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The Trillion-Dollar Bottleneck
Defense

The Trillion-Dollar Bottleneck

Trump's proposed 50% defence spending surge promises a 'Dream Military' by 2027. But with the industrial base running at 41% capacity and 700,000 security clearances backlogged, the money cannot buy what the factories cannot build. The bottleneck is physical, not fiscal.
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Michael Soren
The Philippines Cannot Defend What It Cannot Connect
Asia-Pacific

The Philippines Cannot Defend What It Cannot Connect

China has developed specialized equipment to sever undersea cables at 4,000-meter depths. The Philippines routes 95% of its international data—including military command systems—through exactly such cables. If Beijing cuts these connections during a Taiwan crisis, Manila's ability to coordinate...
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Michael Soren
The UAE's Red Sea Gambit: Strategic Retreat or Preparation for the Real War?
Asia-Pacific

The UAE's Red Sea Gambit: Strategic Retreat or Preparation for the Real War?

Abu Dhabi's withdrawal from Yemen was neither overextension nor weakness—it was a calculated bet that Iran matters more than the Horn of Africa. The Emirates are consolidating forces for a Gulf confrontation they believe is coming, trading influence in one theater for survivability in another.
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Michael Soren
Trajectory Daily Brief: 09 January 2026

Trajectory Daily Brief: 09 January 2026

China compresses Taiwan warning time to six minutes while Trump threatens military force against NATO ally Denmark. America's $409M Pacific airfield revival faces precision missiles that didn't exist in WWII.
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Michael Soren
What China's surprise Taiwan drills reveal about invasion readiness
Synthesis

What China's surprise Taiwan drills reveal about invasion readiness

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Why Western counterterrorism creates the vacuum it claims to fill
Synthesis

Why Western counterterrorism creates the vacuum it claims to fill

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The Protectors Who Couldn't Protect
Great Powers

The Protectors Who Couldn't Protect

Western counterterrorism in the Sahel collapsed not from poor execution but structural impossibility. What fills the vacuum—Russian mercenaries, jihadist governance, military juntas—offers something foreign intervention never could: belonging. The lesson is uncomfortable.
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Michael Soren
The Six-Minute Warning: What China's Taiwan Exercises Reveal About the Vanishing Window for Defense
Asia-Pacific

The Six-Minute Warning: What China's Taiwan Exercises Reveal About the Vanishing Window for Defense

China's Joint Sword exercises compressed attack timelines to hours, not days. Taiwan's radars can detect missiles six minutes out—but detection is not decision. The real question is whether anyone can act on what they see before the window closes entirely.
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Michael Soren
Trajectory Daily Brief: 08 January 2026

Trajectory Daily Brief: 08 January 2026

Trump threatens military force against NATO ally Denmark while US pours millions into Pacific airfields that may not survive China's first strike.
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Michael Soren
Trump's Greenland gambit and America's Arctic vulnerability
Synthesis

Trump's Greenland gambit and America's Arctic vulnerability

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How China's Taiwan drills blur the line between exercise and invasion
Synthesis

How China's Taiwan drills blur the line between exercise and invasion

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The architecture of permanent intervention: A meta-analysis of US military engagement in Nigeria
Synthesis

The architecture of permanent intervention: A meta-analysis of US military engagement in Nigeria

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