The United States has considerable interests in the Arctic and is one of just eight countries with territory in the region. It also has a responsibility to prepare and protect its armed forces that could be called upon to secure its Arctic interests as the region becomes an increasingly active … [Read more...]
End of western alliance means UK must be bolder, says Chatham House director
Donald Trump has ended the western alliance, requiring the UK to adopt a bolder, more independent foreign policy towards the US and China, the director of Britain’s most prestigious foreign policy thinktank has said. Delivering her analysis in her annual lecture, Bronwen Maddox, the director of … [Read more...]
The return to a British sphere of influence: The case for a GIUK gap security treaty
The United Kingdom (UK) stands at a generational inflection point. As the United States (US) reasserts a muscular approach to geopolitics in the Western Hemisphere, and as Russia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) seek to reshape eastern Europe and the Indo-Pacific, Britain must decide whether … [Read more...]
Mercenarism Reborn: Drone Operators, Coders, and the Post-Ukraine Market for Force
Ukraine has emerged as the world’s most intense proving ground for modern warfare. Yet, these lethal advances in technology and tactics will not remain confined to Ukrainian battlefields. While wars typically end with questions about security guarantees and postwar reconstruction, the end of the war … [Read more...]
Europe’s economy isn’t collapsing – but let’s not downplay the cost of geopolitics
Looking back, 2025 may feel like a year that Europeans can be relieved about. Counter to the ‘peak pessimism on Europe’ at the beginning of the year, Europe avoided a recession, its stocks performed decently and global markets were outright upbeat in the end. Some headlines even look … [Read more...]
HINA AND THE UNITED STATES – TWO NATIONAL SECURITY PLANS COMPARED
This analytical dossier compares the National Security Strategies of China and the United States, situating them within a broader geopolitical context that also includes Russia. It argues that, despite different political systems and strategic cultures, the Chinese and U.S. documents share a … [Read more...]
Competition in the Horn of Africa Heats Up
On Dec. 26, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his country would officially recognize Somaliland, the breakaway region of Somalia, as a sovereign nation. The first of its kind, the move may appear relatively inconsequential: Somaliland is a small, otherwise unrecognized area of … [Read more...]
Landscape beneath Antarctica’s icy surface revealed in unprecedented detail
A new map has unmasked the landscape beneath Antarctica's ice in unprecedented detail, something scientists say could greatly enhance our understanding of the frozen white continent. Researchers used satellite data and the physics of how Antarctica's glaciers move to work out what the continent … [Read more...]
China’s Strategic Design and Cautious Calibration of Rare Earth Leverage
China’s use of rare earths as a geopolitical instrument did not emerge overnight. The most frequently cited precedent dates back to 2010, when Beijing suspended rare earth exports to Japan following a dispute over Japan’s detention of a Chinese fishing trawler captain. Although short-lived and … [Read more...]
The liberal dilemma on Venezuela. How the Monroe Doctrine came back to haunt the West
Things were already going very badly for Keir Starmer as the New Year dawned. He was embattled on multiple fronts including taxation, immigration, economic stagnation and rumoured leadership bids from within and beyond the cabinet. Then on 3 January it worsened, when Donald Trump launched his … [Read more...]