Recent US intelligence assessments indicate Russian President Vladimir Putin could try to test NATO’s resolve by launching a limited attack on an allied country within the next few years, according to...

A new HCSS guest paper by Dr. Iskander Rehman examines the war in Ukraine through the lens of an oft-cited but seldom explored analogy: the Spanish Civil War. It shows how protracted proxy wars often ...

Western airpower debates are increasingly driven by grim math. Analysts tally missile inventories, strike ranges, and sortie-generation capacity against a

Can long-range strike weapons (LRS) create strategic-level effects? Despite extensive debate about the impact of LRS on contemporary warfare, the question of how such weapons can create strategic-l...

Several things—from the players to the technology—set the exercise apart from previous experiments.

The Army’s decadelong practice of rotating armored brigades through Europe is eroding combat readiness and straining budgets, according to a new study.

Russia has been secretly stalking European spacecraft since its invasion of Ukraine in 2014. What can Europe do about it?

In his 1995 memoir, former US Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara argued one reason why the US lost in Vietnam was insufficient country expertise. This claim generated considerable controversy,...

Europe lacks a shared theory of victory in Ukraine - and that absence is now shaping the war’s outcome. As long as Europe fails to define its own end state, others will shape the outcome - in Moscow, ...

Financing is an important yet overlooked element of Russian sabotage in Europe: it can act as both a facilitator and a tool of response.

Over the past ten years, Western defence analysts have assumed that, in any hypothetical war, Russia would be substantially, if not entirely, a sanctuary from NATO operations and even attacks. Russia’...

It is a truism in defence analysis that the Baltic States lack strategic depth, giving the impression that strategic depth is immutable. Such spatial fatalism weakens strategic thinking by eliding ...

States continue to struggle in their efforts to counter organized crime. Despite states having scored successes at the operational level, organized crime has proven too adaptable and too resilient to ...

Norway’s geopolitical position as both a neighbour of Russia and a member of NATO places it at the forefront of Moscow’s self-assertive and aggressive foreign and security policy. However, Norway’s...

Two months in, what does the war between Israel and Hamas tell us about victory and defeat in irregular warfare? There is no difficulty in identifying those who have lost the most through this conflic...

by First Lieutenant Brendan Sanders

David E. Spencer’s review of The Insurgent’s Dilemma highlights David Ucko’s nuanced analysis of the strategic challenges insurgent movements face in balancing military efficacy with

For major wars like the one being fought between Russia and Ukraine, the military, the people, and the state interact with one another to constitute a

Opposing candidates in next year’s presidential election hold wildly divergent views of their country

Online disinformation aimed at discrediting Moldova's pro-European government is ramping up ahead of the crunch parliamentary elections on 28 September.

Podcast Episode · The Rest Is History · 24/08/2025 · 56m

Reflections on a Complex Non-crisis

In one corner, Azerbaijan's Ilhan Aliev, in the other, Russia's Vladimir Putin, two autocrats locked in an increasingly acrimonious political conflict sparked by, of all things, the arrest of some gan...

Modern War Institute · Episode

Imports of Russian oil, gas and nuclear materials must stop by 2027 at the very latest, Brussels has proposed in a new ambitious strategy. #EuropeNews

Tehran is turning violent networks like Sweden’s Foxtrot and Ireland’s Kinahan cartel into tools of covert statecraft

A homage to the late, great scholar of war, exploring his considerable legacy and engaging with questions of conflict and strategy in the same spirit.

(As delivered)

Assistant Secretary General Defence Policy and Planning job in Brussels, Belgium

This Is Not A Drill with Gavin Esler · Episode

School of War · Episode

T.X. Hammes reflects on the growing role of cheap and adaptable technologies in fighting the wars of tomorrow.

How regime change happens in America

Thousands of Americans have had their lives overturned and millions abroad will suffer from the closure of USAID.

View PDF of executive summaryView PDF of full report Executive Summary

Russia’s undeclared war against the West is intensifying, leveraging fear, destabilisation and covert operations to undermine NATO unity and Western resilience.

The UK has signed a 'One Hundred Years Partnership Agreement' with Ukraine -- what's really involved under this grandiose title, and what does it show us about the wider challenges (and some missed op...

Across China’s west, the Communist Party is placing children in boarding schools to assimilate a generation of Tibetans into the national mainstream and mold them into loyal citizens.

Syria's new government likely needs arms to solidify its hold on power. That's an opening for its Turkish backers.