Indo-Pacific
Power balances, maritime competition, deterrence, and flashpoints across the Indo-Pacific.
134 Dispatches
Why Russia, China, and North Korea Abandoned Iran
When Israel and America bombed Iran, the Axis of Upheaval did nothing. Here is why Russia, China, and North Korea left their partner to fight alone.
The Firebombing of Tokyo: The Deadliest Air Raid in History
How Operation Meetinghouse killed more than the atomic bombs combined, and why the firestorm that flattened a quarter of Tokyo was nearly forgotten.
Myanmar's Unwinnable Civil War: Stalemate, Drones, and China's Long Game
After five years of war, Myanmar's junta cannot reconquer the country and the rebels cannot topple it. Here is why the conflict has become unwinnable.
South Korea: The Disruptor Reshaping the Global Balance of Power
How South Korea's arms-export boom, deepening US and Japan ties, and surging defense industry are turning a peninsula state into a global power broker.
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.
Why China May Be Running Out of Time to Invade Taiwan
Demographics, a fragile economy, and a fortifying island may have already closed China's window for a successful invasion of Taiwan.
The Battle of Hong Kong: The British Empire's Humiliation
How Imperial Japan overran British Hong Kong in just 17 days in December 1941, and why historians still debate whether the colony's fall was inevitable.
The Korean War: The Proxy War That Nearly Sparked World War III
How the 1950 invasion of South Korea became the Cold War's first proxy war and how close General MacArthur came to triggering a nuclear conflict.
The Battle of Okinawa: The Pacific's Bloodiest Battle
How the 1945 Battle of Okinawa became the Pacific War's deadliest fight, sealed the fate of the battleship Yamato, and shaped the decision to use the atomic bomb.
The Porcupine Strategy: How Taiwan Plans to Survive a Chinese Invasion
Inside Taiwan's deterrence doctrine, the Overall Defense Concept, and the war games that reveal what survival against a Chinese invasion would actually cost.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki: War Crime or Necessary Evil?
An objective look at both sides of the debate over the only wartime use of nuclear weapons, from the destruction of two cities to the invasion that never came.
The Taiping Rebellion: The Christian Cult That Tried to Conquer China
How Hong Xiuquan, the self-proclaimed brother of Jesus, sparked the Taiping Rebellion, a 14-year civil war that killed tens of millions in Qing China.