What is the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement?

The agreement may serve as a hedge against continued reliance on Washington, particularly amid a prolonged regional conflict that has exposed weaknesses in the existing security architecture.

Madhura Meenakshi Tanikella | Madhura Meenakshi Tanikella is an undergraduate student from the Department of Political Science, School of Liberal Arts, Alliance University, Bengaluru. She is currently an intern at NIAS.

Sri Lanka (Apr-Jun 2026):

Sri Lanka closed the quarter with its global peace ranking climbing sharply, its IMF programme intact and even eased in the country's favour, and its diplomatic standing with both  India and China reinforced - signs, taken together, that the country

Arafaath Rahby | Arafaath Rahby is a Senior Project Officer at the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka.

Central Asia and South Caucasus (Apr-Jun 2026)

The Central Asian region remained stable and maintained its economic development. In the South Caucasus, Armenia showed resolve to continue the path of normalization with Azerbaijan, and improve regional and inter-regional connectivity. 

Athar Zafar  | Dr Athar Zafar is a Delhi based researcher; views are personal.

President Min Aung Hlaing's Thailand visit

The World This Week #367-368, Vol 8, No 29-30, 15 August 2026

Adwaith Sankar | Adwaith Sankar is a final-year undergraduate student pursuing Political Science and International Liberal Studies through the NUS-Waseda Double Degree Programme. He is currently a research intern at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS).

Escalating attacks in Pakistan I The Board of Peace Plan for Gaza

Conflict Weekly #343-344, Vol 7, Nos. 30-31, 14 August 2026

NIAS Global Politics Team

The Board of Peace Plan for Gaza:

Conflict Weekly #343-344, Vol 7, Nos. 30-31, 14 August 2026

Urja R Kudalkar | Urja R Kudalkar is a postgraduate student at the Department of Public Policy, Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, RUAS, Bengaluru. She is currently a research intern at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru.

Escalating attacks in Pakistan:

Akshath Kaimal

The War in Ukraine:

Conflict Weekly #343-344, Vol 7, Nos. 30-31, 13 August 2026

Lekshmi MK

Ethiopia's Tigray problem:

Conflict Weekly #343–344, 13 August 2026, Vol. 7, Nos. 31–32

Anu Maria Joseph | Anu Maria Joseph is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Subhas Chandra Bose Chair on International Relations, Chanakya University.

The Ceuta Migration Crisis:

Conflict Weekly #343–344, 13 August 2026, Vol. 7, Nos. 31–32

Madhura Meenakshi Tanikella | Madhura Meenakshi Tanikella is an undergraduate student from the Department of Political Science, School of Liberal Arts, Alliance University, Bengaluru. She is currently an intern at NIAS.

CW Newsmakers

Southeast Asia (April-June 2026)

Adwaith Sankar | Adwaith Sankar is an undergraduate student pursuing Political Science and International Liberal Studies through the NUS-Waseda Double Degree Programme. He is currently an intern at NIAS.

China's External Landscape (Apr-Jun 2026):

The second quarter of 2026 saw a more robust and proactive diplomatic posture than the first quarter; Beijing mostly focused on mending relations with Europe and reducing its engagement in Middle Eastern crises.

Lakshmi Karlekar  | Dr Lakshmi Karlekar is an Assistant Professor at the School of Law, Christ University, Central Campus, Bangalore.

East Asia (Apr-Jun 2026):

Trump-Xi meeting, Cross-Strait tensions, Xi's visit to North Korea, China-Japan tensions, and South Korean President's India visit were the highlights of the second quarter in East Asia.

Teshu Singh | Dr Teshu Singh is a Research Fellow at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), New Delhi. The views expressed are personal.

Latin America (Apr-Jun 2026):

Dattesh D Parulekar  | Dr Dattesh D. Parulekar is an Assistant Professor at the School of International and Area Studies, Goa University.

China's economy at mid-2026:

The July 2026 update of the World Bank on China's slowing growth, weak household consumption, the property sector, export strength, fiscal pressures, and the shift towards consumption-led growth.

Dhivya KM | Dhivya KM is an intern at NIAS and is also a postgraduate student from the Department of Financial Economics, Madras School of Economics, Chennai.

China's World Artificial Intelligence Conference:

One of the most visible shifts at WAIC 2026 was the move from showcasing individual AI models to the infrastructure required to run them at scale...For the US, WAIC 2026 reads as a direct challenge.

Acsah H | Acsah H is a postgraduate student at the Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, Manipal Institute of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, MAHE, Manipal, Udupi. She is currently a research intern at the National Institute of Advanced

India, Indonesia and PM Modi's Visit:

14 MoUs/agreements and six announcements covering maritime security, defence, critical minerals, health, agriculture, education, digital commerce, steel and culture were the major outcome.

Adwaith Sankar | Adwaith Sankar is a final-year undergraduate student pursuing Political Science and International Liberal Studies through the NUS-Waseda Double Degree Programme. He is currently a research intern at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS),

Nepal, Climate disasters and Gender:

Climate vulnerability is not a separate problem for Nepal’s gender minorities. It is another dimension added to a marginalisation that already exists.

Namrata L Ghanghatkar | Namrata L Ghanghatkar is a postgraduate student at the Department of Public Policy, Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Bengaluru. She is currently a research intern at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS).

The IMF in Sri Lanka: Debt, Dependence, and Dissent

Macroeconomic stabilization without robust social safety nets risks increasing inequality. The Aragalaya protests transformed the political landscape, but the debt crisis left the government with little choice but to approach the IMF

Dhivya KM | Dhivya KM is an intern at NIAS and is also a postgraduate student from the Department of Financial Economics, Madras School of Economics, Chennai.