Recent Iranian missile and drone attacks on civilian infrastructure across the Gulf have transformed the regional strategic landscape. For years, Gulf states pursued a careful policy of de-escalation, economic modernization, and selective hedging among major powers in order to preserve stability and protect their development agendas. They were not the authors of war, but the […]

At a moment when the Middle East is once again compelling Washington to confront first principles—how to balance deterrence and diplomacy, force and restraint, leadership and prudence—Vice President JD Vance has emerged as one of the clearest interpreters of President Donald Trump’s foreign-policy vision. What Vance brings is not a break with Trump, but a […]

President Donald Trump returned to the White House promising to end the war almost instantaneously. That has proven far harder than the slogan suggested. Still, the President did manage to end or de-escalate several other conflicts in a relatively short period of his second term, and he can still add one more success to that […]

The fall of Iran’s Islamic regime is not reform—it is a rupture. It dismantles Tehran’s axis of resistance across the Middle East while redirecting jihadist activity into Africa’s fragile states. From Proxy Collapse to the Recognition of the Republic of Somaliland, the consequences are reshaping regional power, governance, and strategic calculations. Middle East: Proxy Networks […]

Ever since the Trump administration returned to office last year, a major foreign policy debate has raged inside the Washington Beltway. On one side are the foreign policy mavens who believe that the United States confronts a consolidated strategic partnership – an “axis of upheaval” uniting Russia, China, Iran, and other actors in a bloc that poses a […]

While the other fighting arms of the United States Navy, including naval aviation, the surface navy, and naval special warfare have been at war numerous times since the end of World War 2, the U.S. Navy submarine force has not actually been in recorded combat since 14 August 1945, when the Tench class submarine USS […]

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)  is fighting for its life. It has long been the most powerful force in Iran, controlling its own army and navy, as well as a major portion of the country’s economy. It also controls the Basij organization and supports both Iran’s proxies—Hamas, Hezbollah, the Yemeni Houthis and the Iraqi militias. […]

Demography may not be destiny, but gradually—and unforgivingly—it does alter the realm of the possible in the world arena. One of the most important geostrategic consequences of current global demographic trends is playing out now in China, where depopulation is tightening the constraints on “China’s rise”.  An astonishing and generally unexpected birth crash is now […]

For over six decades, Cuba has been viewed as frozen in time: a closed, sclerotic regime with an economy in perpetual crisis and a people forced to innovate for survival. That image is outdated. The regime is fragile, its command economy exhausted, and amid the intensifying 2026 energy crisis—severe blackouts, fuel rationing, and economic paralysis […]

The geopolitical landscape of February 2026 is marked by overlapping conflicts, and the ongoing war between the United States and Iran will have profound consequences for the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Tensions in the Middle East have reached dangerous levels. A direct conflict involving Iran will not remain confined to one theater. It is diverting Western […]

With the combined American and Israeli strikes against Iran on 28 February 2026 the Middle East has entered a new strategic phase. Military operations, in this respect, were the continuation of events during the past two and a half years — from October 7 onward — which have not merely reshaped tactical realities; they have […]

In a recent essay in this journal, “Regime Change in Iran Is a Strategic Imperative,” Gen. Yosi Kuperwasser argued for eliminating and replacing the current government in Iran. He wrote, The phrase “regime change” is often treated as reckless.  It should be understood instead as strategic realism.  A Middle East is which Iran is governed […]