Alin Barbantan

The author is an international relations PhD student at UCL on hegemony, burden sharing and alliance free-riding. He has received his M.A. from UCL and B.A. from Queen Mary, University of London.

US Strategy for the Indo-Pacific Under the Biden Administration: A Return to Multilateralism?

Under President Donald Trump, American strategy toward the Indo-Pacific has been transactional. US allies such as Japan and South Korea have often been asked...

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The New Power Centers of Sports Diplomacy: Cities, Capital, and Code

If power in sport now lives in city halls, boardrooms, and algorithms—not stadiums—how will the U.S. wield cities, capital, and code as it hosts the world’s biggest events over the next decade?

Four Years On, Ukraine’s War Still Refuses to End

Four years on, Ukraine’s war drags across 1,200 km, cities in ruins and millions displaced. Russia entrenched, Kyiv defiant, the West divided—how long can a war of attrition outlast political will before exhaustion decides the peace?

How Timor-Leste Uses Tourism to Cement Its ASEAN Role

After joining ASEAN in 2025, Timor-Leste is leveraging sustainable, high-value tourism to boost soft power, diversify beyond oil, and cement its regional role—positioning itself as Southeast Asia’s next authentic frontier, not its next mass market.

How Far is Cuba From a Total Collapse?

How close is Cuba to collapse? Energy strangulation, fading allies, and Trump’s oil squeeze after Venezuela’s shift have left Havana isolated and rationing. For the first time in decades, the regime’s survival feels uncertain.

The Maghreb’s New Architecture: Beyond the Myth of the Algerian Pillar

Madrid 2026 wasn’t diplomacy—it was redesign. Washington moves past Algeria’s veto politics, backs Morocco’s autonomy plan, and seeds a Tunis-Rabat axis built on energy sovereignty, phosphates, and geo-economic integration. The Maghreb’s balance is shifting.