The Taliban’s Struggle for Legitimacy

Islomkhon Gafarov

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The ongoing power struggle between the Kandahari and Kabuli factions of the Taliban has garnered significant attention in post-Soviet media spaces. This internal conflict, which could potentially lead to a shift in Afghanistan’s leadership, reveals the complex dynamics at play within the organization.

Central to this struggle are the disagreements between the leader of the Taliban movement, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, and Minister of Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani, concerning governance approaches and Afghanistan’s international role. These internal divisions highlight the lack of a cohesive vision among the Taliban’s top leadership. Such fragmentation at the highest levels of leadership has several significant implications, and serves to exacerbate the international community’s distrust toward Afghanistan’s current authorities.

However, the lack of international recognition for the Taliban government extends beyond this internal discord. Several factors contribute to this continued non-recognition, ranging from the Taliban’s problematic history and widespread global condemnation of its lack of inclusivity, to the shifting geopolitical landscape and the persistent presence of radical and terrorist elements in Afghanistan.

China’s Space Dream: No Limits, No End

Mathieu Duchâtel

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Even as global attention turned to DeepSeek, which put China at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI), it is evident that China has yet to achieve its own “Sputnik moment” in the space sector. Some Chinese experts suggest that such a breakthrough could come with the Tianwen-3 mission (2028–2031), which aims to return rock samples from Mars, potentially placing China years ahead of the Euro-American Mars Sample Return mission. However, 2031 remains a distant milestone.

Meanwhile, the China-U.S. technological rivalry intensifies, and writing by Chinese experts about space is obsessed with the United States, seeing it as the only benchmark deserving attention. The efforts of Europe, India, and Japan in this area are not even seen as worth mentioning to Chinese analysts. Looking at China’s space sector in early 2025, a clear pattern emerges: a methodical, long-term strategy shaped by military ambitions, aspirations for technological dominance, ubiquitous commercial considerations, and the familiar guiding hand of the state in industrial policy. This is a vision, as top leader Xi Jinping has suggested, of space exploration with “no end.”

Over the past quarter century, China has transformed from a minor player in the global space industry into a major power. Two decades ago, China’s space industry was still describing itself modestly as learning through trial and error. Today, Chinese analysts describe its space prowess with positive terms often applied to other industrial sectors: “big but not strong,” “playing catch-up,” sometimes “running with the pack,” and, in certain areas, “leading the pack.”

How ASEAN Nations Shape South China Sea Policies Around China – Analysis

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Tensions between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea have been making more headlines in 2025 after escalating alarmingly last year.

Some other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), meanwhile, are trying to maintain good relations with their big neighbor to the north, whose economic and political influence is only growing in importance, while protecting their interests in the disputed waterway.

Reporters from RFA and BenarNews look at how three countries in the South China Sea are approaching relations with China.

INDONESIA: Growing openness toward China

In November 2024, Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto stunned South China Sea watchers with a sentence in a joint statement issued in China on his first overseas trip since becoming president.

The seemingly innocuous line explained that Jakarta and Beijing had reached an “important common understanding on joint development in areas of overlapping claims” in the South China Sea.

But analysts were quick to point out that by acknowledging overlapping maritime boundaries, Prabowo and his officials had effectively acknowledged the legitimacy of China’s claims, something Indonesia had never done before.

China’s Self-Defeating Strategy

Zack Cooper

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China’s armed forces are changing quickly. Over the last 15 years, Beijing has devoted significant resources to developing a military that can project power abroad. It now has three aircraft carriers and a growing fleet of amphibious assault ships. In 2017, China opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti. Chinese ships have also docked at ports scattered around the Indo-Pacific, from Cambodia to Sri Lanka. These changes should not be surprising since Chinese officials have spoken publicly about how they see their country as a great power on the rise, one that must project power overseas.

Is Donald Trump On The Brink Of Middle East Peace?

