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08/20/2025
As the global order undergoes profound transformation, middle powers are increasingly seeking ways to enhance their strategic autonomy while navigating the complex dynamics of great power competition. Among the most promising yet under-explored partnerships is the deepening relationship between Brazil and India which are two democratic giants that represent the largest developing nations in their respective hemispheres. While both countries… Read more »
08/19/2025
By CAPT (Ret) Christoper C. Misner, Senior Manager, Bell Strategic Pursuits The U.S. National Defense Strategy prioritizes the Indo-Pacific as a critical theater for national security. For naval and joint forces operating in that theater, an operationally limiting factor is the so-called tyranny of distance. Vast distances required to operate and sustain a naval force are further magnified by limited basing… Read more »
08/19/2025
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters its fourth year, the conflict has fundamentally transformed modern warfare, with drones emerging as a significant force on the battlefield. Now, Germany is leading an ambitious initiative to translate these Ukrainian innovations into a comprehensive defensive system along NATO's eastern border—a 1,850-mile "drone wall" that represents one of the most sophisticated autonomous defense networks… Read more »
08/18/2025
A recent Wall Street Journal article by Marcus Walker, outlines two main scenarios for the possible resolution of the ongoing war in Ukraine, as hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough faded after the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska. The first scenario envisions a partition with protection: Ukraine would lose about 20% of its territory to Russia but remain a secure, though smaller,… Read more »
08/17/2025
By Robbin Laird World leaders find themselves lurching from crisis to crisis with little time to catch their breath. This reactive scramble has become the defining characteristic of our era or what might be called the "anarchy of the moment." Unlike the grand ideological struggles or systematic breakdowns that marked previous periods of global disorder, today's chaos feels fundamentally different.… Read more »
08/16/2025
Germany has emerged as Ukraine's most critical drone technology partner since February 2022, fundamentally transforming both nations' defense capabilities through unprecedented industrial cooperation. German companies have delivered over 900 advanced reconnaissance and strike drones to Ukraine while establishing full manufacturing facilities on Ukrainian soil - a level of wartime defense cooperation unmatched in modern history. This partnership has not only… Read more »
08/04/2025
This report analyzes the Philippines’ “porcupine defense strategy,” emphasizing its reliance on maritime autonomous systems (MAS) and distributed lethality to deter aggression in the South China Sea. It highlights the Taiwan-Philippines-Japan strategic triangle and the critical importance of the First Island Chain and Luzon Strait for regional security and global trade. The report details how U.S.-Philippines military cooperation, including fast boat bases and the deployment of unmanned surface vessels (USVs), is… Download PDF Now »
08/15/2025
The world’s power structures are undergoing their most profound transformation since the end of the Cold War. From the laboratories developing artificial intelligence to the missile ranges testing hypersonic weapons,… Read more »
08/14/2025
By Robbin Laird In 2021, my book entitled Training for the High-End Fight: The Strategic Shift of the 2020s was published. I am starting a series of article re-engaging on… Read more »
08/13/2025
Australia’s ambitious leap into nuclear submarine warfare through the AUKUS partnership represents one of the most significant strategic pivots in the nation’s defense history. But a seemingly unrelated infrastructure project… Read more »
08/12/2025
By Robbin Laird In an interview I did in Norfolk last year with Commander Mason Fox and his team. Fox is the Commander of Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 40,… Read more »
08/11/2025
In an era of intensifying major power competition, China’s diplomatic engagement with commodity-rich nations has emerged as a cornerstone of its global strategy. The contrasting yet complementary approaches Beijing has… Read more »
08/10/2025
In the turbulent landscape of contemporary global politics, few phenomena are as rare or as psychologically compelling as the successful comeback after political disgrace. Yet our current historical moment has… Read more »
08/20/2025
A U.S. Marine Corps CH-53K King Stallion attached to Marine Heavy Squadron (HMH) 461 lifts off the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), during Composite Training Unit…
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08/18/2025
Sailors assigned to Air Department aboard the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), guide an F/A-18E Super Hornet attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 213 on the…
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08/15/2025
A U.S. Air Force C-130J Super Hercules offloads cargo in support of exercise Resolute Force Pacific 2025 at Misawa Air Base, Japan, July 10, 2025. By linking bases across the…
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08/13/2025
A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey with Marine Helicopter Squadron 1 prepares to land during landing drills aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), during 22nd…
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08/12/2025
A change of command ceremony for VRM-40, the “Mighty Bison” squadron, took place on July 31, 2025 at Naval Station Norfolk, where Cmdr. Brett H. Learner relieved Cmdr. Mason B. Fox as commanding officer. The ceremony marked the…
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08/11/2025
U.S. Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron 471, Marine Aircraft Group 41, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, provide maintenance and fuel to an MV-22B Osprey assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron…
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08/08/2025
The first F-35A Lightning II aircraft permanently assigned to the Florida Air National Guard’s 125th Fighter Wing taxi on the flight line after landing at Jacksonville Air National Guard Base,…
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08/08/2025
U.S. Marines with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 461, Marine Aircraft Group 29, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), and 2nd Distribution Support Battalion (DSB), Combat Logistics Group 2, 2nd Marine… Read more »