Security & Conflict
Germany’s Intelligence Independence: Why Russia and China Are Watching Merz’s BND and BfV Expansion
The government of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz approved a landmark bill to expand the powers of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and the Domestic...
How the United States Is Responding to the CRINK Coordination Threat
There is a temptation to read current American foreign policy as incoherent. A transactional presidency dismantles alliances, antagonises partners, and lurches between confrontations without...
Japan Releases Defense White Paper: Preparing for a Protracted Conflict Scenario
On August 4, 2026, the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi released the Defense White Paper. The event represents not merely a routine...
How the Mecca Pact Rewires Tehran’s Nuclear Calculus
On August 7th, with American warships blockading Iranian ports and Iranian fast boats still harassing tankers off the Omani coast, the leaders of Saudi...
A Muslim Trifecta: The New Challenge to Washington’s Middle East
In the city where Islam began, three leaders sat down last Friday and signed something the region has not seen before. Saudi Arabia's Mohammed...
Why North Korea Gets a Pass: Is Deterrence Enough?
On 13 June 2025, Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and military leadership over Iran's uranium enrichment capacity, not even a confirmed decision of a...
Exercising Restraint: Situating Poland’s Strategy vis-à-vis NATO’s Collective Defense
On July 30th, a projectile object landed in Tarnawa-Kolonia, a village in eastern Poland. Upon further investigation, this object was identified as a Russian...
Japan’s Defence White Paper 2026 Highlights New Ways of Warfare: What Is the Need of the Hour?
Japan has remained at the forefront of global attention for several reasons in recent times — from concerns over an economic bubble and a...
“On the Evidence of Our Reason”: Why Israel Needs More Explicit Nuclear Deterrence
“Whether we are awake or asleep, we should never let ourselves be persuaded except on the evidence of our reason.” -René Descartes, Discourse on...
Missile OPEC: The Physical Ceiling on a Three-Front Strategy
On Monday, as Taiwan entered the final week of its largest-ever Han Kuang war games, a Greek-owned Patriot battery arrived in Saudi Arabia to...