HISTORY
CULTURE, PSYCHOLOGY & MEDIA
Strategic Messaging: The Frequent Point of Failure
Has the US’ patchy record in strategic messaging robbed it of the consistent strategic progress it could have had, and denied it the support of various societies around the world? This may be coming to a head in 2026. But first, how do we define “strategic messaging” in the 21st Century?
CULTURE, PSYCHOLOGY & MEDIA
Is the New Strategic Framework Being Built on a “Balance of Ignorance”?
There are many in policy positions who — in all ages — are happy to dispense with grounded, independent, and deep, objective analysis. They want what they want, and they do not seek countervailing arguments to deter them. But it hardly plays into the goal of long-term societal success.
DIPLOMACY, ALLIANCES & TREATIES
HISTORY | Haile Selassie and the Limits of Collective Security
Ninety years after Ethiopia's appeal to the League of Nations, the episode remains a case study in the gap between formal condemnation and effective deterrence.
HISTORY
ESSENTIAL READING | The US at 250
CULTURE, PSYCHOLOGY & MEDIA
The Next Strategic Advantage: the Restoration of Literacy
Perhaps the “experiment” in universal, forced literacy, has been a failure, an historical blip. Literacy is in retreat because of technology and because inquiring minds challenge leadership patterns. Yet intellectual capacity— signified by literacy— determines strategic success. What is to be done?
HISTORY
HISTORY | The Original Special Relationship
A brief history of the oldest alliance in the world
STRATEGY & INTELLIGENCE
Assessing Long-Term Threats and Trends
The most important, least invested, security priority
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
ESSENTIAL READING | Japan’s View of its Current Threat Position
HISTORY
ESSENTIAL READING | Back to the Cold War Age of Spies...
The author of the 2026 book, Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin’s Secret War, Sean Wiswesser, spent three decades as an officer of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), locked in covert combat with the three Russian intelligence services (RIS).
SECURITY, UNREST & WAR
ESSENTIAL READING | Refugee, Soldier, Spy…and Legend
STRATEGIC PHILOSOPHY