Recently, Lt General (Retired) Preziosa published two essays in European Affairs in Italian which we are including in translation after this overview of his analysis of Europe’s position in the evolving global system. His argument rests on a fundamental proposition: the Russian-Ukrainian war represents not a regional conflict but a…
By Robbin Laird In 2025, four significant books emerged that collectively chronicle the transformation of airpower from its industrial-age roots to its current form as a networked, information-centric enterprise. These volumes, Training for The High-End Fight: The Paradigm Shift in Combat Pilot Training, Remembering the B-17 and Its Role in…
By Robbin Laird February 7, 2026, The Wall Street Journal published an interesting article entitled, Squeezed by U.S. and China, the World's Middle Powers are Teaming Up. Upon reading this article, I wanted to take that assessment and compare it to the findings in my forthcoming book with Ken Maxwell…
By Robbin Laird For generations, military aviation followed a familiar rhythm. Crises escalated in predictable sequences. Training focused on perfecting physical flying skills. Pilots mastered their aircraft through countless hours of stick-and-rudder practice, building muscle memory that would serve them throughout their careers. That era, according to defense experts examining…
By Robbin Laird The Trump Administration decision to intervene in Venzuela was certainly a decisive act. But acts are not strategies. My own sense is that the intervention opened up new strategic possibilities. To explore this idea, I had the chance on January 21, 2026 to talk with one of…
During the first Obama Administration, as American defense policy pivoted toward Asia and grappled with budget pressures following the financial crisis, a critical question emerged: Where did the United States Coast Guard fit in the nation's strategic framework? For decades, the Coast Guard had operated somewhat in the shadows of…
In November 2015, Kenneth Maxwell wrote an essay looking ahead to the coming Trump presidency and we are republishing that essay as a baseline reminder of one element of the launch into a new historical epoch. Reading his piece today, in January 2026 reveals both how much Maxwell understood about…
By Robbin Laird November 2025 articles published in The Australian reveal a troubling disconnect at the heart of Australian policy toward China, one that raises fundamental questions about how democracies should respond to authoritarian pressure while maintaining essential economic relationships. The contrast between Foreign Minister Penny Wong's carefully calibrated diplomatic…
