EDITORIALS
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The 48-Hour Problem: NATO’s Response Under Pressure in a Baltic Drill
In the days leading up to the Munich Security Conference on 13–15 February 2026, European media carried a run of scenario-based reporting on how a future security shock might unfold on NATO’s eastern flank. Several of the most widely circulated…
Europeans sense danger — yet still hesitate to act
Europeans have begun to feel something unfamiliar: vulnerability. For three generations the continent lived inside a strategic paradox. It possessed advanced economies, stable democracies and generous welfare systems, yet relied on a power across an ocean for its ultimate security.…
Does Keir Starmer Not Understand Who Britain’s Enemies Are?
I watched Keir Starmer’s visit to China with a mixture of disbelief and weary recognition. Disbelief, because it is astonishing that a British Prime Minister in 2026 can still wander into Beijing wearing the benign expression of a man who…
If Russia Wins: A Scenario and the Logic of the West’s Managed Defeat
When Carlo Masala set out his hypothetical “Russian victory” in Ukraine, he defined it narrowly: not a march to Kyiv, but Moscow retaining the territories it already occupies. That premise matters because it aligns with the kind of “freeze” or…
Chagos Archipelago: Britain’s Self-Inflicted Strategic Retreat in the Indian Ocean
There are bad ideas in politics, and then there are ideas so recklessly self-defeating that one wonders whether national interest has been deliberately left out of the room. The UK’s current Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s proposed handover of the Chagos…
China-linked machine tools and chips: claims of a supply chain behind Russia’s Oreshnik missile
European governments have often treated dialogue with Beijing as a practical channel in foreign policy, including in managing risks linked to Russia’s war against Ukraine. A recent investigation by The Telegraph has prompted a different focus: whether Chinese-origin industrial equipment…
Reclaiming Port of Darwin From China: Australia Sends a Signal of Resolve
In an increasingly volatile world, where strategic certainty is at a premium, Australia’s recent decision to reclaim control of the Port of Darwin represents more than a policy adjustment — it is a confident assertion of national interest that other…
CSIS: Russia’s advance in Ukraine measured in metres, not kilometres
A Washington-based think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), says the pace of Russia’s ground advance in Ukraine has fallen to levels that are historically low when set against major combined-arms offensives over the past century. In…
Chopping off the predator’s paws: what Europe’s new security requires
Between Davos and Munich In a few weeks, the theme of the 56th World Economic Forum will have slipped off the front pages, though references to “Trump in Davos”, “Carney in Davos”, “Zelenskyy in Davos” and the rest will remain.…
Trump cools tariff threat after NATO talks on Greenland, but terms remain unclear
Donald Trump has stepped back from a threat to impose new tariffs on several European countries after meeting NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the World Economic Forum in Davos, in what the US president described as a “framework” for…