Ananta Insights | The New US National Security Strategy: Implications for the WANA Region | Ambassador Mahesh Sachdev | December 2025
Introduction: A month ago, the White House unveiled a new National Security Strategy (NSS). This 33-page document formally encapsulates, for the first time during Donald Trump’s presidency, a vision for Washington’s foreign policy in general and security doctrine, in particular. During the first 11 months of his second presidency, Trump has pursued a highly personalised […]
Ananta Insights | UNSCR 2797 Nudges Western Sahara Dispute Towards a Solution| | Ambassador Mahesh Sachdev | November 2025
On October 31 2025, the United Nations Security Council adopted a US-sponsored resolution on the Western Sahara, creating a pathway based on Morocco’s autonomy initiative of 2007 to begin negotiations for a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution to this half-century-old decolonisation dispute. It was passed with 11 votes in favour, Russia, China and […]
Ananta Insights | GAZA: Waiting for the Other Shoe to Fall | Ambassador Mahesh Sachdev | October 2025
LWhile it was no mean feat for US President Trump to effect the first phase of his 20-point peace plan for Gaza, most observers believe that the more difficult parts are yet to follow. The following are annexed: Annex 1: Indicative map of Israeli Defence Force’s withdrawal under Trump Peace Plan; Annex 2: A Table […]
Ananta Insights | Abraham Accords @5: Stuck at Cross Roads | Ambassador Mahesh Sachdev | September 2025
September 15 2025, marked the fifth anniversary of the ceremonial signing of the Abraham Accords at the Trump 1.0 White House, normalising the ties between Israel and each of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. It gave second wind to the hopes for regional reconciliation as a similar previous rapprochement between Israel and each […]
Ananta Insights | Middle East and Current Geo-Economics of Oil | Ambassador Mahesh Sachdev | August 2025
Introduction: Being the largest source of crude, the Middle East region has had a strong symbiotic relationship with it. This correlation, however, appears to have slackened off late: although both crude and the Middle East have been buffeted by strong turbulences in recent months for their respective reasons, these tendencies have remained largely mutually exclusive. […]
Ananta Insights | Arab Unity: A Desert Mirage? by Ambassador Mahesh Sachdev | July 2025
Introduction: A persistent social mythology about the swathe of twenty-two Arab countries[1] stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf is about their manifest “unity.” The emotive argument cites many commonalities among 473 million Arabs: they speak dialects of the same Arabic language, subscribe mostly to the same religion (Islam), and have a shared history of often facing […]
Ananta Insights | Organisation of Islamic Cooperation: An Analysis by Ambassador Mahesh Sachdev | June 2025
L The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC; https://www.oic-oci.org) is a Jeddah-based inter-governmental organisation with present membership of 57 countries from Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. It was founded in 1969 as an angry collective response to an attempt by a Zionist fanatic to set fire to the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem under Israeli occupation since […]
Ananta Insights | Arab League @80: An Assessment By Ambassador Mahesh Sachdev | May 2025
Introduction and History: League of Arab States, founded on March 22 1945, was among the first post-second World War international entities – predating even the United Nations and Britton Woods institutions. Its formation was aimed at several objectives. Its basic mission has been to improve coordination among its members on matters of common interest. The […]
Ananta Insights | Sudan Conflict 2.0: From Civil War to a War Among Quasi-States By Ambassador Mahesh Sachdev | April 2025
As the Sudan conflict entered its third year on April 15, it betrayed foreboding signs of a calamity entrenching itself. In particular, two related developments during the largely “Mayhem as Usual” anniversary week, pointed in that direction. Firstly, to mark that dubious anniversary, the RSF (Rapid Support Force) militia leader Gen Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo announced the […]
SYRIA: NOW FOR MORE DIFFICULT PART By Ambassador Mahesh Sachdev | March 2025
SYRIA: NOW FOR MORE DIFFICULT PART When Haiyat al-Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led Sunni rebels launched their military campaign on November 27 last year from Idlib, they expected a series of hard battles against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces before eventual victory in one year. After all, 13 years of civil war were already over with government […]