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Australia’s Bondi Beach carnage should force a reckoning not just with antisemitism, but its sources
On Sunday evening, an Australian summer celebration on Bondi Beach was transformed into a scene of unspeakable horror. As families gathered at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach for the first night of Hanukkah — a Jewish festival of light, hope and…
Estonia Shows Europe How to Prepare for War
In a world roiled by uncertainty and the threat of great-power competition, there are few clearer illustrations of strategic foresight than Estonia’s latest step to bolster its eastern frontier. This week the Baltic republic began erecting the first of what…
Pakistan’s Militarised State: A Strategic Threat Europe Can No Longer Ignore
Pakistan is not merely a troubled democracy with an overbearing army. It is, in effect, a militarised state whose institutions, economy and national identity are shaped by permanent confrontation. Nowhere is this more dangerous than in its posture towards its…
What the FCAS Dispute Means for NATO and Transatlantic Ties
The renewed effort by Germany, France and Spain to salvage the troubled Future Combat Air System (FCAS) carries consequences that stretch far beyond industrial politics. At stake is Europe’s long-term defence posture, its ability to field high-end capabilities without relying…
Putin’s ‘Novorossiya’ Rhetoric Returns as West Floats Territorial Deal
Vladimir Putin has brought the term “Novorossiya” back into his public vocabulary, declaring at a press conference in New Delhi that the “liberation” of both Donbas and “Novorossiya” by Russian forces is inevitable. The intervention comes as United States envoys…
Ukraine, Russia and the Future of NATO: Europe Wakes Up to a Long War
Europe’s security debate is shifting from the language of “hybrid harassment” to that of a low-intensity war. A recent Financial Times analysis argues that Russia is conducting a systematic campaign of sabotage across the continent, using parcel bombs, arson, cyber…
UK tightens ties with Baku and Yerevan as Defence Minister’s visit signals new era in South Caucasus
In a move that underlines the United Kingdom’s renewed strategic interest in the South Caucasus, Defence Minister Lord Vernon Coaker has completed a landmark visit to Azerbaijan and Armenia this week — a tour that officials say will “boost regional…
From Talk to Action: UK and Japan Advance Defence Pact
The sight of British and Japanese soldiers exercising shoulder-to-shoulder will strike many observers as one of the quietly encouraging defence stories of the year. At a moment when the global security picture is far from reassuring, the partnership taking shape…
Delayed, Underfunded and Unprepared: Whitehall’s Failure to Protect Britain’s Lifelines at Sea
For all the heat generated by the unveiling of Atlantic Bastion this month, one can’t escape the uncomfortable question: why has it taken so long — and why did Whitehall allow the UK’s under-sea vulnerability to fester so dangerously before…
UK steps up ‘Atlantic Bastion’ drive to shield seabed infrastructure from Russia
The United Kingdom is accelerating work on a new undersea defence network, codenamed ‘Atlantic Bastion’, in response to increased Russian activity around critical subsea infrastructure, including the recent presence of the Russian intelligence-gathering vessel Yantar near British waters. The programme…