Eduardo Ermita; Former Secretary of Defense Philippines is no more
I had the honour of working with Secretary Eduardo Ermita, a far reaching leader in the Philippines with an extraordinary vision. He was the 22nd Secretary of National Defense of the Philippines (October 3, 2003 – August 23, 2004) and 35th Executive Secretary of the Philippines (August 23, 2004 – February 23, 2010).
Don’t be fooled by Hamas
With no regret, Hamas is viewed today and in the coming years as a group that damaged and destroyed the lives of people. Hamas patrons and supporters should understand that Hamas is NOT a resistance movement.
Dr. Ezzideen Shehab, a 28-year-old doctor in northern Gaza, born and raised in Jabaliya, had to say much about the victory narrative that Hamas is trying to sell to the world.
Read my full article in the link below.
Recognizing young leaders: Global Peace Institute Annual Summit 2025
The Global Peace Institute UK is an independent, non-profit think tank founded to advance peace education, leadership development, and cross-sector collaboration worldwide. Its initiatives have been hosted in partnership with governments and academic institutions across five continents.
With 85 awards, 200 distinguished guests, and delegates from 46+ nations, the event stood as a defining moment for peace-driven leadership in the 21st century.
Trump: ‘The war is over. Do you understand that?’
Today, Monday Oct 13, 2025, President Donald J. Trump will convene “The Middle East Peace Plan” with 20 chiefs of state and heads of government in Egypt.
The U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Chief of Staff Dan Cane will join President Trump on his visit to Israel briefly and then to Egypt.
In this article, I lay out President Trump’s hopes while he heads this historic visit to the Middle East, and juxtapose it with the Hamas hopes and plans.
Declassifying the October 7 Files
The return of the hostages is the only phase in the Trump Plan that can be executed in the immediate term. The Trump Plan has brought hope of a temporary peace in Gaza. The promise of releasing all the living and deceased hostages held by Hamas and its allies created the conditions for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to stop bombing Hamas infrastructure on October 4, 2025.
To move to phase two, will Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Palestinian Mujahideen Movement, and other threat groups disarm?
Hamas to ‘PAY IN HELL’ if it rejects Gaza plan, says Trump
“The ideology of Hamas and its allies as well as its patrons contradict the spirit of the Trump plan! If Qatar compels Hamas to accept, the leadership is likely to relocate to Turkey, Iran, or as the last resort to Yemen. Already Hamas has rejected Tony Blair’s role by calling him the “devil’s brother”, a term used by terrorist groups to refer to the UK.”
Read my full article on the latest developments in the Middle East conflict here
The 21-point peace proposal takes shape to end the fighting in Gaza
A pragmatic pathway to Palestinian statehood is in the making.
After the unconditional recognition of the Palestinian statehood by Commonwealth and continental European leaders, there is still hope of Hamas-led groups in Gaza releasing the hostages in exchange for a ceasefire.
The US special envoy Steve Witkoff and his team of mediators crafted a 21 point peace proposal after consulting with Israel and Arab governments.
Read my full article below
Ahmed Sharaa: The Transformation from a Terrorist to a World Leader
In his Q&A session with the Syrian leader Ahmed Al Sharaa in New York City on September 22, 2025, the former CIA director General General David H. Petraeus, US Army (Ret.), conducted a motivational interview at the Concordia Summit. A brilliant and interesting interview, I encourage everyone to read the article below.
Handbook of Terrorism in Africa: An Overview
Rohan Gunaratna first visited Africa when he was 16 years old. Every summer over three years, he explored the Sahara. As an adult, he visited Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Somaliland, Ghana, and Kenya together with colleagues.
Satellite imagery of the Hamas target in Qatar
The world’s largest commercial satellite data provider Planet has captured the Hamas safe house in Qatar before and after it was attacked by Israel on September 9, 2025. The Israeli operation, codenamed “Fire Summit,” identified the target as “Judgement Assembly.” A comparison of the images on January 24, 2025 and September 10, 2025 demonstrates the value of geospatial intelligence.