SCFR Online – Opinion: The withdrawal of American forces from Iraq has marked the end of Washington’s direct military presence in the country; however, America’s financial, political, and security levers can still affect and cause problems for the future of this country.
SCFR Online – Opinion: After months of war and economic pressure, the situation between Iran and the United States has been placed between two conflicting logics; Washington insists on intensifying pressure to gain concessions, and Tehran does not accept negotiations under pressure.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The expansion of artificial intelligence and influence operations has drawn the field of conflict from physical space to the perceptual and algorithmic environment and has turned cognitive deterrence into a strategic necessity.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Riyadh, amid the Iran war, Yemeni pressure, and ambiguous Washington guarantees, has turned to flexible balancing in order to both preserve its security and increase its bargaining power.
SCFR Online – Opinion: London’s decision to provide military support to Saudi Arabia in the Yemen file, beyond a limited aerial mission, could confront Britain with broad legal, security, economic, and strategic consequences.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The acceleration of AI competition has shattered the boundaries of economic, military, intelligence, and cognitive power, turning this technology into a strategic component of national power.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The three-day visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington and his meeting with Donald Trump on September 24 and 25, 2026, accompanied by a ceremonial welcome at Andrews Air Force Base, was more a diplomatic display for managing the level of tensions than an indication of a breakthrough achievement in relations between the two powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Developments in the South Caucasus and Central Asia indicate that transit competition has become an arena for a new staging of influence among Iran, Turkey, Russia, and China.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Riyadh, amid the Iran war, Yemeni pressure, and ambiguous Washington guarantees, has turned to flexible balancing in order to both preserve its security and increase its bargaining power.
SCFR Online – Interview: The signing of the Makkah agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey has raised questions about the future of the region’s security structure and the position of these countries in West Asian equations. Can this agreement become a genuine collective defense mechanism, or does it have more of a political and deterrent function than creating new military capacity?
SCFRONLINE – Opinion: The war against Iran was not merely a military confrontation, but a turning point that challenged many of the security assumptions of West Asia and even the Western alliance system.
SCFR Online – Interview: The Ramadan War has become one of the most significant military developments in recent years in the region and even globally. The Islamic Republic of Iran, through the deployment of a complex and intelligent strategy, has severely called into question the US military presence in the region.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Romania and Hungary says Emmanuel Macron intends to reduce or take over the US role in the West Asian region. “Whether France is powerful enough to accomplish this task or whether it has the tools to do so will be decided in the future,” he said.
Strategic Council Online: An expert on international security affairs pointing to a joint naval exercise between Iran, Russia, and China in the north of the Indian Ocean and the Oman Sea said: This combination could upset the power equation in the region and, before anything, weaken the American unilateralist axis and strengthen the multilateral camp in the region.
Strategic Council Online: Commenting on US and European efforts to devise a new security system in the Persian Gulf, an international relations expert says Iran should declare that it is imperative for the issue of oil tankers traffic to be considered on a large international scale and should not be focused on a particular region like the Persian Gulf.
Strategic Council Online: A university lecturer on geopolitics, arguing that the German and French positions on seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker (by Iran) were very wrong, emphasized: “The Europeans have shown that all their talks about INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) and the creation of an open economic environment for Iran are unfounded and what they truly seek is to put pressure on Iran to make it surrender.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The withdrawal of American forces from Iraq has marked the end of Washington’s direct military presence in the country; however, America’s financial, political, and security levers can still affect and cause problems for the future of this country.
SCFR Online – Opinion: After months of war and economic pressure, the situation between Iran and the United States has been placed between two conflicting logics; Washington insists on intensifying pressure to gain concessions, and Tehran does not accept negotiations under pressure.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The expansion of artificial intelligence and influence operations has drawn the field of conflict from physical space to the perceptual and algorithmic environment and has turned cognitive deterrence into a strategic necessity.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Riyadh, amid the Iran war, Yemeni pressure, and ambiguous Washington guarantees, has turned to flexible balancing in order to both preserve its security and increase its bargaining power.
SCFR Online – Opinion: London’s decision to provide military support to Saudi Arabia in the Yemen file, beyond a limited aerial mission, could confront Britain with broad legal, security, economic, and strategic consequences.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The acceleration of AI competition has shattered the boundaries of economic, military, intelligence, and cognitive power, turning this technology into a strategic component of national power.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The three-day visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington and his meeting with Donald Trump on September 24 and 25, 2026, accompanied by a ceremonial welcome at Andrews Air Force Base, was more a diplomatic display for managing the level of tensions than an indication of a breakthrough achievement in relations between the two powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Developments in the South Caucasus and Central Asia indicate that transit competition has become an arena for a new staging of influence among Iran, Turkey, Russia, and China.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Riyadh, amid the Iran war, Yemeni pressure, and ambiguous Washington guarantees, has turned to flexible balancing in order to both preserve its security and increase its bargaining power.
