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Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy
T-72 Tank from Poland - Creative Commons Image

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

Germany Is Becoming Ukraine’s Most Important Ally in Europe — and Poland Is Paying the Price

German Foreign Minister Wadephul's fourth Kyiv visit — two days before Ukraine's Independence Day — capped an accelerating shift: Berlin is becoming Ukraine's principal...

August 24, 2026
A B-1B Lancer assigned to the 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron takes off at RAF Fairford, United Kingdom, to participate in a Bomber Task Force Europe mission, Oct. 27, 2021. “Bombers enhance our ability to address dynamic threats and counter adversary actions in the region as an effective joint force,” said Gen. Jeff Harrigian, U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa commander. Operations and engagements with NATO allies and global partners demonstrate the shared commitment to global security and stability. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Colin Hollowell) A B-1B Lancer assigned to the 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron takes off at RAF Fairford, United Kingdom, to participate in a Bomber Task Force Europe mission, Oct. 27, 2021. “Bombers enhance our ability to address dynamic threats and counter adversary actions in the region as an effective joint force,” said Gen. Jeff Harrigian, U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa commander. Operations and engagements with NATO allies and global partners demonstrate the shared commitment to global security and stability. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Colin Hollowell)

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

NATO’s Answer to the Pentagon’s Europe Review Already Exists: The Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative

The Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative emerged from US Army Europe and Africa and NATO's Allied Land Command as a concept for restoring deterrence by...

August 13, 2026
British Challenger 2 Tank. British Challenger 2 Tank.

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

The Eastern Flank Comes First: Inside NATO’s Post-Ankara Turn Toward Forward Defense and Industrial Muscle

For all the talk of spending targets, the Ankara NATO summit's real work happened elsewhere. Europe is being handed responsibility for NATO's conventional defense...

July 9, 2026
MLRS like those used in Ukraine. Image Credit: Creative Commons. MLRS like those used in Ukraine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

The Decisive Theater: North Korea and the Problem of Simultaneous War

Western analysts fixate on North Korea's missiles. The real danger is speed — a mass artillery-and-missile salvo in the war's first hours, backed by...

July 6, 2026

Aerospace & Defense
F-16XL fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Aerospace & Defense

F-16XL Fighter Had 27 Hardpoints and Could Carry Twice the Payload of a Standard F-16 But Lost the Competition to the F-15E

General Dynamics took the lightweight F-16, gave it a cranked-arrow delta wing with 120 percent more area, raised the hardpoint count from 9 to...

11 hours ago
An F-14D Tomcat pulls up after performing a fly-by past the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) as the ship operates in the Atlantic Ocean on June 19, 2006. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Miguel A. Contreras, U.S. Navy. (Released) PH2 CONTRERAS MIGUEL An F-14D Tomcat pulls up after performing a fly-by past the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) as the ship operates in the Atlantic Ocean on June 19, 2006. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Miguel A. Contreras, U.S. Navy. (Released) PH2 CONTRERAS MIGUEL

Aerospace & Defense

The F-14 Tomcat Fighter Wasn’t the US Navy’s First Choice to Fly from Aircraft Carriers

Vice Admiral Thomas Connolly flew the F-111B himself and then told a congressional committee there was not enough thrust in all Christendom to make...

11 hours ago
A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor assigned to the 90th Fighter Squadron, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, flies over clouds during RED FLAG-Alaska 14-3 Aug. 20, 2014, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. A combination of sensor capability, integrated avionics, situational awareness and weapons provides first-kill opportunity against threats. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Araos/Released) A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor assigned to the 90th Fighter Squadron, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, flies over clouds during RED FLAG-Alaska 14-3 Aug. 20, 2014, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. A combination of sensor capability, integrated avionics, situational awareness and weapons provides first-kill opportunity against threats. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Araos/Released)

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force’s F-22 Raptor Stealth Fighter Is Fighting In a World It Was Never Designed to Fly In

The F-22 Raptor entered service in 2005 and the line shut down in 2011, which means every dollar of the $10,900,000,000 modernization contract Lockheed...

11 hours ago
(April 8, 2017) - Pre-Commissioning Unit Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) departs Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding for builder’s sea trials off the coast. The first- of-class ship—the first new U.S. aircraft carrier design in 40 years—will spend several days conducting builder’s sea trials, a comprehensive test of many of the ship’s key systems and technologies. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ryan Litzenberger) (April 8, 2017) - Pre-Commissioning Unit Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) departs Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding for builder’s sea trials off the coast. The first- of-class ship—the first new U.S. aircraft carrier design in 40 years—will spend several days conducting builder’s sea trials, a comprehensive test of many of the ship’s key systems and technologies. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ryan Litzenberger)

Aerospace & Defense

China Is Launching A New Aircraft Carrier Every 20 Months. The US Navy Cannot Deliver One On Time — And The Gap Is The Shipyards.

The Navy's FY2027 shipbuilding book gave the reason in the flattest language a budget document allows: construction-footprint constraints. There is not enough physical space...

12 hours ago

Trillions
A U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress aircraft, assigned to the 96th Bomb Squadron from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, flies over spectators at the Dubai Airshow 2025, Nov. 17, 2025, at the Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The B-52 flew from Rota, Spain, to participate in the event, showcasing U.S. airpower on a global stage. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Tylin Rust)

Trillions - 19FortyFive

Iran’s Economy Is Buckling. That Is Not the Same as Iran Being Ready to Sign a Deal

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has unveiled Operation Economic Outcast: secondary sanctions across five sectors and more than sixty targets, with no relief attached. Iran's...

