GOVERNANCE & ELECTIONS
How Will Iran Adapt Now?
Where does Iran go from here? How is the global balance changed — and it is being changed — by the emerging collapse of the Iranian theocratic, revolutionary Government?
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HISTORY
ESSENTIAL READING | Revisiting the Fall of the Shah of Iran
Scott Anderson honed his skills as a war correspondent, but his new book, King of Kings, has a cinematic quality as it re-examines how the Shah of Iran, Mohamad Reza Pahlavi, fell from power in 1979.
HISTORY
Walwal to the World: Ethiopia, Empire, Abandoned Principles
How Italy’s strategic ambitions led to an end to the League of Nations and paved the way for World War II, the Cold War, and, indeed, the world of the 2020s.
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
Guinea-Bissau’s Instability Returns
Guinea-Bissau’s November 2025 coup continues the trend away from Western-influenced practices and toward a resumption of the time when Africa’s future is shaped by Africa.
STRATEGY & INTELLIGENCE
Türkiye's “Neutrality” Soon Ends
Ankara’s strategic balancing act is coming to an end, but can it achieve regional dominance before the cash and support runs out? Will the President risk conflict to forestall collapse?
STRATEGIC PHILOSOPHY
Universal Unrest and its Meaning
The crowds are in the streets, everywhere, and in different forms, showing signs of fatigue, anger, despair, and more. How does this impact policymaking, economics, and defense decision-making? And how can we think about, and cope, with this phenomenon?
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
Civilizational Collapse as Reality
The November 2025 publication of the United States' National Security Strategy was widely seen by critics as proof of a clear and explicit divergence between the United States and Europe.
STRATEGY & INTELLIGENCE
The US National Security Strategy: What Does it Actually Mean?
The Trump Doctrine will attract dismissal, but it is highly informative and important.
STRATEGY & INTELLIGENCE
Post-China: Thinking Beyond Beijing
The collapse of communist China had become irrefutable as 2025 came to an end.
STRATEGY & INTELLIGENCE
STRATEGIC TRAJECTORIES | A Storm at the World’s Trade Hub: the Bab el-Mandeb
Some regional states can claim Washington’s attention, which makes the US’s possible moves over Somaliland recognition more delicate. Control over this East-West sea route hub is so critical to trade and strategic dominance that Trump may seize what leverage he wants and leave the details for later.
STRATEGIC PHILOSOPHY
EARLY WARNING | The Imperial Drumbeat Quickens
Imperial conquest is returning to the world in a new form, just as we have digested the earlier ages of imperial conquests. Our world is the result of the absorption of smaller states over millennia, even most states which emerged from colonialism in the latter half of the 20th Century.
HARDWARE, WEAPONRY & TECHNOLOGY
CURRENT ESTIMATE | Strategic Change is Tied to Defense Acquisition Changes
Has Canada been gifted a chance to determine its own strategic future?