Eastern Europe
Ukraine, Russia, NATO posture, deterrence, and the wider security architecture of Eastern Europe.
243 Dispatches
The 2008 Russo-Georgian War: Europe's First War of the 21st Century
How a five-day war over South Ossetia and Abkhazia killed hundreds, displaced nearly 200,000, and set the stage for Russia's later confrontation with Ukraine.
America Isn't Ready for the Drone Warfare Era
Advanced militaries from Israel to the Gulf are burning through interceptors against cheap drones while Ukraine quietly becomes the world's counter-drone superpower.
Assad Loyalists Are Plotting a Comeback in Syria — and It's Falling Apart
Exiled Assad loyalists in Russia and Lebanon are competing to revive the old Syrian regime, but money, rivalry, and a stabilizing Syria are sinking the plot.
Attack of the Drones: How UAVs Are Reshaping Warfare
How cheap consumer quadcopters, Bayraktar and Shahed military drones, naval suicide boats, and unmanned ground vehicles are remaking the modern battlefield.
The Battle of Mogadishu: Anatomy of Black Hawk Down
How a routine snatch-and-grab raid in 1993 Mogadishu became the longest US firefight since Vietnam, and the strategic defeat that reshaped American policy.
The Blueprint for an Invasion of South Korea: How a Second Korean War Would Unfold
A phase-by-phase analysis of how a second Korean War could begin, escalate, and draw in the United States, China, and Russia on a divided peninsula.
What If BRICS Became a Military Alliance?
A defense analysis of whether the BRICS bloc could become a NATO-style military alliance, its combined firepower, and why collective defense remains unlikely.
The Brusilov Offensive: Russia's Greatest Victory of the First World War
How General Aleksei Brusilov's 1916 assault shattered the eastern front stalemate, crippled Austria-Hungary, and helped set Russia on the road to revolution.
Could Canada Become Europe's Arsenal? The Case for a New Trans-Atlantic Defense Pact
Europe needs weapons it can't build fast enough, and Canada has idle industrial capacity. Inside the case for Canada becoming Europe's defense arsenal.
China's Population Crisis and the Limits of Its Military Ambitions
China's population is falling fast, and the demographic decline threatens Beijing's economy, pension system, and the modernized military Xi Jinping envisions.
Conflicts to Watch in 2026: The World's Flashpoints Go Hot
A region-by-region forecast of 2026's most dangerous flashpoints, from Venezuela and Ecuador to Syria, the Horn of Africa, Sudan, Ukraine, and Taiwan.
Could Russia and China Attack America's Allies Together?
Why a coordinated Russian and Chinese assault on America's allies isn't zero-percent likely, how an "Asian NATO" really works, and what Moldova's vote revealed.