博客

China’s recent military parade, marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, showcased its advanced defense capabilities, including DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles and J-20 stealth fighters. This display of military prowess aimed to project confidence abroad and reassure domestic audiences. The event underscored China’s transformation from a nation reliant on Soviet imports to a global leader in defense manufacturing, with state-owned enterprises like AVIC, CASIC, CSSC, and CETC driving innovation in aviation, missiles, shipbuilding, and electronics. Today, China boasts the world’s largest navy, with over 370 vessels, and a modernized PLA Rocket Force and Air Force. However, this show of strength has unintended consequences. While China has achieved continental primacy, leveraging infrastructure projects and economic influence across Central Asia and Mongolia, its maritime ambitions face resistance. Regional powers like Japan, Australia, and the Philippines are bolstering their defenses and deepening ties with the U.S. to counterbalance China’s growing influence. Despite its industrial scale, China’s defense exports remain limited, and its assertive actions in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait have heightened regional anxieties. The paradox of China’s military rise is that it has inadvertently reinforced the U.S.-led security architecture in the Indo-Pacific, diminishing the geopolitical returns on its vast investments.

TEHRAN – Iran’s membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was initially hailed as a strategic pivot to counter Western sanctions and bolster its economic independence. However, years after its full accession, the results paint a starkly different picture. Despite high hopes, Iran has struggled to achieve its core economic objectives through the SCO, raising questions about the organization’s effectiveness as an alternative to the Western financial system.

One of Iran’s primary goals was to establish an alternative financial channel to bypass US dollar-based sanctions. The SCO’s ambitious ‘de-dollarization’ initiative, aimed at promoting trade in national currencies, was seen as a lifeline for Iran’s isolated banking sector. However, the lack of a unified financial messaging system or a multilateral clearing house has rendered this initiative largely symbolic. Instead of fostering a democratic basket of currencies, the initiative has inadvertently paved the way for the Chinese yuan’s dominance, offering little practical benefit to Iran.

Another key objective was to attract vital capital for strategic infrastructure projects, particularly the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). This project, designed to connect Russia to the Indian Ocean, was expected to unlock significant financing under the SCO’s political umbrella. Yet, the reality has been far from promising. Key segments of the INSTC remain underfunded, with pledges from Russia, India, and China failing to materialize into tangible investments. Secondary sanctions and Iran’s inability to provide credible sovereign guarantees have further deterred potential financiers.

China, despite its 25-year strategic partnership agreement with Iran, has been notably risk-averse. Chinese state-owned banks and firms have refrained from committing to major Iranian projects, prioritizing commercial viability over political rhetoric. This has left Iran reliant on opaque financial networks and grey-market oil sales, perpetuating its economic vulnerability.

In contrast, fellow SCO member Pakistan has successfully leveraged the organization to advance its infrastructure goals through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a bilateral project with guaranteed Chinese financing. Iran’s inability to secure similar backing highlights the SCO’s limitations as a financing institution.

Ultimately, Iran’s SCO membership has been a political victory against Western isolation but an economic disappointment. The organization has provided a seat at the regional table but failed to unlock the financial resources needed to transform Iran’s economy. As rival transit corridors gain momentum, Iran risks falling further behind in the race to become a regional logistics hub.

A catastrophic landslide in the Marra mountains of western Sudan has completely obliterated the village of Tarsin, leaving a trail of devastation and uncertainty. The disaster, triggered by weeks of relentless heavy rains, has claimed an estimated death toll ranging from dozens to potentially 1,000 people, according to local accounts. Rescue operations are severely hampered by ongoing landslides, which continue to threaten nearby villages perched on the mountain’s 3,000-meter summit. The region, already a refuge for thousands displaced by Sudan’s protracted civil war, now faces compounded humanitarian crises. Many of the displaced had fled from el-Fasher, the besieged capital of North Sudan, where a humanitarian catastrophe has unfolded over 500 days of conflict. The war, pitting the Sudanese army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, displaced 12 million people, and devastated the nation’s infrastructure. The Ummro district, where Tarsin is located, has been under the control of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Abdul Wahid faction (SLM/AW), a rebel group claiming neutrality in the conflict. International aid organizations, already struggling to access war-torn areas, now face insurmountable challenges due to the rugged terrain, inaccessible routes, and the threat of further landslides. Adam Rigal, a support worker for displaced Sudanese, reported that Tarsin’s entire population of over 1,000 people perished, with only one survivor. Hundreds remain buried under the rubble, and locals are using rudimentary tools to retrieve bodies. The situation is dire, with urgent need for emergency and humanitarian assistance, including evacuation of nearby villages. Aid workers in Darfur emphasize the compounded disaster, as the war has rendered the area nearly inaccessible. The region’s health infrastructure is in ruins, heightening risks of cholera and dengue fever. Abdul Wahid al-Nur, leader of the SLM/AW, has called for immediate international intervention to save thousands at risk from ongoing landslides. Meanwhile, Sudan’s water and irrigation ministry has warned of continued heavy rains and dangerous floods threatening over 72 locations and 230,000 people across the country. Communities are urged to remain vigilant and evacuate flood-prone areas.

In the shadow of Israel’s military offensive, Gaza’s education system lies in ruins, creating what experts describe as a deliberate campaign to undermine Palestinian development for generations to come. The devastating impact on students like 19-year-old Layan Abdul-Rahman illustrates the profound human cost of this educational catastrophe.

Before the conflict, Abdul-Rahman was an ambitious, English-fluent student preparing for university applications. Now, after two years of delayed education and the trauma of losing her father and multiple family members in Israeli attacks, she struggles to comprehend the possibility of continuing her studies. ‘She is mentally exhausted and constantly cries,’ her sister Israa told Middle East Eye. ‘Every day, she comes to me asking, ‘Am I really going to apply?”

The scale of destruction is staggering. UN analysis of satellite imagery reveals that 97% of Gaza’s school buildings have sustained damage, with 76.6% suffering direct hits since October 2023. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees reports that over 660,000 children are being deprived of schooling for a third consecutive year, while Palestinian officials estimate approximately 700,000 students have had their education suspended.

Those attempting to continue their education face unimaginable challenges. Sixteen-year-old Abdul-Aziz, once a diligent student, ‘no longer remembers which class he is in,’ according to family members, his priorities shifted from academics to survival. Yara Khaled, whose children attended the American International School in Gaza, describes how ‘their thinking has completely changed’—now preoccupied with basic necessities like lighting fires and finding bread for the next meal.

Amid the devastation, grassroots initiatives like Gaza Great Minds offer glimmers of hope. Founded by English teacher Ahmad Abu Rizik in May 2024 after witnessing a child scrambling for aid instead of attending school, the organization operates six of Gaza’s approximately 50 remaining schools, providing free education to some 3,000 children. These makeshift tent classrooms represent a defiant commitment to learning despite overwhelming odds.

Yet even these efforts face extreme challenges. Students arrive hungry and traumatized, parents hesitate to send children to school amid random Israeli shootings, and the organization has already lost nine pupils to the violence—including Mohammed and Dalia, killed recently while playing in the streets.

Neve Gordon, chair of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies’ Committee on Academic Freedom, characterizes Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s education system as intentional policy with far-reaching implications: ‘By decimating Gaza’s educational and intellectual infrastructure, Israel is systematically undermining the Strip’s development for years to come, much after the genocidal violence subsides.’ This systematic dismantling of education represents what many describe as a war on the very existence of the Palestinian people, with consequences that will echo through generations.