Archive
- Middle East & North Africa
Lessons from Idlib: The Syrian Civil War and Iran’s Missing Opposition
The Sound of Silence: The Absence of Iranian Opposition Groups Operation Epic Fury, coming on the heels of Iran’s largest public uprising since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has…
June 9, 2026
- Terrorism & Transnational Threats
Europe’s Opportunity to Counter Russian Influence in the Sahel
As Russia repositions itself on the world stage and the Ukraine War continues, Moscow has found key allies in the new military governments of the Sahel states of Mali, Niger, and…
June 4, 2026
- The Americas
Adaptive Networks: Why Supply-Side Enforcement Cannot Stop Fentanyl
The Trump administration has made countering fentanyl a core tenet of its national security policy. In January 2025, President Trump signed a day-one executive order designating…
May 16, 2026
- Middle East & North Africa
Blind to the Berm: Western Sahara, Morocco, and the World’s Quiet Abandonment of Self-Determination
In January 1981, Morocco began constructing what the Sahrawi people would call the “Wall of Shame.” The Moroccan Western Sahara Wall now stands as both the longest…
May 14, 2026
- Geoeconomics & Resource Competition
Subduing the Enemy Without Fighting: Sanctions and the Limits of Financial Network Power
The power of modern sanctions rests on the uneven structure of global financial networks. A small number of states sit at the financial and technological nexus of the global…
May 6, 2026
- Defense
Operation Epic Fury and the Tomahawk Shortage: A Supply Chain Warning for a China-Taiwan Contingency
Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles are one of the U.S. Navy’s most reliable tools for delivering long-range, precision strikes from ships and submarines, often serving as the first…
May 6, 2026
- Defense
Congress Has No Excuse to Ignore its Duty to Decide When Americans Go to War
On February 28th, President Trump launched Operation Epic Fury, the strike campaign against Iran that could come to define his second term. As of the time of writing, the…
April 25, 2026
- Technology
Democracy Dies in Data Centers: How Artificial Intelligence Empowers Authoritarianism
Artificial intelligence (AI) will likely exacerbate the global trend of democratic backsliding by undermining civil society and empowering authoritarians. This process can be…
April 23, 2026
- Middle East & North Africa
Disarmament Is Not a Starting Point in Stabilizing Gaza
In the aftermath of the October 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, international efforts to stabilize Gaza have converged around a common organizing principle: the…
April 21, 2026
- Sub-Saharan Africa
Rwanda’s Perpetual Conflict in the DRC
In December 2025, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda signed a peace agreement in Washington, D.C., with the United States serving as host and sponsor of the…
April 18, 2026