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Coffee in the Desert

Dispatches from the intersection of the Middle East, China, and international order

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Defend, Disperse, Recover: A New Resilience Model for AI Continuity in Conflict

Iranian strikes on AI infrastructure should change how Gulf governments think about the security of strategic compute.

Data Center Strikes in the 2026 Iran War

The launch of a new data product mapping attacks on data centers in the Iran War

Podcast: The Limits of China's Iran Diplomacy

I speak with Eric Olander on China-Global South Podcast

Three Scenarios for GCC Strategic Optionality

The collapse of the U.S.-Iran MOU places the GCC states in an increasingly precarious strategic position as Iranian missiles and drones again strike Gulf territory.

My Summer 2026 AI Reading List

Over the past year, I have been diving deep into the academic and technical undercurrents in AI research and discourse.

What Iran Learned from the War

After traveling the past month and meeting with a number of sides of the Iran conflict since the MoU signing, I wanted to lay out some thoughts for consideration.

China’s New Investment Rules Mark Its Turn Toward Washington’s Playbook

China’s State Council regulation on outbound investment took effect on July 1, 2026, giving Beijing its first comprehensive, cabinet-level legal framework governing how Chinese capital moves abroad.

AI Overconcentration and the End of the Balance of Power?

A world in which whoever controls frontier AI can determine the political and economic outcomes of every other actor, with no check on that power, is a novel scenario that several AI experts are sounding the alarm about.

Losing Better in the Gulf

A workable deal is better than no deal

The War Iran Won and the Country It May Still Lose

A New Piece with the NUS-Middle East Institute