Stefan Messingschlager
Western governments have armies of Mandarin speakers and AI translators, yet they keep misreading Beijing. What’s missing, as Stefan Messingschlager argues, is independent, context-rich expertise – people able to decode China’s history-laden signals and puncture bureaucratic groupthink. This kind of knowledge is strategic insurance every democracy needs before the next crisis hits Read more
Zeenat Sabur
Keir Starmer’s speeches before and after the release of the UK's Strategic Defence Review contain narratives that make nuclear strengthening seem prudent and logical. But Zeenat Sabur argues that these narratives are fallacies, that if poked at, alert us to the insecurity to which nuclear posturing leads us Read more
Nadeem Ahmed Moonakal
The security situation in the Middle East reflects the hard realities of power struggle and the implications of the quest for regional hegemony. Nadeem Ahmed Moonakal shows how Israel is exploiting instability to entrench dominance, while Iran’s projected restraint masks deep vulnerabilities. With the US’ ambiguous approach adding to tensions, the space for long-term stability is shrinking Read more
Amélie Jaques-Apke
Are we nearing a new incarnation of the French vision of a Gaullist Europe? Focusing on strategic autonomy, nuclear deterrence, coalitions of the willing, threat perception, and defence capability, Amélie Jaques-Apke examines the strategic dilemmas, and conceptual and operational deficiencies, in European defence policy Read more
Consuelo Thiers
Consuelo Thiers argues that Javier Milei is not merely shifting Argentina's foreign policy but dismantling its diplomatic institutions. As ideology replaces expertise, and institutional norms collapse, Argentina has become a stark example of how personalist leadership can upend international relations Read more
