burning together The world is facing three simultaneous geopolitical crises: the Iran war threatening energy security and the Strait of Hormuz, the Ukraine war keeping Europe militarised and unstable, and U.S.–China tensions reshaping trade, technology and security. These fires are separate, but they are connected by oil, weapons, alliances, AI and global power — reshaping the world in real time, before our eyes.

Global Affairs Session 16 16 April 2026 WHY IS NATO FRACTURING? From Cold War collective defence to contemporary alliance strain NATO was created after the Second World War as a collective-security alliance centred on Article 5. It survived the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, expanded after 1991 and took on wider security roles. Yet Donald Trump’s transactional approach, uncertainty over alliance commitments and different pressures arising from the Ukraine and Iran conflicts have exposed important political and strategic strains.