Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

Jack Watling, Statecraft: The New Rules of Power in a Divided World (Macmillan, 2026)The war against Iran exposed a multitude of forced errors and own goals in the conduct of statecraft. The purpose of sound statecraft is the integrated application of a state’s tools and its repertoire of governmental instruments of power to gain its desired outcomes in international relations. The yet-to-be-resolved contest against the Islamic Republic of Iran reveals a litany of shortfalls in the conduct of U.S. statecraft.It is unlikely that the present U.S. government will conduct a candid assessment of its shortcomings. Acknowledging the failure to achieve…

The Marine Corps will pay Overland AI $19.7 million to produce more than a dozen autonomous ground vehicles by early 2027.The vehicles, due to be delivered in about nine months, will be part of the Marine Air Defense Integrated Systems program, which is part of the service’s counterdrone approach, and support resupply missions. “Ground autonomy matters now more than ever. We’re seeing the proliferation of uncrewed ground vehicles in conflicts like the one in Ukraine, and tech maturity is really there,” Byron Boots, Overland AI’s CEO told reporters. “We’re registering extremely high demand from U.S. operational units who want to incorporate…

ORCHARD COMBAT TRAINING CENTER, Idaho — A heavy-lift drone climbed into 25 mph gusts above the high desert June 22, carrying a live Bangalore torpedo toward a wire obstacle. For combat engineers, breaching that kind of obstacle is one of the most dangerous missions on the battlefield. Army doctrine accounts for that risk with a 50 percent casualty planning factor for a deliberate breach. This time, no Soldier had to sprint forward to place the charge. Soldiers from Bravo Company, 741st Brigade Engineer Battalion, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Oregon Army National Guard, used a drone-delivered Bangalore torpedo to breach…

Issue Brief June 29, 2026 • 1:06 pm ET Print this page By Hans Binnendijk and James J. Townsend Jr. Bottom lines up front Trump 2.0 presents a fundamental break in postwar American national security policy.But it harkens back to trends with deep roots in US history.NATO and the EU need to make significant, lasting changes in response—quickly, and ideally in coordination with Washington. Presidents arrive in office with a negotiating style shaped by their personalities and negotiating experience. President Joseph R. Biden’s negotiating style was shaped by his experience from years of bargaining with political colleagues from both parties…

The PFL San Diego card provided plenty of excitement on Saturday night but several fighters are exiting the event with some required time off.On Monday, the California State Athletic Commission revealed the full medical suspension from the PFL San Diego card, which included a pair of fighters receiving potential six-month layoffs.Featherweight Khasat Magomedsharipov won his fight over Joshua Weems but he didn’t walk away unscathed. He’s looking at a possible 180-day suspension due to a potential orbital bone fracture that he has to get cleared or he’ll be out for six months.The same goes for prelim fighter Ilara Joanne, who…

Climate change looms in the background of the contest between China and the United States. It is the underappreciated factor that could determine who wins the race to develop frontier technologies, gain economic advantages, and secure influence across the world. And as global temperatures continue to climb, its role will become harder to ignore—because the two countries, the world’s largest emitters of carbon dioxide, both face great risks from climate-related extreme weather.Extreme weather threatens the physical foundations of Chinese and U.S. economic and technological power. It can degrade critical systems such as those that convey electricity and water. It can…

TOWNSVILLE, Australia — Based in Townsville in northern Queensland, the Australian Army’s 3rd Brigade is undergoing a massive transformation, as the heavy armored formation absorbs whole new fleets of vehicles.Yet this modernization push has major knock-on effects in terms of logistics support.Brigadier Ben McLennan, the brigade’s commander, told Defense News, “The Australian Army is undergoing its most significant recapitalization, at least since World War Two, and I’d say it’s happening at record pace.”Yet he noted most of his bandwidth is invested on how to sustain this armored brigade that has “the potential to be the most lethal formation of its…

IMCO Industries Group, a leading provider of advanced defence and industrial solutions, announced that it has been awarded an approximately $5 million dollars contract by the Israeli Ministry of Defense for the production and supply of advanced electrical systems for armoured military vehicles. The award further bolsters IMCO’s role as a key strategic supplier of electrical and electro-optics systems for military platforms and adds to a series of important programmes the company has supported for Israel’s defence sector in recent years. According to Ariel Kandel, CEO of IMCO:“This award marks another significant milestone in our long-standing partnership with a strategic customer…

Rafael Fiziev is back on track after a highlight-reel knockout over Manuel Torres in the UFC Baku main event, but is he still in the contender picture or is time for the fan favorite to chase fun fights?On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discusses what’s next for the resurgent Fiziev and his hopes of getting the call for a “BMF” title fight. We also try to figure out what the matchmakers can do with the frequently underwhelming Shara “Bullet” Magomedov, who continues to win while leaving us wanting…

President Donald Trump has nominated a former Oklahoma state trooper to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency tasked with carrying out the president’s mass deportation campaign.Richard “Lance” Schroyer’s nomination on June 27 comes on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed the Trump administration to strip legal status from 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians, a move that opens them to deportation.“Lance Schroyer has what it takes to DETAIN AND DEPORT Illegal Alien Criminals …,” Trump wrote on social media June 27. “…he LOVES the men and women of ICE.”He will have to be confirmed by…