Brandon J. Weichert

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No one in the Middle East likes Trump’s plan to “own” Gaza. That may be the whole point.

President Donald J. Trump shocked audiences in the last two weeks when, standing before the press and alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he informed the world of his intention to have the United States “own” the decimated Gaza Strip.

The plan, according to Trump, would involve removing the Palestinian Arab population of Gaza, initiating a massive rebuild (making it the “Riviera of the Mideast” in his description), and having the U.S. maintain some degree of nominal control over the area.

Trump’s Comments Set the Hair of Arab and Israeli Leaders On Fire

Of course, the collective heads of the regional players—including the Israelis—caught fire over these pronouncements. Especially because the pronouncements by Trump lacked any specificity. It was the lack of specificity, though, that galvanized many people. As he says it, no one in the region likes what Trump is saying.

While visiting the White House immediately after the stunning Trump-Netanyahu press conference, Jordan’s King Abdullah II met with Trump at the White House and consented to taking in 2,000 sick Palestinian children immediately. However, the Jordanian king punted on a longer-term solution—deferring instead to Egypt, whose leadership he claimed was making a longer-term plan for the region that was forthcoming.

Dan Caine, Trump’s Joint Chiefs Pick, Had Unusual Path to Top Ranks

Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt

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In President Trump’s telling, Dan Caine, the retired Air Force lieutenant general whom he wants to be his next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made an impression on him when the two men first met in 2018.

The general told the president that the Islamic State was not so tough and could be defeated in a week, not two years as senior advisers predicted, Mr. Trump recounted in 2019.

And at a Conservative Political Action Conference meeting last year, Mr. Trump said that General Caine put on a Make America Great Again hat while meeting with him in Iraq. (General Caine has told aides he has never put on a MAGA hat.)

On Friday, Mr. Trump said he would nominate General Caine after firing Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., a four-star fighter pilot known as C.Q.

“Today, I am honored to announce that I am nominating Air Force Lieutenant General Dan ‘Razin’ Caine to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Mr. Trump said in a message on Truth Social. “General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a ‘warfighter’ with significant interagency and special operations experience.”

Four Scenarios For Securing Peace In Ukraine – Analysis

Tatiana Vorozhko

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U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for a peaceful resolution to Russia’s now three-year full-scale war in Ukraine. VOA examined several approaches floated by think tanks recently aimed at achieving a lasting peace to the war.

Maximum pressure strategy

A plan by the Center for European Policy Analysis, or CEPA, titled “How to Win: A Seven-Point Plan for Sustainable Peace in Ukraine,” calls for “a maximum pressure strategy to bring Russia to the negotiating table in good faith.”

It proposes that the U.S. and its allies:

• “Should provide immediate materiel support to Ukraine without caveats, aiming to wear down Russia’s military and thereby improve Ukraine’s negotiating position.”
• “Should increase sanctions on Russian financial institutions and energy sector entities, release frozen Russian assets to support Ukrainian defense and reconstruction and enact secondary sanctions to intensify economic pressure not only on Russia but also on the authoritarian regimes of China, Iran, and North Korea.”

Can The US And Russia Impose A Peace Deal On Ukraine? – Analysis

Ray Furlong

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A whirlwind week that has seen two emergency summits in Europe and worried comments from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy underlines the gnawing fear in capitals from Kyiv to London.

Namely, that Washington and Moscow could try to make their own deal on the future of Ukraine without Kyiv and U.S. allies in Europe.

U.S. President Donald Trump has added to the angst with his post on Truth Social, accusing Zelenskyy of being a dictator and saying “we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia.”

U.S. officials have denied they wish to exclude anyone from the process. But U.S. suggestions that Europe would not be at the negotiating table has caused widespread alarm, and the positive vibes from U.S.-Russia meeting in Riyadh on February 18 also set nerves on edge.

At this stage, there are two key questions: would Washington and Moscow even be able to agree on a mutually acceptable settlement to end the war in Ukraine, and if they did, what could anyone else do about it?

