A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it. *** Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin reassigned Sergei Shoigu from defense minister to secretary of the national security council, effectively dismissing him from his post of twelve years. Putin picked Andrei Belousov, an economist and technocrat with no military experience, to take his place. Amidst a renewed Russian offensive ..read more

In the early 1990s, India responded to the end of the Cold War with a new “Look East” policy, which it subsequently rebranded as “Act East” in 2014. Today, India has developed a “Think West” policy, focused on what those in the West call the Middle East. So which way is India thinking, looking, and acting today? Much as India’s “Look/Act East” policy reflected a shift in India’s worldview following the end of the Cold War, New Delhi’s reinvigorated engagement with the Middle East today reflects a deeper, ongoing shift in the country’s external engagement. This includes a more muscular The post ..read more

 Imagine a scenario in which a junior Army captain is taking command of an airborne infantry company. This officer has never been to airborne or ranger school or completed an infantry field problem. But the officer has conducted countless offensive cyber operations, maneuvering through hostile networks to close with and destroy a digital adversary — and the Army has determined that kind of experience is the best preparation to lead an infantry company. Now imagine a different scenario. Google has just announced new minimum qualifications to be considered for an entry-level software engine ..read more

Editor’s Note: This is part of a short series examining maritime geography and strategic challenges in specific bodies of water, ranging from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Guinea and the South China Sea. With Finland and Sweden joining NATO, there has been renewed focus on the strategic situation in the Baltic Sea. By joining the alliance, the two Scandinavian countries almost complete its encirclement of the Baltic and help consolidate allied defense efforts in the region. Yet the Russian Federation persists in the Baltic, and its influence remains threatening. Thus many of the optimistic a ..read more

Welcome to The Adversarial. Every other week, we’ll provide you with expert analysis on America’s greatest challengers: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and jihadists. Read more below. *** China On Monday, Lai Ching-te will be inaugurated as the new president of Taiwan. Lai’s victory in January and inauguration in May have long been marked on many calendars as potential flashpoints for a crisis, since leaders in Beijing have called Lai a “troublemaker” and threatened various escalations if he won election. But the truth is that Lai’s initial actions upon winning the presidency have been quite ..read more

When former U.S. President Donald Trump indicated earlier this year that he “would encourage” Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to countries that are “delinquent,” presumably in terms of defense spending, allies expressed alarm. This trans-Atlantic burden-sharing kerfuffle is only unusual for the crassness of the language. U.S. concerns about European free-riding date back at least to the Eisenhower administration. The time has come for European allies to carry a larger share of the burden of European defense. The era when allies could obfuscate unequal burden-sharing by claiming, for ..read more

Tactics are a science, but applying tactics in combat is an art. A military force wins by seeing how general principles apply to a specific situation and being creative with combat solutions. For two years, Ukrainians have been defending their country with creative combinations of tactics and technology. Ukraine was thrown into a conflict full of juxtaposed old and new tech, but in part because Ukraine’s tech-savvy population volunteered to serve, they were able to survive Russia’s assault and even make gains, especially in 2022. We call these tactical and technical talents of applying modern ..read more

A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it. *** Speaking at the European Economic Congress last week, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called on Europe to increase its defense capabilities in the next five years so that “no power in the world will dare raise a hand against it.” At the same conference, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen also called for increased Europea ..read more

On the eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, most of the world could not imagine President Volodymyr Zelensky emerging as a potent symbol of Ukrainian resistance. When he was elected in 2019, Zelensky came to office with no prior political experience. Despite initial enthusiasm, the former television star’s popularity was in decline, with many voters disillusioned by continued corruption, disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the growing threat of a Russian invasion. Early in the war, U.S. officials attempted to persuade Zelensky that he should leave the capital and move to the western ..read more

Editor’s Note: This is part of a short series examining maritime geography and strategic challenges in specific bodies of water, ranging from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Guinea and the South China Sea. On Jan. 1, 2024, Nigerian pirates attacked the Hana 1, a small chemical tanker sailing through the waters of Equatorial Guinea, and kidnapped nine crew members. Almost 1000 seafarers and local nationals have been kidnapped for ransom by Nigerian pirates in the last decade. Although attacks have waned since peaking in 2019, the threat has by no means disappeared. To date, local and foreign mi ..read more