SCFR Online – Interview: The signing of the Makkah agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey has raised questions about the future of the region’s security structure and the position of these countries in West Asian equations. Can this agreement become a genuine collective defense mechanism, or does it have more of a political and deterrent function than creating new military capacity?
SCFRONLINE – Opinion: The war against Iran was not merely a military confrontation, but a turning point that challenged many of the security assumptions of West Asia and even the Western alliance system.
SCFR Online – Interview: The Ramadan War has become one of the most significant military developments in recent years in the region and even globally. The Islamic Republic of Iran, through the deployment of a complex and intelligent strategy, has severely called into question the US military presence in the region.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Romania and Hungary says Emmanuel Macron intends to reduce or take over the US role in the West Asian region. “Whether France is powerful enough to accomplish this task or whether it has the tools to do so will be decided in the future,” he said.
Strategic Council Online: An expert on international security affairs pointing to a joint naval exercise between Iran, Russia, and China in the north of the Indian Ocean and the Oman Sea said: This combination could upset the power equation in the region and, before anything, weaken the American unilateralist axis and strengthen the multilateral camp in the region.
Strategic Council Online: Commenting on US and European efforts to devise a new security system in the Persian Gulf, an international relations expert says Iran should declare that it is imperative for the issue of oil tankers traffic to be considered on a large international scale and should not be focused on a particular region like the Persian Gulf.
Strategic Council Online: A university lecturer on geopolitics, arguing that the German and French positions on seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker (by Iran) were very wrong, emphasized: “The Europeans have shown that all their talks about INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) and the creation of an open economic environment for Iran are unfounded and what they truly seek is to put pressure on Iran to make it surrender.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Riyadh, amid the Iran war, Yemeni pressure, and ambiguous Washington guarantees, has turned to flexible balancing in order to both preserve its security and increase its bargaining power.
SCFR Online – Interview: The signing of the Makkah agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey has raised questions about the future of the region’s security structure and the position of these countries in West Asian equations. Can this agreement become a genuine collective defense mechanism, or does it have more of a political and deterrent function than creating new military capacity?
SCFRONLINE – Opinion: The war against Iran was not merely a military confrontation, but a turning point that challenged many of the security assumptions of West Asia and even the Western alliance system.
SCFR Online – Interview: The Ramadan War has become one of the most significant military developments in recent years in the region and even globally. The Islamic Republic of Iran, through the deployment of a complex and intelligent strategy, has severely called into question the US military presence in the region.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Romania and Hungary says Emmanuel Macron intends to reduce or take over the US role in the West Asian region. “Whether France is powerful enough to accomplish this task or whether it has the tools to do so will be decided in the future,” he said.
Strategic Council Online: An expert on international security affairs pointing to a joint naval exercise between Iran, Russia, and China in the north of the Indian Ocean and the Oman Sea said: This combination could upset the power equation in the region and, before anything, weaken the American unilateralist axis and strengthen the multilateral camp in the region.
Strategic Council Online: Commenting on US and European efforts to devise a new security system in the Persian Gulf, an international relations expert says Iran should declare that it is imperative for the issue of oil tankers traffic to be considered on a large international scale and should not be focused on a particular region like the Persian Gulf.
Strategic Council Online: A university lecturer on geopolitics, arguing that the German and French positions on seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker (by Iran) were very wrong, emphasized: “The Europeans have shown that all their talks about INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) and the creation of an open economic environment for Iran are unfounded and what they truly seek is to put pressure on Iran to make it surrender.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The withdrawal of American forces from Iraq has marked the end of Washington’s direct military presence in the country; however, America’s financial, political, and security levers can still affect and cause problems for the future of this country.
SCFR Online – Opinion: After months of war and economic pressure, the situation between Iran and the United States has been placed between two conflicting logics; Washington insists on intensifying pressure to gain concessions, and Tehran does not accept negotiations under pressure.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The expansion of artificial intelligence and influence operations has drawn the field of conflict from physical space to the perceptual and algorithmic environment and has turned cognitive deterrence into a strategic necessity.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Riyadh, amid the Iran war, Yemeni pressure, and ambiguous Washington guarantees, has turned to flexible balancing in order to both preserve its security and increase its bargaining power.
