Security & Conflict
Franco-German Rift Ends Europe’s First Sixth-Generation Fighter Program
The joint Franco-German-Spanish Next Generation Fighter (NGF) programme was reported officially cancelled on 8 June, 2026. The NGF began development in 2017 as the...
Abraham Accords Defense Act: A Shift in Transatlantic Burden-Sharing
Two things happened within days of each other this spring, and almost nobody read them as a single story. On 26 March, Senators Ted...
After Hwasong-20, Washington Needs a New North Korea Strategy
In October 2025, North Korea unveiled what its state media called its "most powerful nuclear strategic weapon," the Hwasong-20, a solid-fueled, road-mobile intercontinental ballistic...
Afghanistan Under Taliban Rule: Governance Through Systematic Repression and Gender Apartheid
Afghanistan's Taliban governance since August 2021 has evolved from ad-hoc rule through violence into a systematized apparatus of repression codified through formal legislation. What...
China’s Private Security Companies in the Middle East: Commercial Actors, Strategic Tools
Chinese PSCs are state-adjacent actors embedded in China’s overseas economic expansion, particularly under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), generating new arenas of US–China...
China’s Approach to Unrestricted Warfare: Strategy, Tactics, and Global Implications
The nature of warfare has changed dramatically in the 21st century. As per Baughman, advances in technology, cyber capabilities, economic interdependence, and information networks...
China and Egypt Move to Shield Suez Canal From Iran War Fallout
Chinese intelligence agencies, think tanks, and military establishments focused on the Middle East rely on the pivotal role of the Egyptian army as a...
Xi’s North Korea Visit Fuels Kim’s Push for Trump Talks After Iran War
Chinese President Xi Jinping's historic two-day visit to North Korea (June 8-9, 2026) is linked to the ongoing conflict in their ally Iran and...
Chinese Intelligence Targets Organized Crime in Egypt
Chinese intelligence and security agencies view the crackdown on influence thuggery and the arrest of Sabry Nakhnoukh by Egyptian security forces in June 2026...
What Happens When the US Military Puts AI in Charge of National Security?
On June 5, Trump signed National Security Presidential Memorandum 11. The document is titled "Artificial Intelligence in the National Security Enterprise" and it does...