Regional and Global Affairs: South Asia, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Europe, Africa, Americas
South Asia
Characterised by India's preponderance, Pakistan's balancing, small-state hedging (Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives), and China's growing footprint. Know SAARC stagnation, BIMSTEC's rise, BBIN connectivity, Kashmir, Afghanistan spillover, and the Indian Ocean as a strategic theatre (QUAD, IORA).
Asia-Pacific
US–China strategic competition, Indo-Pacific framing (free and open Indo-Pacific), Taiwan, South China Sea and the 2016 arbitral award, ASEAN centrality, RCEP, CPTPP, AUKUS, and the Korean peninsula. Traps: conflating the "Indo-Pacific" with "Asia-Pacific"; assuming QUAD is a formal alliance.
Middle East, Europe, Africa, Americas
Middle East: Arab Spring legacies, GCC rift and reconciliation, Iran nuclear file (JCPOA), Abraham Accords, Palestine question, and labour migration corridors. Europe: EU integration and enlargement, Brexit, NATO and European security after Ukraine, energy transition. Africa: AU Agenda 2063, AfCFTA, Sahel instability, and resource geopolitics. Americas: US hemispheric policy, migration, and multilateralism debates.
Rule of thumb
For regional questions, use the power-structure frame: identify the hegemon or balance, then the institutions, then the external patrons. Apply it consistently across regions.
Trap
Do not treat regional organisations as equivalent in legal capacity; compare mandate, membership and enforcement.