COMMENTARY
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Europe’s gunpowder bottleneck: how cotton supply chains became a defence issue
Europe’s drive to expand artillery production has exposed a constraint that sits well upstream of the factory floor: access to nitrocellulose, the key chemical used in modern propellants. Nitrocellulose is produced by nitrating cellulose, and in the defence sector it…
Nightfall: Britain promises Ukraine a ballistic missile – but the hard part comes after the press release
Britain says it will help Ukraine by developing a new ground-launched ballistic missile able to carry a 200kg warhead beyond 500 kilometres. The project, codenamed Nightfall, is billed as a rapid boost to Kyiv’s long-range strike power. It is also,…
A missile message to Europe: what Russia’s Oreshnik strike was meant to signal
For a second time in a little over a year, Russia has used its Oreshnik missile against Ukraine, and for a second time the political message has been louder than the physical results. The latest launch was recorded overnight on…
China, Russia and Iran join South Africa for BRICS naval drills off Cape Town
CAPE TOWN — Warships from China, Russia and Iran have begun a week of naval drills with South Africa in waters off Cape Town, in an exercise organised under the BRICS grouping as Washington escalates action against Venezuelan oil shipments.…
Atlantic Tensions and Presidential Audacity: Trump’s Greenland Gambit
In the pantheon of modern Western leaders, few have been as polarising — or as theatrically audacious — as President Donald J. Trump. His latest salvo, the suggestion that the United States might assert control over Greenland, has sent ripples…
Europe’s Defence Illusion: “Readiness 2030” Will Not Deter Anyone
On paper, Readiness 2030 is the European Union’s bold answer to a deteriorating global security landscape. The initiative, quietly rebranded from its bluntly honest predecessor, ReArm Europe, promises to channel as much as €800 billion into defence spending through loans,…
After the raid: Washington has seized Maduro, but not Venezuela
The United States has removed Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro in a single night of air strikes and a Special Forces raid. The harder question is what, precisely, Washington thinks it has taken control of. Mr Maduro and his wife, Cilia…
Europe’s Streets Are No Longer Safe – Internal Security Must Come First Again
Across the Continent, Europe’s once-placid boulevards, civic squares and national capitals are no longer the preserve of political deliberation alone. They have become theatres of escalating civil unrest — and the scale and frequency of these confrontations should trouble every…
Japan Steps Forward as a Pillar of Pacific Security
For much of the post-war era, Japan defined itself by restraint. Its pacifist constitution, born of defeat and devastation, shaped a national identity rooted in economic strength rather than military power. Yet as we move into 2026, Japan is quietly…
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian Declares Full-Fledged War Against U.S., Israel, Europe
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has declared that the Islamic Republic is in a “full-fledged” or “total” war with the United States, Israel and European powers, framing a complex pattern of military, economic and political pressures as an existential struggle for…