August 25, 2026
U.S. Navy Carrier Air Wing 8 aircraft fly in formation over the world’s largest aircraft carrier, Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), during Carrier Air Wing 8’s aerial change of command ceremony while underway in the Caribbean Sea, Jan. 19, 2026. U.S. military forces are deployed to the Caribbean in support of the U.S. Southern Command mission, Department of War-directed operations, and the president’s priorities to disrupt illicit drug trafficking and protect the homeland. (U.S. Navy photo) U.S. Navy Carrier Air Wing 8 aircraft fly in formation over the world’s largest aircraft carrier, Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), during Carrier Air Wing 8’s aerial change of command ceremony while underway in the Caribbean Sea, Jan. 19, 2026. U.S. military forces are deployed to the Caribbean in support of the U.S. Southern Command mission, Department of War-directed operations, and the president’s priorities to disrupt illicit drug trafficking and protect the homeland. (U.S. Navy photo)

Trillions - 19FortyFive

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Says Any Escalation Brings Consequences and That Its Own Hands Are Not Tied Here

Rezaei's threat goes beyond the strait: no oil leaving the Gulf by any route if neighbors cooperate. In practice that would mean strikes on...

August 24, 2026
Oil Refinery Oil Refinery

Trillions - 19FortyFive

Saudi Aramco’s Chief Says the World Has Now Lost 2.6 Billion Barrels, the Worst Oil Disruption Since 1979

Of the 1.5 billion barrels in emergency stocks, the IEA cannot order the commercial half released, leaving governments under a billion. The American reserve...

August 14, 2026
(Jan. 16, 2010) Waves crash over the bow of the guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64). Carney is part of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group and is deployed as part of an on-going rotation of forward-deployed forces to support maritime security operations in the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Master at Arms Chief Chief Anthony J. Sganga/Released) (Jan. 16, 2010) Waves crash over the bow of the guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64). Carney is part of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group and is deployed as part of an on-going rotation of forward-deployed forces to support maritime security operations in the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Master at Arms Chief Chief Anthony J. Sganga/Released)

Trillions - 19FortyFive

Saudi Arabia’s Only Way Around the Strait of Hormuz Runs Straight Through the One the Houthis Have Just Closed

The Houthis have no warships. It doesn't need any. A blockade holds if shipowners and insurers decide the passage is not worth the risk,...

August 12, 2026

The Embassy
M1 Abrams. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The Embassy

If Putin Expands the Ukraine War to NATO Russia Must Be Broken Up

Splitting Russia into 4 or 5 states would be neither unprecedented nor strange. There are more than 20 Arab countries. Somalis live across 5....

12 hours ago
Donald Trump 2026 White House Photo Donald Trump 2026 White House Photo

The Embassy

Trump Calls the Iran War ‘Small Potatoes.’ The Polling Says He Is Right

Wars rarely win elections. George H.W. Bush ended the Cold War, won the most decisive American military victory in modern history, and lost in...

3 days ago
Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. By Gage Skidmore. Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. By Gage Skidmore.

The Embassy

The Next Iran Crisis: Starvation

Speaking in Baghdad on August 20, Iran's parliament speaker warned that military power counts for nothing if the people are hungry. Four days later...

7 days ago
President of the United States Donald Trump speaking at the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. By Gage Skidmore. President of the United States Donald Trump speaking at the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. By Gage Skidmore.

The Embassy

Trump Just Put Iran on Autopilot and America’s Enemies Should Worry

American forces struck Iranian positions preparing to fire mine-carrying missiles into the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran answered with a handful of missiles that reportedly...

August 31, 2026

Hermit Kingdom
A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit conducts an integrated maritime strike training exercise with U.S. Navy F-35C Lightning II and F/A-18E Super Hornets from Carrier Air Wing Eleven (CVW-11) off the coast of California, on Feb. 10-11, 2026. Practicing innovative methods to employ and integrate strategic bombers like the B-2 with Navy carrier strike groups enhances combat capabilities through synchronized, integrated power projection. (U.S. Navy photo by Katie Archibald)

Hermit Kingdom

What the Iran War Proved About America’s Nuclear Weapons Threat to North Korea

American doctrine promises that any North Korean nuclear attack will end the Kim regime. The Iran war has just tested that assumption. The United...

4 days ago
B-2 Spirit stealth bombers assigned to Whiteman Air Force Base taxi and take-off during exercise Spirit Vigilance on Whiteman Air Force Base on November 7th, 2022. Routine exercises like Spirit Vigilance assure our allies and partners that Whiteman Air Force Base is ready to execute nuclear operations and global strike anytime, anywhere. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Bryson Britt) B-2 Spirit stealth bombers assigned to Whiteman Air Force Base taxi and take-off during exercise Spirit Vigilance on Whiteman Air Force Base on November 7th, 2022. Routine exercises like Spirit Vigilance assure our allies and partners that Whiteman Air Force Base is ready to execute nuclear operations and global strike anytime, anywhere. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Bryson Britt)

Hermit Kingdom

The North Korea Deal Donald Trump Should Actually Want

Trump ordered Ulchi Freedom Shield cut from eleven days to five before Kim Jong-un had agreed to anything in return. Kim Yo-jong dismissed the...

August 21, 2026
Image of North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un. Image Credit: North Korean State Media. Image of North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un. Image Credit: North Korean State Media.

Hermit Kingdom

North Korea’s Fingerprints Are All Over Iran’s War Against America

As President Trump downsizes the Ulchi Freedom Shield war games after South Korea declined to help with Iran, one uncomfortable fact goes almost completely...

August 20, 2026
Hwasong-12 IRBM. Image Credit: North Korea State Media. Hwasong-12 IRBM. Image Credit: North Korea State Media.

Hermit Kingdom

The War in Ukraine Have Transformed North Korea’s Missile Arsenal Into a Truly Dangerous Military Force

Russia has used North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine since late 2023. The early shots missed by kilometers. Later ones did not. That combat...

August 18, 2026
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