Kuwait plans to invest in upgrades for its U.S.-built Patriot missile systems to defend against aerial attacks. Kuwait is a Major Non-NATO Ally of the United States, and the U.S. Department of State has approved $800 million worth of improvements to Kuwait’s Patriot batteries that include spare parts, maintenance, improved radar tracking and training for crews. Patriot is a mobile surface-to-air interceptor, usually affixed to the back of a truck, designed to shoot down enemy aircraft and ballistic missiles. Kuwait activated some of its Patriot launchers to shoot down Iranian ballistic missiles targeting Ali Al Salem Air Base in March…
Unipath
In late February 2026, Pakistan announced a state of “open war” with Afghanistan following an unprecedented exchange of cross‑border attacks. “Pakistan has launched dozens of airstrikes on Afghanistan’s two largest cities and in border areas,” The New York Times newspaper reported. Pakistan dubbed the operations Ghazab Lil-Haq, or Fury in the Name of Justice. Pakistan’s Armed Forces initially struck several terrorist facilities and infrastructure in Afghanistan earlier in February, after several years of escalating cross-border attacks by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Islamic State-Khorasan Province terrorists based in Afghanistan. In response to the strikes, drone and rocket attacks began against Pakistani military…
Among the top security concerns of the Jordan Armed Forces is defending the country’s long border with Syria and Iraq. Internal conflict in those neighboring countries led to breakdowns in border security that challenged Jordan in the form of smuggling and infiltration. In light of recent political change in Syria, Unipath discussed the state of Jordan’s international borders with Jordanian Border Guard Commander Brig. Gen. Jehad Hamoud Al Adwan of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army. Unipath: What is the state of border security after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria? Brig. Gen. Al Adwan: The Jordan Armed Forces…
The Chinese Communist Party has systematically expanded its partnership with the Iranian regime, leveraging economic agreements and dual-use technology transfers to enhance Tehran’s ballistic missile and space launch vehicle (SLV) capabilities. China’s culpable activities likely have also contributed to the deaths of civilians across the Middle East during the conflict that began in late February 2026. China’s military collusion with Iran, rooted in their 2021 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement, intensified in the year preceding military operations against the Iranian regime that began in February 2026, significantly shaping the regional security environment. United States experts are examining whether fragments from Iranian…
China is accused of collecting and sharing satellite imagery with Iran to target civilian infrastructure in the Central Region and U.S. military assets in the Arabian Gulf. Beijing denies it, but experts quoted by Al Jazeera news say an increase in the accuracy of Iranian targeting since Operation Epic Fury began on February 28 suggests Chinese input is enabling the Iranian weapons’ effectiveness. Associated social media channels have published detailed information on U.S. military forces and aircraft massing in Israel, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, likely improving adversary awareness. Chinese satellite imagery of the conflict zone has proliferated since the start…
A Lebanese military reconnaissance team swaddled in protective white suits inches closer to an abandoned van. The digital readout on their handheld detector ticks higher as they near the suspicious vehicle: The van was emitting radioactivity. The team leader radios a message to his commander: They would need a sampling team to retrieve a possible source of nuclear contamination that could endanger the public. These first responders were members of a Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) company trained to respond to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats. And they were engaged in a fictional scenario with partners from the United…
Humanitarian assistance and crisis response have been important pillars of the foreign policies of Arabian Gulf nations. In light of recent conflicts in the region, the world will continue to call upon the generosity of these countries to relieve suffering beyond their borders. Arabian Gulf countries’ magnanimity isn’t limited to friendly nations. For example, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates donated 95 metric tons of food to Iranian victims of floods in the spring of 2019. Financial support from Gulf nations also supported Iranians victimized by an earthquake in 2003. Although the extent of this generosity is too much…
The Arabian Gulf region boasts abundant wealth and a strategic location linking East and West via vital global shipping lanes. However, successive conflicts within the region have caused instability that harms the wider region with repercussions for the global economy, food production and energy security. The presence of terrorist strongholds in remote areas directly threatens regional security. The Syrian civil war — which spilled into Lebanon and Iraq, inflicting immense suffering on people of the region — served as a prime example of this. Despite these problems, the nations of the Arabian Gulf possess prudent governments and vast financial resources…
The complex threats confronting the Middle East and South and Central Asia — including state-sponsored terrorist organizations, attacks on strategic waterways, and the use of ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial systems by adversaries — demand a flexible mindset from the United States and its partners. At a time when U.S. service members and many partners have come under fire from hundreds of unmanned aerial systems, rockets and missiles, U.S. Central Command, in cooperation with our partners, continues to seek advantages on the battlefield through innovation. Innovation is not optional. It is critical to our success. Over the past two years,…
In pursuit of deeper strategic cooperation with the United States, the presidents of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan attended their first summit with a U.S. president in November 2025. U.S. President Donald Trump hosted the heads of state at the White House in Washington, D.C., where improved security partnerships, business investment and trade represented critical topics of discussion. The historic engagement was part of the C5+1 process established in 2015. “Today’s summit shows that the United States of America sees Central Asia as a key partner. Together we can develop a future based on trust,” Uzbek President…