


Poland and its allies scrambled fighter aircraft overnight on 10–11 September after nineteen unmanned aerial systems — launched during a large Russian strike on Ukraine — violated Polish airspace. Polish F-16s, supported by Dutch and Italian jets, shot down several…

Britain has been here before: the public promised vigilance against terror, only to discover that dangerous men walk free through gaping holes in the system. The case of Haroon Aswat, long linked to the 7/7 London bombings, was a scandal…

In a regional flashpoint that was supposed to remain dormant, Japan and South Korea have jolted into action. On Monday, for the first time in a decade, Japan’s defence minister will sit opposite his South Korean counterpart in Seoul to…

For months now, the rhetoric out of Brussels has been thick with solemn talk of “readiness” and “resilience.” Ursula von der Leyen and her officials trumpet new European Defence Industrial Strategies, issue communiqués about stockpiling ammunition, and discuss force integration…

For too long, Europe has relied on words rather than deeds to shore up its security. Ministers talk of sovereignty and resilience, yet when it comes to defence technology, the continent has lagged behind. Now, however, an unexpected force is…

French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer have unveiled plans for a multinational reassurance force in Ukraine—but vagueness, hesitancy, and the unpredictable interventions of Donald Trump threaten to undermine their efforts and embolden Vladimir Putin. The latest…

The prospect of a Socialist government in France, under Olivier Faure, may look on the surface like an ordinary change of political colour. Yet beneath the rhetoric of fairness and redistribution lie serious questions about how such a shift would…

On this day, September 3rd, 1939, Britain declared war on Nazi Germany. It was the moment when appeasement collapsed under the weight of reality, ushering in the most devastating conflict in human history. Eighty-six years later, we confront an unsettling…

Tomorrow, Beijing will not so much commemorate history as parade its ambitions for the future. Xi Jinping has ordered the largest military spectacle in China’s modern history, ostensibly to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the Second World…

Vladimir Putin arrived in Tianjin this weekend like a man determined to prove he still matters. At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, hosted by China and hailed by state media as a “historic moment”, the Russian president clasped hands…