The White House clearly wants peace. It’s not clear that Moscow does. Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, arrived in Kyiv on February 19 just hours after overnight Russian strikes pounded Ukraine. Some 250,000 people were left without power in subzero temperatures in the port city of Odesa.

The Transformation Of Ukraine’s Arms Industry Amid War With Russia – Analysis

Kateryna Kuzmuk and Lorenzo Scarazzato

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Three years on from Russia’s escalation of its war on Ukraine with the full-scale invasion, Ukraine faces mounting military challenges. At the same time, there is growing uncertainty about future military assistance from the United States under the Trump administration. This makes the question of Ukraine’s ability to supply its own military needs and its reliance on aid all the more pertinent.

Since February 2022, Ukraine has relied heavily on foreign military aid for its defence against Russia. Its domestic arms industry has also been able to increase production and develop its capabilities significantly. In 2023 Ukraine’s largest arms producer, Joint-Stock Company Ukrainian Defense Industry (formerly UkrOboronProm), achieved a 69 per cent year-on-year increase in arms revenues to $2.2 billion—the fastest increase and highest revenues the company has ever recorded. As Ukraine seeks to rapidly strengthen and modernize its military capabilities amid the conflict, numerous smaller producers have appeared, along with emerging joint ventures with foreign companies, creating a more vibrant, diverse and innovative sector.

This topical backgrounder examines how Ukraine’s arms industry has transformed during the Russia-Ukraine war.

As Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks Begin, Who’s Winning The War?

Stavros Atlamazoglou

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When the peace talks about ending the war in Ukraine begin in earnest, they will undoubtedly be influenced by the conditions on the battlefield. After all, the gains of the two combatants and their strategic situation are the crucial leverage that will be used in any negotiation.

Here, the facts favor the Kremlin. The Russian military is on the offensive. Conversely, the Ukrainian forces are fighting a defensive campaign. Russia currently holds the strategic initiative and is largely dictating the moves on the battlefield. On the other hand, Ukraine is reacting to the movements of the Russian military in an attempt to stem its tactical advances.

A Tour of the Battlefield

There are currently five active fronts in the war. Russia maintains the initiative in four of them, while Ukraine controls one.

The main Russian effort is located in eastern Ukraine, in the direction of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. According to the Institute of the Study of War, the Kremlin’s objective on this front is to “push [the] Ukrainian forces back from the international border with Belgorod Oblast and approach to within tube artillery range of Kharkiv City.” In the initial stages of the conflict, the Russian military was within artillery range of Kharkiv. However, successful Ukrainian counterattacks relieved the city by the fall.

The Human Toll Of The Ukraine War

Stavros Atlamazoglou

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On February 24, 2022, Russia surprised the world by launching the large-scale invasion of its neighbor. The Russian military had been amassing forces along the border with Ukraine for months. However, many argued at the time that Russian President Vladimir Putin was bluffing and that he would recall his forces at the last minute.

Of course, Putin did not—and the largest conflict on European soil since the end of World War Two ensued.

After almost three years of brutal war, both combatants have taken heavy casualties in the fighting. According to all the available unclassified information, Russia has lost more than twice as many soldiers as Ukraine. However, given the two countries’ vast difference in size and population, Russia can deploy more men on the battlefield—and has a more robust strategic reserve than Ukraine.

The Casualties

An important consideration in any peace talks is the casualties both sides have sustained in almost three years of fighting.

According to the latest available data, the Russian military, paramilitary units, and pro-Russian separatist forces have suffered approximately 863,000 casualties killed and wounded. In addition, the Russian forces have lost tens of thousands of heavy weapon systems, including main battle tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery pieces, infantry fighting vehicles, unmanned aerial systems, tactical vehicles, and aircraft. These data are based on daily estimates released by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, leading to suggestions of bias, but Western intelligence services and militaries have regularly corroborated the data.

