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Defense

Coverage of military posture, weapons systems, defense industrial base, and the evolution of modern warfare and force structure.

Has Chinese espionage already crippled Taiwan's military before the war begins?

Has Chinese espionage already crippled Taiwan's military before the war begins?

Taiwan prosecuted 64 espionage cases last year while absorbing 2.4 million cyberattacks daily. The island can still fight—but decades of Chinese intelligence penetration have eroded command coherence, constrained American cooperation, and enabled Beijing to calibrate coercion with uncomfortable...

Diego Garcia's new landlord: How Mauritius gains leverage over America's most valuable Indian Ocean base

Diego Garcia's new landlord: How Mauritius gains leverage over America's most valuable Indian Ocean base

Britain's transfer of Chagos sovereignty to Mauritius preserves US military operations under a 99-year lease—but gives a small island nation with growing Chinese ties quiet leverage that compounds over decades.

Why a tiny Indian Ocean atoll is fracturing the UK-US alliance

Why a tiny Indian Ocean atoll is fracturing the UK-US alliance

The Chagos Islands deal was meant to resolve a colonial wrong. Instead, it has exposed how legal challenges, sovereignty disputes, and shifting politics can threaten military infrastructure that great powers assumed was permanent.

Trump's NATO ultimatum: Will Europe rearm, fragment, or go nuclear?

Trump's NATO ultimatum: Will Europe rearm, fragment, or go nuclear?

American pressure has pushed European defense spending to record highs. But rising budgets mask deeper fractures over strategy, capability, and nuclear deterrence that could reshape transatlantic security for decades.

Japan's hypersonic missiles will work—the system that commands them will not

Japan's hypersonic missiles will work—the system that commands them will not

Tokyo's new strike weapons force a question Japanese strategic culture has avoided for three generations. The answer will fracture alliances before it deters adversaries.

What the strikes on Iran revealed about Israeli vulnerability and regional realignment

What the strikes on Iran revealed about Israeli vulnerability and regional realignment

The June 2025 attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities tested a generation of assumptions about proxy coordination and Israeli defense capacity. The outcome defied predictions of both triumph and collapse, exposing structural dynamics that will shape Middle Eastern security for decades.

The Arctic is breaking in three places at once—and no one can stop it

The Arctic is breaking in three places at once—and no one can stop it

NATO allies clash over Greenland's future while Russian pipelines sink into thawing permafrost and Chinese shipping routes prove more fragile than promised. The Arctic's transformation is outpacing every institution meant to govern it.

Will Trump's security doctrine push Japan, South Korea, and Poland toward nuclear weapons?

Will Trump's security doctrine push Japan, South Korea, and Poland toward nuclear weapons?

The Pentagon's 2025 strategy tells allies to handle their own defense. For three countries living under nuclear-armed adversaries, this creates a calculation that diplomatic frameworks may be too slow to constrain.

Britain leaves the Gulf: Which US allies will follow?

Britain leaves the Gulf: Which US allies will follow?

After 46 years of continuous Royal Navy presence, Britain's last warship has departed Bahrain—just as Iran escalates. The withdrawal reveals which American allies treat security commitments as optional expenses and which see them as existential necessities.

Japan's hypersonic missiles blur the line between defense and attack

Japan's hypersonic missiles blur the line between defense and attack

Tokyo's new weapons can strike Chinese bases within minutes. Officials call them defensive. Beijing sees a sword dressed as a shield. The distinction may determine whether Asia's next crisis stays contained or spirals into catastrophe.

China has penetrated Taiwan's military. Does that make US intelligence sharing dangerous?

China has penetrated Taiwan's military. Does that make US intelligence sharing dangerous?

Taiwan charged 64 people with espionage in 2024, most of them military personnel. As Washington deepens intelligence cooperation with Taipei, every secret shared risks reaching Beijing. The question is whether the deterrent value exceeds the counterintelligence cost.

China's phantom fleet: Why chasing shadows in Latin America weakens Pacific deterrence

China's phantom fleet: Why chasing shadows in Latin America weakens Pacific deterrence

Beijing's Western Hemisphere presence consists of hospital ships and container ports, not warships. Yet American strategic culture struggles to ignore it, risking the very deterrence it claims to protect.