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Governance

Coverage of national security laws, sovereignty debates, political systems, and institutional frameworks that shape state behavior.

Trump versus the Chagos treaty: What breaks when a president fights his own policy

Trump versus the Chagos treaty: What breaks when a president fights his own policy

The United States officially supports the UK-Mauritius agreement on Diego Garcia. Donald Trump calls it 'great stupidity' and threatens military force. The contradiction reveals how alliance management, international law, and military basing strategy collide over a tiny Indian Ocean atoll.

What breaks first: great-power nuclear stability or Middle East proliferation?

What breaks first: great-power nuclear stability or Middle East proliferation?

The collapse of US-Russia arms control threatens both strategic stability between great powers and nuclear restraint in volatile regions. The mechanisms differ, the timelines diverge, and the more immediate danger may not be where most analysts are looking.

Why Bougainville rejected Chinese mining investment—and what it reveals about Beijing's Pacific limits

Why Bougainville rejected Chinese mining investment—and what it reveals about Beijing's Pacific limits

When Bougainville's president turned away China Molybdenum Company in January 2026, he wasn't bowing to Western pressure. He was honoring a governance architecture forged in civil war—one that Beijing's economic instruments cannot penetrate.

Why Britain traded sovereignty for security at Diego Garcia

Why Britain traded sovereignty for security at Diego Garcia

The UK-Mauritius deal on the Chagos Archipelago looks like retreat. It is actually a strategic consolidation—trading the fiction of colonial ownership for a 99-year lease that secures one of the world's most important military bases against legal challenges that were becoming impossible to ignore.

Xi Jinping's military purge: What the fall of China's top generals reveals

Xi Jinping's military purge: What the fall of China's top generals reveals

The elimination of nearly the entire senior command structure—including Xi's closest military ally—signals neither war preparation nor regime collapse. It signals both, simultaneously, in ways that make prediction impossible.

Britain cedes Diego Garcia sovereignty—but America keeps the base

Britain cedes Diego Garcia sovereignty—but America keeps the base

The UK-Mauritius agreement transfers sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago while preserving a 99-year US military lease. Critics warn of strategic disaster. The operational reality is far more mundane—and the legal foundations far stronger.

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.

Australia's Bondi response: comprehensive action, structural evasion

Australia's Bondi response: comprehensive action, structural evasion

The Australian government responded to the 2025 Bondi Beach terrorist attack with gun laws, a Royal Commission, and hate speech legislation. Each addresses a genuine problem. None addresses the structural conditions that produced the attack—because democratic governments cannot.

How military dependency is reshaping American governance

How military dependency is reshaping American governance

The United States has conducted hundreds of strikes across seven countries under a single authorization passed in 2001. This is not policy choice but structural evolution—a republic whose institutional metabolism now requires continuous military activity to function.

The Fire Next Time: Iran's 2026 Uprising and the Limits of Repression

The Fire Next Time: Iran's 2026 Uprising and the Limits of Repression

The protests that erupted in December 2025 have spread to all 31 Iranian provinces, transforming from economic grievance into existential challenge. The Islamic Republic's response reveals a system that has exhausted its capacity for adaptation—and a population that has stopped believing in reform.

America's First Strikes in Nigeria Signal a New Sahel Doctrine

America's First Strikes in Nigeria Signal a New Sahel Doctrine

On Christmas Day 2025, American missiles hit Nigerian soil for the first time. The operation targeted ISIS militants near Sokoto—but its true target was the collapsing security architecture of West Africa, where French withdrawal and Russian expansion have left Washington with fewer options and...