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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
Glock 43X Black

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: There Is Nothing Like Glock 43X

Ten rounds in a pistol this thin was a genuine improvement over the 6-round Glock 43, and it is still behind the field. The...

25 minutes ago
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) conducts U.S. blockade operations in the Arabian Sea, April 16. The ship's embarked carrier air wing includes eight F-35C stealth fighters, F/A-18 fighter jets, EA-18G electronic attack aircraft, E-2D command and control planes, MH-60 helicopters and CMV-22B Ospreys for logistics support. (U.S. Navy photo) USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) conducts U.S. blockade operations in the Arabian Sea, April 16. The ship's embarked carrier air wing includes eight F-35C stealth fighters, F/A-18 fighter jets, EA-18G electronic attack aircraft, E-2D command and control planes, MH-60 helicopters and CMV-22B Ospreys for logistics support. (U.S. Navy photo)

Aerospace & Defense

100,000-ton US Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln Looks Like a Rusty Mess After Fighting Iran and That’s No Real Surprise

The USS Abraham Lincoln is not an isolated case. The USS Gerald R. Ford was driven to its operational limits during the Iran War,...

3 hours ago
Royal Navy Queen Elizabeth Aircraft Carrier Creative Commons Image Royal Navy Queen Elizabeth Aircraft Carrier Creative Commons Image

Aerospace & Defense

The Royal Navy’s First Sea Lord Said Britain Needed 6 Destroyers and 11 Frigates. The Royal Navy Now Has 5 Frigates and Scrapped HMS Westminster and HMS Argyll Because It Could Not Crew Them

HMS Westminster and HMS Argyll went into port for refits in 2022 and never came out. Britain could not crew them and its aircraft...

16 hours ago
Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier

Aerospace & Defense

Aircraft Carrier HMS Prince of Wales Has Spent About 1 Third of Its Life in Port Under Repair and Only About 1 Fifth of It at Sea. The 2 Queen Elizabeth-Class Carriers Cost £7,600,000,000

The Royal Navy built two aircraft carriers so that one would always be available. It has repeatedly ended up with one, and sometimes with...

16 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
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...

3 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...

4 days ago
President of the United States Donald Trump speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Image Credit: Gage Skidmore. President of the United States Donald Trump speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Image Credit: Gage Skidmore.

The Embassy

Yes, Trump Is Right: The Strait of Hormuz Is Open and Iran Is in Trouble

Analysts dismissed American control of the Strait of Hormuz as a near-impossible task. The US government now says it has been helping tankers move...

August 20, 2026
Neptune Anti-Ship Missile. Image Credit: Creative Commons. Neptune Anti-Ship Missile. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The Embassy

Ukraine Can Already Reach Moscow With Drones, and a Ballistic Missile Would Change the Warning Time Dramatically

Drones reached Moscow on three of the last five nights. A ballistic missile would not extend Ukraine's reach so much as compress Russia's warning...

August 20, 2026

Hermit Kingdom
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
Hwasong-12 IRBM. Image Credit: North Korea State Media. Hwasong-12 IRBM. Image Credit: North Korea State Media.

Hermit Kingdom

Iran’s Missile Forces Have North Korean ‘DNA’

Iran's Shahab-1 came from the Scud-B and reached 300km. The Khorramshahr, derived from North Korea's Musudan, reaches 2,000km — a 6.7-fold increase in reach.

August 11, 2026
Ukraine's President Zelensky. Image Credit: Creative Commons. Ukraine's President Zelensky. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

Ukraine Has Another Big Problem Besides Russia

Ukraine Removes Top Government Officials – After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a staff shake-up during his Monday, January 23rd nightly address, a series...

January 24, 2023
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