SCFR Online – Opinion: London’s decision to provide military support to Saudi Arabia in the Yemen file, beyond a limited aerial mission, could confront Britain with broad legal, security, economic, and strategic consequences.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The acceleration of AI competition has shattered the boundaries of economic, military, intelligence, and cognitive power, turning this technology into a strategic component of national power.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The three-day visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington and his meeting with Donald Trump on September 24 and 25, 2026, accompanied by a ceremonial welcome at Andrews Air Force Base, was more a diplomatic display for managing the level of tensions than an indication of a breakthrough achievement in relations between the two powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Developments in the South Caucasus and Central Asia indicate that transit competition has become an arena for a new staging of influence among Iran, Turkey, Russia, and China.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Riyadh, amid the Iran war, Yemeni pressure, and ambiguous Washington guarantees, has turned to flexible balancing in order to both preserve its security and increase its bargaining power.
SCFR Online – Interview: The signing of the Makkah agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey has raised questions about the future of the region’s security structure and the position of these countries in West Asian equations. Can this agreement become a genuine collective defense mechanism, or does it have more of a political and deterrent function than creating new military capacity?
SCFRONLINE – Opinion: The war against Iran was not merely a military confrontation, but a turning point that challenged many of the security assumptions of West Asia and even the Western alliance system.
SCFR Online – Interview: The Ramadan War has become one of the most significant military developments in recent years in the region and even globally. The Islamic Republic of Iran, through the deployment of a complex and intelligent strategy, has severely called into question the US military presence in the region.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Romania and Hungary says Emmanuel Macron intends to reduce or take over the US role in the West Asian region. “Whether France is powerful enough to accomplish this task or whether it has the tools to do so will be decided in the future,” he said.
Strategic Council Online: An expert on international security affairs pointing to a joint naval exercise between Iran, Russia, and China in the north of the Indian Ocean and the Oman Sea said: This combination could upset the power equation in the region and, before anything, weaken the American unilateralist axis and strengthen the multilateral camp in the region.
Strategic Council Online: Commenting on US and European efforts to devise a new security system in the Persian Gulf, an international relations expert says Iran should declare that it is imperative for the issue of oil tankers traffic to be considered on a large international scale and should not be focused on a particular region like the Persian Gulf.
Strategic Council Online: A university lecturer on geopolitics, arguing that the German and French positions on seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker (by Iran) were very wrong, emphasized: “The Europeans have shown that all their talks about INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) and the creation of an open economic environment for Iran are unfounded and what they truly seek is to put pressure on Iran to make it surrender.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The withdrawal of American forces from Iraq has marked the end of Washington’s direct military presence in the country; however, America’s financial, political, and security levers can still affect and cause problems for the future of this country.
SCFR Online – Opinion: After months of war and economic pressure, the situation between Iran and the United States has been placed between two conflicting logics; Washington insists on intensifying pressure to gain concessions, and Tehran does not accept negotiations under pressure.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The expansion of artificial intelligence and influence operations has drawn the field of conflict from physical space to the perceptual and algorithmic environment and has turned cognitive deterrence into a strategic necessity.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Riyadh, amid the Iran war, Yemeni pressure, and ambiguous Washington guarantees, has turned to flexible balancing in order to both preserve its security and increase its bargaining power.
SCFR Online – Opinion: London’s decision to provide military support to Saudi Arabia in the Yemen file, beyond a limited aerial mission, could confront Britain with broad legal, security, economic, and strategic consequences.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The acceleration of AI competition has shattered the boundaries of economic, military, intelligence, and cognitive power, turning this technology into a strategic component of national power.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The three-day visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington and his meeting with Donald Trump on September 24 and 25, 2026, accompanied by a ceremonial welcome at Andrews Air Force Base, was more a diplomatic display for managing the level of tensions than an indication of a breakthrough achievement in relations between the two powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Developments in the South Caucasus and Central Asia indicate that transit competition has become an arena for a new staging of influence among Iran, Turkey, Russia, and China.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Riyadh, amid the Iran war, Yemeni pressure, and ambiguous Washington guarantees, has turned to flexible balancing in order to both preserve its security and increase its bargaining power.
SCFR Online – Interview: The signing of the Makkah agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey has raised questions about the future of the region’s security structure and the position of these countries in West Asian equations. Can this agreement become a genuine collective defense mechanism, or does it have more of a political and deterrent function than creating new military capacity?
SCFRONLINE – Opinion: The war against Iran was not merely a military confrontation, but a turning point that challenged many of the security assumptions of West Asia and even the Western alliance system.
