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Bangladesh
Dec 11, 2025 Growing Chinese strategic footprint in South Asia. In June 19, China, Bangladesh and Pakistan held their first trilateral meeting at the official level in China's Kunming. At the meeting, the three sides agreed to deepen cooperation in trade, investment, health, infrastructure and debt management, and set up a joint working group to build trust and enhance regional stability. In Hasina's foreign policy India was a key partner. Following Hasina's ouster in August 2024, under Yunus's interim government, Bangladesh is gravitating towards Pakistan and China. There has been a swift and visible warming of Pakistan-Bangladesh ties across trade, defence, diplomacy and infrastructure. Days after Pakistan's Foreign Minister Dar hinted at a new trilateral grouping involving Dhaka, Beijing and Islamabad, Bangladesh's Foreign Affairs Adviser Hossain has said that it is strategically possible for Dhaka to join a regional bloc with Pakistan, not feasible for Nepal or Bhutan, excluding India. (Source: India Today)
Cambodia
11 Dec 2025 Clashes took place yesterday at more than a dozen locations along the contested colonial-era demarcated 817-kilometre Thai-Cambodian border. Cambodia’s Ministry of the Interior said homes, schools, roads, Buddhist pagodas and ancient temples had been damaged by 'Thailand’s intensified shelling and F-16 air strikes targeting villages and civilian population centres up to 30km inside Cambodian territory'. Thai military opened fire 'targeting civilian areas, especially schools, and destroyed Ta Krabey and Preah Vihear temples, the highly sacred cultural sites of Cambodia and the world cultural heritage,” it said. The Thai army said Cambodia had used a historical site as a military base of operations and therefore was guilty of violating international law. Death toll on the Cambodian side of the border stands at 10 civilians, while 60 people have been injured. Eight Thai soldiers have also been killed in the fighting so far this week, with 80 more wounded. More than 500,000 Thai and Cambodian civilians have been forced to flee border areas due to fighting. (Source: Al Jazeera - Qatar)
North Korea
11.12.2025 North Korean leader Kim visited the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang to express his condolences over the death of Russian Ambassador Matsegora, state media reported yesterday. Kim's visit followed the North's confirmation of the ambassador's sudden death last Saturday. Matsegora had been serving as Russia's ambassador to North Korea for over a decade before his sudden death at the age of 70, with the cause still unknown. North Korea’s ties with Russia have grown closer in recent years, including its deployment of troops in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. In September, during a meeting with Kim in the Chinese capital Beijing, Russian President Putin acknowledged for the first time that North Korean soldiers took part in the Ukraine war at Kim's initiative. North Korea and Russia signed a comprehensive strategic partnership last year, pledging mutual military support if either came under attack by a third party. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
Syria
07:26-10 December 2025 A series of security and military shifts continued to redraw the country’s landscape through 2025. The balance of control shifted sharply after the launch of the Deterrence of Aggression battles on November 27, 2024. In less than two weeks, the Assad government lost the areas it had held since 2020, which covered more than half of the country. With the government’s fall, Iran’s presence also unraveled after more than a decade of entrenchment. Iran backed militias withdrew from rural Damascus, Homs, Aleppo, the southern provinces and from Al-Bukamal and Al-Mayadin. The militias withdrew completely after supply lines linking them to Lebanon and Iraq were severed, which effectively ended Iran’s influence and that of its militias across Syria. The military role of Hezbollah - one of Tehran’s key proxies in Syria since 2013 - also came to an end. The turning point ended after factions in the Deterrence of Aggression campaign seized Al-Qusayr in late 2024 and Hezbollah forces pulled out entirely, lost one of its most critical geographic links to Iran through Syrian territory. Many areas that had been under the indirect influence of Hezbollah and Iran backed factions reverted to the authority of the new Syrian state and its security and military institutions in the north. Syria’s territorial map at the end of 2025 reflects a new political landscape dominated by four actors: the Syrian government, the SDF, the National Guard forces in Sweida, and Israel, each wielding varying degrees of influence. The largest shift in influence last year came at the expense of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Dawn of Freedom operation ended the group’s presence in strategically important areas west of the Euphrates, beginning with the fall of Tel Rifaat and surrounding villages and extending toward Manbij, which cost the SDF one of its key cities in the region. The SDF’s influence contracted in northern and eastern Aleppo countryside and the group withdrew eastward toward Raqqa, Hasakeh and parts of Deir Ezzor. In the south, a limited but consequential development emerged in Sweida province. Local groups linked to Sheikh Al-Hajri seized parts of the province after government forces withdrew, created a pocket of influence outside the new government’s authority and added another layer of instability to the southern provinces. The area under their control is geographically small. In parallel, Israel capitalized on the collapse of the southern front. It pushed beyond the buffer zone and established a presence in select points and strategic hilltops near the disengagement line. The symbolic and intelligence value of the chosen positions gives Israel leverage through monitoring and pressure, keeping the south open to volatility. The Syrian government remains the primary authority. It holds 69.3% of the country’s territory, covering major cities, most administrative structures and key transport routes. It does not control four provincial capitals: Quneitra, Sweida, Hasakeh and Raqqa. The SDF controls 27.8% of Syria’s territory, concentrated in the north and east. The group faces serious political pressure tied to the implementation of the March 10, 2025 agreement, which is expected to reshape its relationship with the Syrian government. The National Guard forces in Sweida, loyal to Sheikh Al-Hajri, control 2.8% of the country. Their influence is distinct in nature. The significance lies in their location and in the direct support they receive from Israel. Israel’s incursion into Syrian territory covers 0.1% of the country, with high surveillance value, which reflects strategic intent. Israel is seeking an early warning line and a tighter grip over the border zone. Supporting an environment that prevents full stability in the south, this aligns with its indirect role in reinforcing the position of the Sweida National Guard forces. With regional and international actors working to head off the chaos and potential partition that threaten wider stability, any near term changes in who controls what are expected to come through political and security pressure rather than a return to large scale battles. Regional and international efforts are focused on avoiding chaos and partition. (Source: Asharq Al-Awsat – Heartquartered in London, United Kingdom, owned by a member of the Saudi royal family)
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