Global
Cross-regional, system-level stories that span multiple theaters, alliances, and strategic domains.
702 Dispatches
Russia Is Failing in Africa: How the Sahel Project Unravelled
Russia's Africa Corps was sold to the Sahel's juntas as the cure for jihadist violence. After Kidal fell and Mali burned, the project is unravelling.
Russia's Other Private Armies: The PMC Legion Beyond Wagner
Beyond Wagner, Russia runs a sprawling network of private military companies—Redut, Patriot, Rusich, the Imperial Movement, and Gazprom's own battalions.
Why Ukraine Cannot Surrender the Donbas: The Fortress Belt and the Ceasefire Trap
Russia's ceasefire demands hinge on Ukraine surrendering the Donbas and its fortress belt—a concession Kyiv views as a path to a far worse war.
Russian Casualties Are Becoming Unsustainable: The Numbers Behind the War's Vibe Shift
Russia has lost more men in a single month in Ukraine than in the entire Soviet-Afghan War. We examine the casualty data, drones, and what it means.
Falling Russians, India's Balancing Act, and the Sahel's Shifting Alliances
Russia's wave of fatal high-rise falls, India's pivot between China and Washington, Mali courting the US, and Ghana's Bawku crisis under the JNIM shadow.
Caught Between Two Fires: The Collapse of the Russian Soldier's War in 2026
In spring 2026, Russian front-line troops face AI drones from Ukraine and a command that sells them out. A look at a war machine grinding down its own.
Russia's 2026 Spring Offensive: Grinding Toward Sloviansk Against the Fortress Belt
Four years and a million casualties in, Russia's 2026 spring offensive grinds on—battered recruitment, a drone-saturated kill zone, and gains measured in meters.
The Saudi-Pakistan Defense Pact: A Mutual Defense Deal Already in Doubt
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a mutual defense pact in September. Months later, a nuclear question, an Islamic NATO debate, and an uninvoked clause cloud its future.
The Blueprint for a Second Korean War: How an Invasion of South Korea Could Unfold
A detailed analysis of how a renewed Korean War might start, the forces each side fields, the superpowers that would intervene, and the phases of an invasion.
Did America Just Create a Secret New Military Branch? Inside the Pentagon's $54.6 Billion DAWG Program
A little-known Pentagon program called DAWG just requested $54.6 billion, a sum that points to a standalone US drone force in the making.
Situation Room AMA: Rojava, Mozambique, the Afghan-Pakistan Flashpoint, and Why Europe Isn't a Superpower
A reader-driven survey of four under-covered fault lines — Kurdish-run Rojava, Mozambique's post-election revolt, the Afghan-Pakistani border war, and Europe's unrealized power.
The Situation Room: China, Japan, Syria, Sudan, and the Logic of the Trump Doctrine
A wide-angle analysis of a China-Japan war, Syria after Assad, the El-Fasher massacre, the Trump Doctrine, Mexico's cartels, and nuclear landmines.