There are many debates among researchers and scientists regarding a potential “second wave” of COVID-19 in the fall. There are discussions about if and when it can emerge and what the implication of this second wave will be to the world. The destruction and damage the first round of coronavirus already caused has generated major concerns among the international community about more of those grim scenarios. While taking precautions against a potential second wave, however, the countries that went through the first wave and flattened their curves over the last few months need to help the nations that are going through their first spike in numbers.

Ankara’s ability to reshape geopolitics in the Eastern Mediterranean has demonstrated the need for Europe to engage with Turkey under new terms

Tensions have once again peaked between Turkey and Greece over a number of traditional disputes involving the Aegean and Cyprus, as well as over recent disagreements regarding maritime jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean. Athens has attempted to invalidate Turkey’s November 2019 agreement with Libya to limit Turkish control over area in the Eastern Mediterranean spanning to the Gulf of Antalya. Athens believes it can pursue an unjust and maximalist policy with support from France, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Greek Cypriots. Given the recent dispute over the Aegean continental shelf, the Eastern Mediterranean has emerged as the main platform for a renewed rivalry between Turkey and Greece.

For scholars and observers, the return of the great power rivalry is the new normal in international relations over the last couple of years. The competition and rivalry between the U.S. and China are being closely watched by the international community. It is a well-known fact that the relations between these two major powers will be determinative of the future of world politics.

There is an ongoing debate in Turkey over the potential exclusion of newly formed political parties, namely the Future Party (GP) and the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), from a potential early election. The Republican People’s Party (CHP) chairman, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, already pledged to get those parties on the ballot by "loaning" parliamentarians to them.

Last week the White House presented its “Strategic Approach to the People’s Republic of China,” a report delivered to the members of the U.S. Congress in accordance with the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. It is almost an update from the administration in regard to the implementation of the policies cited in the National Security Strategy (NSS) of 2017.

As the world learns to live with the new normal in the post-pandemic period, all the ancient wars of words in Turkey’s political arena are already back. For days, the Turkish people have been talking about subtle hints from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) about a military coup, hate speech on social media, the future of political alliances and the prospect of newly established parties signing parliamentarians "on loan."

One of the most important outcomes of the COVID-19 crisis will be its impact on U.S.-China relations, according to many scholars and experts. The already-strained relations between the two countries may be up for an even more challenging period in the second half of this year.

Despite the dominance of the coronavirus pandemic, the Libyan crisis is high on the agenda of international politics. The world has been watching the success of the Turkish-backed legitimate government against putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar.

After three elections, Israel’s new coalition government was finally sworn in on Sunday. Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu will serve as prime minister for the government’s first 18 months before being replaced by Blue and White leader Benny Gantz. The end of Israel’s government crisis stands to fuel fresh tensions in the Middle East. Israeli expansionism will be at the top of the country’s agenda during the hot summer months of the 72nd year of the Nakba.

Scholars, analysts and experts of international relations and international political economy all agree that the coronavirus pandemic has pushed the world into one of its most significant and complicated crises since World War II.

What went wrong in the U.S. handling of the COVID-19 crisis? This will be one of the most significant questions waiting to be answered in the next few years. Not only U.S. residents but also people around the world watching the U.S. becoming one of the epicenters of the outbreak want to know the answer to this question.

It has become increasingly clear that the post-COVID-19 world will set the stage for fierce competition. The pandemic’s negative economic impact, rather than the outbreak itself, will trigger fresh crises. After all, the world’s leading nations, which could not join forces against the coronavirus, cannot seem to manage the resulting economic crisis either. They stick to largely national responses against a global problem.

Last week this column addressed how the coronavirus can change the debates and domestic dynamics of the U.S. elections. The crisis management and leadership in handling the outbreak, the economy – in particular, unemployment rates – and the state of the health care sector in the U.S. were cited as potential issues that may arise or be amplified as a result of the pandemic.

If the coronavirus crisis were not at the top of the public agenda, today the most significant topic would be the U.S. presidential elections, with President Donald Trump having actually launched his campaign even before the outbreak.

The Donald Trump administration insists on offloading blame for the COVID-19 pandemic on China.

The current United States government, which has been remaining indifferent to global developments and has been following unilateral policies, undermined the coronavirus as long as its impact was limited to China and before it was declared a pandemic.