'He's a real general': How Trump chose Dan Caine to be top US military officer

Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart

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Dan Caine may not have been on Washington's radar before Friday night. But President Donald Trump's fascination with the retired three-star general, his surprise pick to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appears to go back to their first meeting in Iraq in 2018.

Caine, then the deputy commander of a special operations task force fighting Islamic State, told the president that the militant group could be destroyed in just a week, Trump recalled during a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2019.

Since then, he has retold the story about how he met "Razin" Caine multiple times - and the praise has only grown more effusive.

"He's a real general, not a television general," Trump said in Miami on Wednesday, two days before his Truth Social post catapulted Caine from retirement to a nomination to be the most senior active-duty officer in the U.S. military.

If approved by the Senate, Caine will take over a military that is undergoing change in the first 30 days of the Trump administration and will inherit a Joint Staff rattled by Trump's surprise firing of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown.

Joint Chiefs Chair CQ Brown, CNO Franchetti Relieved, VCNO Kilby to Lead in Interim

Heather Mongilio and Sam LaGrone

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Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti were removed from their positions late Friday.

The Trump administration announced the reliefs in a series of messages on social media and a press statement from the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Two defense officials also confirmed their removals to USNI News.

In a post on the social media network Truth Social, President Donald Trump thanked Brown for his service and announced he would nominate Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine to lead the Pentagon.

“I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.

“I am nominating Air Force Lieutenant General Dan ‘Razin’ Caine to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a ‘warfighter’ with significant interagency and special operations experience.”

A Russian View of the Ukraine Peace Talks

Ekaterina Zolotova

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The reports surrounding the Ukraine peace talks in Saudi Arabia held between the United States and Russia – but not Ukraine – suggest a reconciliation is underway. On Feb. 19, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia and the U.S. have “started to move away from the brink of collapse” and that their bilateral relations now have a “positive atmosphere.” He praised U.S. President Donald Trump for being the first Western leader to understand Moscow’s position on Ukraine and NATO. Later, Washington condemned the use of the word “aggressor” in a G7 communique to describe Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Yet the road to true U.S.-Russia reconciliation, let alone to a lasting peace in Ukraine, is still a long way off. Commenting on the Saudi summit, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov seemed to agree, saying that despite this first step in restoring relations, the meeting alone fails to guarantee a positive outcome.

This is partly a reflection of how Russia views the context in which the talks are taking place. Traditionally, Russia’s concept of the West was more about Europe – even the parts that often go overlooked by most Americans – than it was about the United States. Their relationship was often adversarial. But after the Soviet Union fell and the European Union emerged, Europe began to see the places vacated by the Soviets as opportunities for growth, and thus they became a more immediate military threat – or so the thinking in Moscow goes. Russian strategy, then, was oriented to the west of its borders. The U.S. embroilment in this strategy is due to its alliance with Europe. The war in Ukraine stems from this long-term standoff: Russia could not live side by side with the growing anti-Russian government in Ukraine, and it could not tolerate EU and U.S. support of Kyiv in the war.

Donald Trump fires top US military officer in Pentagon shake-up

Felicia Schwartz

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Donald Trump fired General CQ Brown as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday, ousting the respected Air Force leader as the president seeks to remove military officers who have supported diversity, equity and inclusion policies. 

Brown was the most senior of six officials removed in a shake-up of the Pentagon’s top ranks that also saw chief of naval operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti and Air Force vice-chief of staff General James Slife fired along with the top lawyers for the Army, Navy and Air Force. 

Trump said he would nominate retired Air Force Lt Gen Dan “Razin” Caine to replace Brown, who was the second Black general to serve as the military’s top officer and had begun his four-year term in October 2023. 

The president has vowed to rid the military of what he derides as “woke” DEI programmes. The overhaul of the military’s top ranks came as the Pentagon is braced for budget cuts as part of the administration’s sweeping cost-cutting drive.

