STRATEGIC ANALYSIS
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Rutte uses Washington speech to press allies on spending and defence production
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte used a Washington speech on 9th April to argue that allied defence planning now points towards spending equivalent to 3.5 per cent of GDP on core military requirements and 1.5 per cent on broader defence-related…
Ceasefire on paper, escalation in theatre: Iran’s 10 demands and the US build-up in the Gulf
A two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran has paused immediate hostilities, but the crisis remains unresolved. Tehran’s 10 conditions amount to a sweeping political demand set, while Washington continues to reinforce its military presence in the Gulf, indicating…
From Cyprus to the Falkland Islands: Britain’s Defence Failures Are Slowly Mounting
The rhetoric coming out of Buenos Aires this past week should not be dismissed as mere posturing. When Javier Milei stands before his nation and reasserts Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands—while pledging to rebuild his country’s armed forces and…
EU weighs stronger Aspides role as Hormuz crisis tests Europe’s maritime reach
Foreign ministers are discussing whether to reinforce the EU’s Aspides naval mission as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz exposes the limits of Europe’s ability to protect key shipping routes. The European Union is once again confronting the gap…
Four Years Since the Invasion: The War’s Strategic Lessons for Ukraine, Russia and Europe
Four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the central expectation that shaped much of the early commentary has not materialised: Moscow has not achieved its declared war aims. On the fourth anniversary, the…
Zelenskyy’s warning to Trump: peace without guarantees will fail Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plea to Donald Trump — “stay on our side” — should be read as more than an appeal for sympathy. It is a warning about strategy. At the centre of the current diplomacy is a question that sounds…
LEAP Forward: The New Defence Blueprint from Europe’s Military Leaders
In Krakow this week, defence ministers from Europe’s most powerful military states convened under the shadow of a new strategic imperative — the airborne battlefield. France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom, traditionally cautious in their collective defence responses,…
Washington Tightens the Noose: Ford Heads East as Iran Rejects US Red Lines
Washington’s military posture towards Iran hardened on Thursday as a second US aircraft carrier steamed towards the Middle East, air power in theatre reached levels not seen since the opening phase of the Iraq war, and negotiators left Geneva with…
NATO rehearses Baltic amphibious landing near Kiel amid renewed focus on Kaliningrad and sea lanes
NATO troops have staged an amphibious landing exercise on Germany’s Baltic coast, close to the port city of Kiel, in a drill involving roughly 3,000 personnel and forming part of the wider Steadfast Dart 2026 programme. The beach-assault phase took…
The New Polar Front: Why Greenland Matters Again to Western Defence
In the long Arctic dusk, where the horizon blurs into a pale sheet of ice and the air itself seems to crystallise, modern air power is subjected to a test no laboratory can replicate. This winter the North American Aerospace…