SCFR Online – Interview: The Ramadan War has become one of the most significant military developments in recent years in the region and even globally. The Islamic Republic of Iran, through the deployment of a complex and intelligent strategy, has severely called into question the US military presence in the region.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Romania and Hungary says Emmanuel Macron intends to reduce or take over the US role in the West Asian region. “Whether France is powerful enough to accomplish this task or whether it has the tools to do so will be decided in the future,” he said.
Strategic Council Online: An expert on international security affairs pointing to a joint naval exercise between Iran, Russia, and China in the north of the Indian Ocean and the Oman Sea said: This combination could upset the power equation in the region and, before anything, weaken the American unilateralist axis and strengthen the multilateral camp in the region.
Strategic Council Online: Commenting on US and European efforts to devise a new security system in the Persian Gulf, an international relations expert says Iran should declare that it is imperative for the issue of oil tankers traffic to be considered on a large international scale and should not be focused on a particular region like the Persian Gulf.
Strategic Council Online: A university lecturer on geopolitics, arguing that the German and French positions on seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker (by Iran) were very wrong, emphasized: “The Europeans have shown that all their talks about INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) and the creation of an open economic environment for Iran are unfounded and what they truly seek is to put pressure on Iran to make it surrender.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The withdrawal of American forces from Iraq has marked the end of Washington’s direct military presence in the country; however, America’s financial, political, and security levers can still affect and cause problems for the future of this country.
SCFR Online – Opinion: After months of war and economic pressure, the situation between Iran and the United States has been placed between two conflicting logics; Washington insists on intensifying pressure to gain concessions, and Tehran does not accept negotiations under pressure.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The expansion of artificial intelligence and influence operations has drawn the field of conflict from physical space to the perceptual and algorithmic environment and has turned cognitive deterrence into a strategic necessity.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Riyadh, amid the Iran war, Yemeni pressure, and ambiguous Washington guarantees, has turned to flexible balancing in order to both preserve its security and increase its bargaining power.
SCFR Online – Opinion: London’s decision to provide military support to Saudi Arabia in the Yemen file, beyond a limited aerial mission, could confront Britain with broad legal, security, economic, and strategic consequences.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The acceleration of AI competition has shattered the boundaries of economic, military, intelligence, and cognitive power, turning this technology into a strategic component of national power.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The three-day visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington and his meeting with Donald Trump on September 24 and 25, 2026, accompanied by a ceremonial welcome at Andrews Air Force Base, was more a diplomatic display for managing the level of tensions than an indication of a breakthrough achievement in relations between the two powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Developments in the South Caucasus and Central Asia indicate that transit competition has become an arena for a new staging of influence among Iran, Turkey, Russia, and China.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Riyadh, amid the Iran war, Yemeni pressure, and ambiguous Washington guarantees, has turned to flexible balancing in order to both preserve its security and increase its bargaining power.
SCFR Online – Interview: The signing of the Makkah agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey has raised questions about the future of the region’s security structure and the position of these countries in West Asian equations. Can this agreement become a genuine collective defense mechanism, or does it have more of a political and deterrent function than creating new military capacity?
SCFRONLINE – Opinion: The war against Iran was not merely a military confrontation, but a turning point that challenged many of the security assumptions of West Asia and even the Western alliance system.
SCFR Online – Interview: The Ramadan War has become one of the most significant military developments in recent years in the region and even globally. The Islamic Republic of Iran, through the deployment of a complex and intelligent strategy, has severely called into question the US military presence in the region.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Romania and Hungary says Emmanuel Macron intends to reduce or take over the US role in the West Asian region. “Whether France is powerful enough to accomplish this task or whether it has the tools to do so will be decided in the future,” he said.
Strategic Council Online: An expert on international security affairs pointing to a joint naval exercise between Iran, Russia, and China in the north of the Indian Ocean and the Oman Sea said: This combination could upset the power equation in the region and, before anything, weaken the American unilateralist axis and strengthen the multilateral camp in the region.
Strategic Council Online: Commenting on US and European efforts to devise a new security system in the Persian Gulf, an international relations expert says Iran should declare that it is imperative for the issue of oil tankers traffic to be considered on a large international scale and should not be focused on a particular region like the Persian Gulf.
Strategic Council Online: A university lecturer on geopolitics, arguing that the German and French positions on seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker (by Iran) were very wrong, emphasized: “The Europeans have shown that all their talks about INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) and the creation of an open economic environment for Iran are unfounded and what they truly seek is to put pressure on Iran to make it surrender.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The withdrawal of American forces from Iraq has marked the end of Washington’s direct military presence in the country; however, America’s financial, political, and security levers can still affect and cause problems for the future of this country.
