https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/525554/feed Dr Asad Ullah is a postdoctoral researcher in international politics at Shandong University, specialising in Middle East conflict, diplomacy and geopolitical strategy. His work examines state behaviour, regional security, and the gap between declared policy and actual outcomes. en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Asad Ullah Asad Ullah Two summits in five months between US President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping have produced shared language but not an open Strait of Hormuz. After the May meeting in Beijing, there was little sign the two sides agreed on how to end the war. Xi’s visit to Washington yielded no breakthrough on Iran, though Xi backed a return to the interim US-Iran agreement. Last week, Trump rejected a truce proposal from Iran and said he was considering resuming US bombing of Iran after the midterm... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3369792/its-time-china-offer-more-statements-hormuz?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3369792/its-time-china-offer-more-statements-hormuz?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2026 12:30:06 +0000 Asad Ullah Asad Ullah On April 28, the United Arab Emirates informed the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) it was leaving. Three days’ notice. No call to Riyadh beforehand, apparently. The grievance about production quotas was years old: Abu Dhabi had threatened to quit in 2021. What’s changed has nothing to do with the barrel count. It is about who underwrites Abu Dhabi’s security when it acts on a decision Riyadh opposes. After Iran struck UAE infrastructure, Abu Dhabi sent only a foreign... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3352666/why-uaes-opec-exit-spells-beginning-end-gulf-unity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3352666/why-uaes-opec-exit-spells-beginning-end-gulf-unity?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 May 2026 21:30:05 +0000 Asad Ullah Asad Ullah The conventional indictment runs like this: blinded by ideology and captured by special interests, the US and Israel have blundered into a region they never understood, sowing instability they neither anticipated nor desired. It is a damning argument. It also happens to be, in one important respect, too generous. The more unsettling possibility, supported by two decades of observable behaviour, is that these policies produce not disorder as a side effect but something far more useful: a conflict... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3349970/who-profits-most-us-israel-iran-stalemate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3349970/who-profits-most-us-israel-iran-stalemate?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Apr 2026 12:30:08 +0000