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Putin’s Kuril Islands Visit Exposes Japan’s Russian Energy Dilemma
Japan's protest over Putin's visit to the Kuril Islands is loud because its response is capped: Tokyo cannot meaningfully sanction the one Russian energy...
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...
Hormuz Is Yesterday’s Crisis. Bab-el-Mandeb Is Tomorrow’s
On Tuesday, three Houthi ballistic missiles slammed into the Tihamah, an Egyptian-owned cargo ship easing through Bab-el-Mandeb's eighteen-mile channel. A fourth missile hit the...
Why Civilian Infrastructure? The Strategic Logic of the U.S. Targeting in the Iran War
With the July 8, 2026, resumption of hostilities between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, what attracts attention more than the...
Vienna Backchannel: Is Europe Building Its Own Ukraine Endgame?
A Room in Vienna That Washington Did Not Book
In July, in a private room in Vienna, three men who used to run European foreign...
El Tigre, Ceuta, and the Illusion of a Unified Right
On 7 August, Abelardo de la Espriella — a Colombian-Italian-American lawyer nicknamed "El Tigre," whom Donald Trump had called a future "great president" months...
Who Actually Controls the Money Meant to Rebuild Gaza?
On July 30, Gaza's parties signed a disarmament roadmap that Washington called a historic breakthrough, the latest turn in a sequencing fight this outlet...
Two Navies, Two Ports: How Vietnam Is Hedging Between Great Powers
In the final days of July 2026, Vietnam’s coastline hosted an unusual sequence of guests. On 26 July, a Russian Navy flotilla – including...
The West is buying time, but to whom is it giving it?
Military mobilization has always been a difficult issue for the European Union, just as difficult as the creation of a common European army. However,...
Saudi Arabia’s Strategic Squeeze
Authors: John A. Calabrese and Aaron Jon Pasha*
Saudi Arabia’s approach to the Iran war has been defined by a sustained effort to avoid direct...