SCFR Online – Opinion: After months of war and economic pressure, the situation between Iran and the United States has been placed between two conflicting logics; Washington insists on intensifying pressure to gain concessions, and Tehran does not accept negotiations under pressure.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The expansion of artificial intelligence and influence operations has drawn the field of conflict from physical space to the perceptual and algorithmic environment and has turned cognitive deterrence into a strategic necessity.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Riyadh, amid the Iran war, Yemeni pressure, and ambiguous Washington guarantees, has turned to flexible balancing in order to both preserve its security and increase its bargaining power.
SCFR Online – Opinion: London’s decision to provide military support to Saudi Arabia in the Yemen file, beyond a limited aerial mission, could confront Britain with broad legal, security, economic, and strategic consequences.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The acceleration of AI competition has shattered the boundaries of economic, military, intelligence, and cognitive power, turning this technology into a strategic component of national power.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The three-day visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington and his meeting with Donald Trump on September 24 and 25, 2026, accompanied by a ceremonial welcome at Andrews Air Force Base, was more a diplomatic display for managing the level of tensions than an indication of a breakthrough achievement in relations between the two powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Developments in the South Caucasus and Central Asia indicate that transit competition has become an arena for a new staging of influence among Iran, Turkey, Russia, and China.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Riyadh, amid the Iran war, Yemeni pressure, and ambiguous Washington guarantees, has turned to flexible balancing in order to both preserve its security and increase its bargaining power.
SCFR Online – Interview: The signing of the Makkah agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey has raised questions about the future of the region’s security structure and the position of these countries in West Asian equations. Can this agreement become a genuine collective defense mechanism, or does it have more of a political and deterrent function than creating new military capacity?
SCFRONLINE – Opinion: The war against Iran was not merely a military confrontation, but a turning point that challenged many of the security assumptions of West Asia and even the Western alliance system.
SCFR Online – Interview: The Ramadan War has become one of the most significant military developments in recent years in the region and even globally. The Islamic Republic of Iran, through the deployment of a complex and intelligent strategy, has severely called into question the US military presence in the region.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Romania and Hungary says Emmanuel Macron intends to reduce or take over the US role in the West Asian region. “Whether France is powerful enough to accomplish this task or whether it has the tools to do so will be decided in the future,” he said.
Strategic Council Online: An expert on international security affairs pointing to a joint naval exercise between Iran, Russia, and China in the north of the Indian Ocean and the Oman Sea said: This combination could upset the power equation in the region and, before anything, weaken the American unilateralist axis and strengthen the multilateral camp in the region.
Strategic Council Online: Commenting on US and European efforts to devise a new security system in the Persian Gulf, an international relations expert says Iran should declare that it is imperative for the issue of oil tankers traffic to be considered on a large international scale and should not be focused on a particular region like the Persian Gulf.
Strategic Council Online: A university lecturer on geopolitics, arguing that the German and French positions on seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker (by Iran) were very wrong, emphasized: “The Europeans have shown that all their talks about INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) and the creation of an open economic environment for Iran are unfounded and what they truly seek is to put pressure on Iran to make it surrender.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The withdrawal of American forces from Iraq has marked the end of Washington’s direct military presence in the country; however, America’s financial, political, and security levers can still affect and cause problems for the future of this country.
SCFR Online – Opinion: After months of war and economic pressure, the situation between Iran and the United States has been placed between two conflicting logics; Washington insists on intensifying pressure to gain concessions, and Tehran does not accept negotiations under pressure.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The expansion of artificial intelligence and influence operations has drawn the field of conflict from physical space to the perceptual and algorithmic environment and has turned cognitive deterrence into a strategic necessity.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Riyadh, amid the Iran war, Yemeni pressure, and ambiguous Washington guarantees, has turned to flexible balancing in order to both preserve its security and increase its bargaining power.
SCFR Online – Opinion: London’s decision to provide military support to Saudi Arabia in the Yemen file, beyond a limited aerial mission, could confront Britain with broad legal, security, economic, and strategic consequences.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The acceleration of AI competition has shattered the boundaries of economic, military, intelligence, and cognitive power, turning this technology into a strategic component of national power.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The three-day visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington and his meeting with Donald Trump on September 24 and 25, 2026, accompanied by a ceremonial welcome at Andrews Air Force Base, was more a diplomatic display for managing the level of tensions than an indication of a breakthrough achievement in relations between the two powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Developments in the South Caucasus and Central Asia indicate that transit competition has become an arena for a new staging of influence among Iran, Turkey, Russia, and China.