Military & Security

Mohammed Ayoob Multiple, intersecting Middle East crises combined with an unpredictable United States augur a tumultuous 2026 for the region. The current protests in Iran and the Donald Trump administration’s threat to take military action against the Iranian regime, if it continues to suppress dissent violently, demonstrate how …

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have prepared a draft trilateral defense agreement after nearly a year of talks, according to Pakistan’s defense production minister, signaling a move to create a new regional security bloc independent of Western alliances. While Turkish officials confirmed talks but said no deal has …

Dr. Andrew Wolf The US is attempting to create a US-led, resource-driven new world order based on energy dominance, territorial leverage, and Europe’s strategic impotence. When US President Donald Trump returned this week to his obsession of acquiring Greenland—one that seemed largely forgotten only a month ago—the idea …

Athanasios Platias Waves of mass protest in Iran tend to erupt when least expected, though this should hardly surprise us. They typically represent the release of pressures accumulated over years. The current cycle follows this familiar pattern. Its immediate trigger was a sharp currency collapse that pushed the …

Dr. Shehab Al-Makahleh What is unfolding today in the Middle East is not a prelude to war. It is war — conducted in the electromagnetic spectrum rather than the airspace. The forward deployment of Eurofighter Typhoon EK/IK electronic-warfare variants from Germany, France, and the United Kingdom into some Arab states and …

Frank Vogl and Stephan Richter It is by now widely understood just how disdainful the current U.S. leadership is of Europe. The White House’s new “National Security Strategy” (NSS) states that Europe’s economy is in decline and adds that it is “eclipsed by the real and more stark …

The failure of leading Western European governments to stand up against Trump’s outrages poses exceptional dangers. The failure of leading Western European governments to stand up against Trump’s outrages poses exceptional dangers. Unless checked, the world is heading into a period of increasing authoritarianism. This means more kleptocracy, …

Branko Milanovic Revisiting the illusions of the 1990s and how that era’s ideals led to today’s realities. It is a fundamental question. Did we go very wrong somewhere and thus ended up in today’s bad situation? To many young people, it might seem a strange question to ask. …

Calls by some Chinese social media users for a lightning, “Venezuela‑style” seizure of Taiwan’s leadership have gained traction online. Yet analysts, scholars, and security officials caution that such scenarios are vastly more complex—and far more dangerous—than online commentary suggests. Unlike Venezuela, Taiwan has spent decades preparing specifically for …