Welcome to Third Institute
Welcome to the first edition of From the Network. This week marks the launch of Third Institute's newsletter — a regular window into the analysis, reporting, and regional intelligence our contributors produce across seven regions.
This week, contributors are well underway and the network is expanding. Expect daily regional digests, weekly briefings and analytical pieces across all our platforms.
Weekly Briefing
Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA)
From Hormuz to Hijaz: Why Türkiye's Railway Revival Matters
Recent disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have once again highlighted the vulnerability
of maritime trade routes and renewed interest in alternative overland corridors across the globe.
NEW IN ANALYSIS
Across the Network
OPPORTUNITIES
Applications remain open for both Network Contributors and Analysis Editors. We are actively building across all seven regions — if you have regional expertise and a perspective worth sharing, we want to hear from you.
EDITORS NOTE
Welcome to the first edition of From the Network — and thank you for being here.
It's been a busy first week. Contributors across the network have been publishing daily, and the breadth of what's come in has been exciting. This week alone we've had analysis on TotalEnergies' hybrid megaproject and what it signals for Africa's energy future, a close read of BIMSTEC's evolving security agenda and what it means for South Asia's regional architecture, and coverage of the Thailand-Cambodia dispute in the Gulf of Thailand reaching what looks like a critical turning point. The question of a nuclear deal for Saudi Arabia — and the regional flashpoint it could become — has also been on our radar.
Beyond our own coverage, two stories have dominated my attention this week. The resignation of India's Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, secured on Sunday after sustained pressure from the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party, feels significant. What started as a satirical movement became a serious one — the protests, rooted in the NEET exam paper leak and the examination failures that followed, ended with a minister out of office. It's a story about young people holding power to account, and one that sits close to home for a lot of people in this network.
The institute is growing, and so is the ambition. I hope this becomes something you look forward to every week.
Arabella, Editor-in-Chief
Thank you for reading,
Foreign policy beyond the first take.