Category: Conflict

Iran once had air inferiority. After its attack on Israel, it flies high.

Iran’s unprecedented April 14 attack on Israeli territory was a warning shot. It showed Tehran’s potential ability to put a dent in Israel’s formidable air superiority despite essentially its lacking a modern air force.  The direct Iranian air attack on Israeli soil was a watershed moment in the region’s steadily deteriorating security status quo. It

Great power competition is back. What does that mean for US special operations forces?

After 9/11, US special operations forces (USSOF) became well known for direct-action missions that captivated the public’s imagination and demonstrated unparalleled tactical success. The highly publicized raids, precision strikes, and elimination of terrorist threats solidified USSOF’s reputation as the tip of the spear in the US military’s arsenal. In recent years, however, the global security

Are Israel and Iran stepping back from the brink?

GET UP TO SPEED The volley has been returned. Israel reportedly struck at a military facility in Iran in the early hours of Friday—a response to Iran’s drone-and-missile attack on Israel just days earlier. As the smoke cleared in Isfahan, both Israel and Iran appeared eager to downplay the effects of the strike. With an

Putin’s plan to depopulate Ukraine

Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, is in danger of becoming a “second Aleppo” amid a surge in Russian airstrikes, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov warned this week. In an April 17 interview with The Guardian, Terekhov said that unless Ukraine urgently receives additional air defenses from the country’s partners, Kharkiv would suffer the same fate as Syrian

Grassroots diplomacy can help unlock international support for Ukraine

Amid growing uncertainty over the future of international aid for Ukraine, diplomatic initiatives at the local and regional levels can play a critical role in securing continued public support around the world for Ukraine’s struggle against Russian aggression. These grassroots efforts, also known as subnational diplomacy, can go far beyond merely symbolic support, and have

US House resolution: Russian abduction of Ukrainian children is genocide

For the past month, the Russian military has targeted Ukraine’s civilian population and energy infrastructure with some of its largest nationwide missile and drone attacks since the start of the full-scale invasion just over two years ago. These bombardments underscore the urgency of a renewed push in the United States to pass a stalled military