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Beyond a Pacific Defense Pact: Why the Indo-Pacific Requires a Nuclear Alliance

Allies & Extended Deterrence, Archive, Arms Control & Nonproliferation, Defense & Security, Deterrence & Foreign Policy, Strategic Adversariesalliance cohesion, AUKUS, burden sharing, catastrophic war, China, declaratory policy, Deterrence, escalation management, extended deterrence, grey-zone coercion, Indo-Pacific, large-scale conventional war, military modernization, multi-nuclear dynamics, nuclear alliance, nuclear attack, Nuclear Deterrence, nuclear expansion, nuclear sharing, Pacific Defense Pact, Quad, Russia, strategic competition, strategic consultation

Beyond a Pacific Defense Pact: Why the Indo-Pacific Requires a Nuclear Alliance

Natalie Treloar0 Comments

Published: March 5, 2026 The Indo-Pacific is entering a far more dangerous strategic era. Military modernization, grey-zone coercion, and rapid nuclear expansion are reshaping the regional balance of power. Most…

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Ukraine and the Failure of Western Assumptions

Allies & Extended Deterrence, Archive, Arms Control & Nonproliferation, Deterrence & Foreign Policy, Government & Politics, Strategic Adversariesalliance design, burden sharing, credibility, defense investment, Deterrence, energy sovereignty, escalation anxiety, escalation management, European dependence, forward defense, high-intensity war, industrial capacity, NATO, Nord Stream, realism, regional deterrence, Russia invasion, Russian hydrocarbons, shared risk, strategic correction, strategic preparation, U.S. leadership, Ukraine, under-resourcing, Western assumptions

Ukraine and the Failure of Western Assumptions

Kirk Fansher0 Comments

Ukraine did not just resist invasion; it shattered Western assumptions. In the weeks leading up to Russia’s 2022 invasion, the dominant view across Europe and the United States was that…

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The Case for Deterrence: What the 2025 NSS Gets Right

Archive, Arms Control & Nonproliferation, Strategic Adversaries2025 National Security Strategy (NSS), allies and partners, America First, arms sales, balance of power, burden sharing, capacity building, critical minerals, Deterrence, Economic Security, energy dominance, Great Power Competition, high-tech innovation, Indo-Pacific, industrial capacity, military overmatch, non-interventionism, nuclear arsenal modernization, nuclear deterrent, peace through strength, reindustrialization, sovereignty, strategic restraint, strategic stability, technological preeminence

The Case for Deterrence: What the 2025 NSS Gets Right

Curtis McGiffin0 Comments

After ten months in office, the Trump administration has released its 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS), marking a clear shift toward an "America First" approach that emphasizes core U.S. national…

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Deterrence of North Korea and Iran: Interests-Objectives-Analysis Framework

Archive, Bonus Reads, Defense & Security, Strategic Adversariesactivities, aggression containment, alliance cooperation, allies, American warfighter, burden sharing, China, comparative analysis, counterterrorism, credible deterrence, decision analysis, Defense Spending, deterrence framework, deterrence strategy, DPRK, Energy Security, extended deterrence, global engagement, Gulf States, hamas, homeland defense, Indo-Pacific, industrial base, interests, Iran, Israel, kinetic operations, Middle East, military assets, military strikes, mutual defense treaties, National defense, national defense strategy, National Security, nonproliferation, North Korea, nuclear proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, objectives, Partners, proliferation control, proxy networks, regional deterrence, regional stability, Russia, sanctions, security cooperation, sovereignty, Straits of Hormuz, strategic shifts, threat scenarios, transnational threats, two-front war, U.S. military power, U.S. policy, United States, uranium enrichment

Deterrence of North Korea and Iran: Interests-Objectives-Analysis Framework

Nathan Heath0 Comments

On June 22, the United States struck multiple Iranian nuclear sites, marking a tipping point in its deterrence of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions. It was no longer enough to…

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Extending the Golden Dome: AUKUS Pillar 2

Allies & Extended Deterrence, Archiveadvanced technologies, allied territory, anti-submarine warfare, artificial intelligence (AI), AUKUS pillar two, autonomy, boost phase, burden sharing, collective defense, command-and-control systems, counter-hypersonics, cyber capabilities, cyber-reconnaissance, deep-space advanced radar capability program (DARC), directed-energy platforms, electromagnetic spectrum., electromagnetic weapons, electronic attack, electronic counter-countermeasures, electronic countermeasures (ECM), electronic protection, electronic warfare, five-eyes countries, fractional orbital bombardment system (FOBS), Golden Dome, high-power lasers, hypersonic glide weapons, hypersonic interceptors, hypersonics, information sharing, innovation, interceptors, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), jamming, kinetic interceptors, land-attack cruise missiles, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, machine learning, microwave weapons, mine warfare, missile defense, multilayered defense network, nuclear command control and communications (NC3), quantum computing, quantum key distribution, quantum technologies, quantum-resistant cryptography, regional stability, sensors, signals interception, space-based targeting, spoofing, strategic deterrence, submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM), submarines, undersea capabilities

Extending the Golden Dome: AUKUS Pillar 2

Natalie Treloar0 Comments

As the United States attempts to better understand the requirements of President Trump’s Golden Dome program, pillar two of the AUKUS agreement has the potential to help solve the “integration…

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The European Dilemma: Five Percent and Manpower

Allies & Extended Deterrence, Archive, Strategic Adversariesburden sharing, conscription, defense budget, defense expenditure, Donald Trump, European rearmament, European Union, financial aid, manpower, military downsizing, military service, NATO, peacekeepers, peacekeeping troops, reconstruction, security architecture, Ukraine war, Vladimir Putin, welfare states., Xi Jin Ping

The European Dilemma: Five Percent and Manpower

Amit Gupta1 Comment

The Europeans have reacted with shock and dismay at President Donald Trump’s initiatives on settling the Ukraine war. The president is wisely keeping the Europeans out of any negotiations with…

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