Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security
Synopsis: The piece argues that a U.S. military move against Venezuela would be an unnecessary gamble, even if it might unfold more smoothly than...
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The second Trump administration is reviewing America's military footprint in Europe, and the worst-case outcome is a full withdrawal. Andrew Michta argues that would...
The US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding is being judged on whether it cools tensions in the Persian Gulf. Strategic-studies scholar Andrew Michta argues that's the...
Iran: A War at the Wrong Time and Place: As the war in Iran continues and analysts debate how long it will last and...
Strategic expert Andrew A. Michta explores how Russia is capitalizing on the Iran War to consolidate gains in Europe. With U.S. resources drained and...
In 2010 a new British government went looking for savings and turned to the two aircraft carriers it had inherited. When the accountants finished,...
Russia sends the Su-35 to war more than any other modern fighter, and four years over Ukraine have produced a strange ledger: at least...
There was nothing unusual about that Friday morning at the Malton plant, where some of the most advanced aircraft on Earth were taking shape....
For fifteen years, China's premier stealth fighter flew on engines that could not deliver the speed its airframe was shaped for. Now Chengdu is...
Iran is moving to charge ships for passing through the Strait of Hormuz — the waterway that carries a fifth of the world's oil...
A film celebrating ten years of China's Y-20 transport slipped in something no other country has shown on official camera: a sixth-generation fighter refueling...
A decade after it surfaced, China's H-20 has no flying prototype and no production line. The reasons are industrial, not financial: an intercontinental flying...
A new 1.5-gigawatt project in Utah will use five 300-megawatt Holtec small modular reactors rather than two massive conventional ones, part of a broader...
Trump calling Taiwan a "bargaining chip" is the headline, but Denny Roy argues the deeper story is structural: a Chinese military that makes intervention...
For weeks, an August 18 deadline loomed: the day a U.S.–Iran understanding expired, and, by President Trump's own warning, the day fighting over the...
The diplomatic center of gravity in the Middle East has decisively shifted to Riyadh. On June 23, 2026, talks between Iranian Majlis Speaker Mohammed...
Germany still must address a readiness issue: large portions of the army are not considered fully combat-ready, with some readiness estimates for land forces...
The KN-23, North Korea's version the Russian Iskander missile, showed up to fight in the Ukraine war. And it isn't the same platform as...
On May 21, 2025, a brand-new North Korean destroyer rolled over and partially capsized at its own launch ceremony — with Kim Jong Un...
Fake Russian IDs, Orders Never to Be Captured, and 50% Casualties: Inside North Korea’s Secret War in Ukraine The Russian Army has sustained nearly...
Summary and Key Points: Dr. Bruce E. Bechtol Jr., a political science professor and proliferation expert, evaluates the strategic partnership between Iran and North...
Synopsis: The piece argues that a U.S. military move against Venezuela would be an unnecessary gamble, even if it might unfold more smoothly than...
Synopsis: The USS Abraham Lincoln’s rapid move from San Diego to Guam and now in the Philippine Sea places another U.S. supercarrier in the...
Synopsis: George S. Patton’s leadership is often remembered for bluntness and aggression, but his defining trait was resilience—his ability to rebound fast after setbacks...
Synopsis: Douglas MacArthur’s career is a study in how command success depends on the people who execute it. Raised in an Army family, he...
Synopsis: Winston Churchill’s line—“The story of the human race is war”—captures his bleak view that conflict is not an exception but a recurring feature...
