SOVEREIGNTY
Sovereignty, Borders, If You Can Keep Them
One of the founders of the post-British United States of America, Benjamin Franklin, was asked what would be the nature of the new nation. He answered: “A republic; if you can keep it.”
RESOURCES
Strategic Resources: Rare Earths in Australia
Modern war would chew through a lot of rare earth elements.
STRATEGIC PHILOSOPHY
Searching for “Democracy 2.0”, or Something Better?
The world is divided into those who think nothing can change the fundamental shape and trajectory of society, and those who think radical dislocation is already emerging. But now, more than at any time in the past 3 centuries, change is occurring, whether we wish to have a hand in shaping it, or not
GOVERNANCE & ELECTIONS
China is Now in Suspended Animation
An almost universal desire to avoid change — particularly unpleasant change — helps the Communist Party of China portray an image of business-as-usual…when it’s not.
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
CURRENT ESTIMATE | How the US Prepares to Defeat the PRC in the Caribbean
It is not a question of if the US was now prepared to bring its conflict with Venezuela to a head; it was, by mid-October 2025, merely a matter of when and to what degree the matter would be brought to resolution.
RESOURCES
US-Australia Rare Earths Accord Disheartens the CCP
US President Donald Trump on October 20, 2025, acted to disrupt the Fourth Plenum of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China by announcing a US way around the CCP’s ace negotiating position: the control of the export of rare earths and critical minerals to the US and the West.
PERSONNEL
Key Transitions and Defense and Intelligence Appointments - 10/2025
STRATEGY & INTELLIGENCE
Japan Re-Emerges After 80 Years
Japan, with the fifth largest economy in the world, has begun its return to the world strategic stage after eight decades of penance, apology, and subordination to the US following Japan’s World War II defeat by the Allies.
STRATEGIC PHILOSOPHY
Surrealpolitik: Just How Effective Was the “Realpolitik” Movement?
The supposed cool, detached professionalism meant to underly “realpolitik” may have created a pseudo-realpolitik society which is just as removed from empirical analysis and pragmatic decision-making as any ego- or ideologically-based policymaking.
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
Collapse: How China Transforms
The mainland China of the past 76 years is coming to an end. What will be the new China?
STRATEGIC PHILOSOPHY
EARLY WARNING | Can Happiness Defeat Anger? And Why it Matters
Is happiness or contentment, in military parlance, merely an expression of morale? To what degree is it achievable through doctrine, policies, and the shape of society?
PERSONNEL