Analysis

Analysis offers a new angle on a contemporary or historical issue. These articles are policy-oriented and cover current developments around the globe that impinge upon American foreign policy and national security priorities.

The Trump-Class Battleship: Spectacle Wins Out Over Combat Power

After finishing my last article on the inability of the US Navy to build frigates, I was hopeful that I could have a bit of a break before the next crisis in American naval shipbuilding. If there were ever...

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The Africa Blind Spot: The US National Security Strategy and the Risks of Retreat

On November 5, the Trump administration unveiled the new National Security Strategy (NSS) for the United States. Since the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Act in 1986, presidents have been required by Congress to provide an NSS. Waiting for this...

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The Present and Future of the KMT in Taiwan

Taiwan’s politics is at an inflection point. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has held the presidency since 2016, has been on the defensive since the attempt to recall more than thirty legislators from the main opposition Kuomintang...

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Right Assessment, Wrong Tactics: Europe in the New National Security Strategy

Unsurprisingly, the National Security Strategy (NSS) has set off a storm across the Atlantic. The German chancellor called parts of the document “unacceptable,” while the president of the European Council warned that Europeans must now “protect themselves even against...

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Breaking the Glass Ceiling of Irregular Warfare

“The first, the supreme, the most far-reaching act of judgment that the statesman and the commander have to make is to establish…the kind of war on which they are embarking; neither mistaking it for, nor trying to make it...

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The New US National Security Strategy: A Transactional Document that Marginalizes Africa

The first official National Security Strategy (NSS) of the second Trump administration, dated November 2025 and publicly issued in early December 2025, is a document that some will hate and some will love. But many will scratch their heads...

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Central Asia Has a Drug Problem, and It Is Growing Worse

Not long after late 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan became independent, illegal narcotics trafficking started through the region, mainly coming from drug-producing countries in South Asia, particularly Afghanistan, and being smuggled...

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Czech Elections: Back to the Future as Andrej Babiš Sweeps to Victory

The Czech Republic, in a widely predicted result, returned former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and his ANO movement to power in parliamentary elections held in early October of 2025. While the outcome of the polls was clear, several key...

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Want of Frigates: Why Is It So Hard For America to Buy Small Surface Combatants?

“The last Fleet was lost to me for want of Frigates; God forbid this should.” Lord Horatio Nelson, letter to Viscount Castlereagh, Oct. 5, 1805   The US Navy is hitting the reset button on its next round of...

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Data Centers at Risk: The Fragile Core of American Power

On October 20, 2025, a glitch at an Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center in northern Virginia triggered more than 6.5 million website outages, disrupting banking, logistics, and government operations. What appeared to be a software fault was, in...

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