SECURITY FRAMEWORKS
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Rutte in Washington for Trump meeting as NATO burden-sharing pressure returns
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is in Washington on 8 April for talks with Donald Trump and senior US officials as pressure builds over burden-sharing, defence spending and the political direction of the alliance. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is…
Trump’s NATO threat sharpens focus on Europe’s role as Rutte heads to Washington
Donald Trump’s statement that he is considering taking the United States out of NATO has pushed Europe’s burden-sharing debate into a more immediate phase, despite fresh alliance data showing a sharp rise in European and Canadian defence spending. Donald Trump’s…
Poland seeks greater autonomy in nuclear deterrence as Europe revisits defence integration
Poland has moved the question of nuclear deterrence closer to the centre of the European security debate after Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Warsaw wants “as much autonomy as possible” in this field and is holding talks with France and…
ProtectEU: Inside Brussels’ Strategy to Prevent Terrorism
When the European Commission unveiled its new ProtectEU strategy on 26th February, it marked a notable moment in the bloc’s long and often cautious efforts to confront terrorism and violent extremism. The initiative, presented as a comprehensive agenda to prevent…
US allegations over covert Chinese nuclear testing sharpen scrutiny of Beijing’s modernisation drive
Claims by US officials that China may have conducted a covert nuclear explosive test are likely to intensify an already fraught debate over strategic stability, arms control and the pace of Beijing’s military modernisation. The issue re-entered public discussion this…
Major General Wolf-Jürgen Stahl’s Trump Broadside Exposes Europe’s Strategic Anxiety
It is not often that a serving German general publicly dissects the character of an American president. That taboo has now been shattered. Major General Wolf-Jürgen Stahl, head of Berlin’s Federal Academy for Security Policy, has delivered a diagnosis of…
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…
Munich: Rubio Reminds the West That Confidence, Not Apology, Keeps the Peace
The Munich Security Conference has long been a gathering devoted to reassurance. Diplomats reassure allies, allies reassure one another, and collectively the West reassures itself that stability can be preserved largely by good intentions and the careful management of tensions.…
New START expiry puts nuclear limits back on agenda as Washington and Moscow reopen channels
The expiry of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) this week has returned nuclear arms control to the centre of US–Russia diplomacy, as officials in Washington and Moscow explore whether any form of restraint can be preserved after…
US to host hemispheric defence chiefs meeting Feb 11
The United States will host chiefs of defence and senior military representatives from 34 Western Hemisphere nations on 11 February for what the Pentagon has described as the inaugural Western Hemisphere Chiefs of Defence Conference. The meeting will be chaired…