Did Trump just crown Saudi with leadership of Gaza ‘day after’ plan?

Steven Simon & Adam Weinstein

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A month into the fragile ceasefire, Gazans are experiencing a brief respite from violence and the continuing release of Israeli hostages and imprisoned Palestinians. But debate over the future of Gaza reflects the agendas of states with a stake in the ongoing crisis — rather than the grim day-to-day reality Gazans face on the ground.

Once the ceasefire got underway, Gaza faded from the headlines — until Trump reignited the debate when he declared that the U.S. would occupy Gaza, relocate its residents, and transform it into a “Riviera of the Middle East.”

“We’re going to take it,” he proclaimed just last week. “We’re going to hold it.”

This is an outcome not even the Israeli government believed it could achieve. Although early in the war, it had broached the idea that Egypt and Jordan could accept some Gazan refugees, the government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had settled on a policy of internal displacement for the Palestinians, moving large sectors of the population within the enclave to facilitate the IDF’s mapping and destruction of tunnels and to carry out attacks on remaining Hamas fighters.

We Need Fair Accountability in the Israel-Hamas War

Aviv Nathanael Phipps

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As the world holds its breath to see if the Israel-Hamas ceasefire will stick, some are using the possible end of the war that has devastated a civilian population to boost their social media profile.

One activist claimed on X he “survived the Israeli #genocide” and posed in front of a ruined building with a fresh haircut, a coffee, and fashionable Western clothes.

Photo ops like this give the lie to careless assertions of a "genocide" in Gaza. Gazans have suffered greatly, but polarizing arguments make analyzing the realities of war more complicated.

Rather than demonizing Israel through morally freighted language, survivors on both sides would do better to consider how to lower the death toll in future clashes. Ultimately, we need a fair and rational military inquiry that scrutinizes the Israeli government’s mistakes and holds Hamas accountable for its crimes against Israelis and Palestinians.

Ecuador’s Next President Will Face Debt, Drought, and Gangs

Will Freeman

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Ecuador is one of South America’s smaller nations, but it faces daunting challenges. In just a few years, it has gone from being one of mainland Latin America’s most peaceful countries to its most violent, overrun by cocaine-trafficking gangs. Ecuador also faces an energy crisis, as climate change-fueled droughts test its hydroelectric-dependent energy grid and cause blackouts, anemic growth, and rising debt. The president that Ecuadoreans choose in an April 13 runoff vote—which will pit incumbent Daniel Noboa against opposition candidate Luisa González—needs to put the country on a new course or watch each of these crises deepen.

What are the main takeaways from the first round of the presidential vote?

Given the circumstances, the result is a strong showing for Noboa, who leads the ruling National Democratic Action (ADN) party. Despite January being one of the most violent months on record, dim economic growth prospects, and last year’s nationwide blackouts caused by an energy crisis, Noboa hasn’t lost popularity as quickly as other recent Ecuadorean presidents. This could be for a few reasons: his effective digital campaign ad strategy, his image as a young politician—Noboa is thirty-seven years old, which has distanced him from the political polarization that roiled Ecuador in the 2000s and 2010s—and the modest initial results of his anti-crime policies. Many Noboa voters also appear to be patient and willing to give him more time given that he took office after 2023 snap elections, which were triggered by then President Guillermo Lasso’s dissolution of the legislature, and has only served for a short sixteen months.

The Art of a Ukraine Deal

Michael Froman

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Monday will mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In the face of heroic Ukrainian resistance and hundreds of billions of dollars in Western aid, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation,” initially envisioned as a fait accompli, has devolved into a grinding war of attrition.

U.S. President Donald Trump is determined to bring a swift end to the conflict, and earlier this week, his and Putin’s envoys met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for four-and-a-half hours of negotiations. Ukrainian and European diplomats were notably excluded.

Trump has long believed that our European allies and Ukraine are freeloaders that have exploited the largess of his predecessors and entangled the United States in another ill-advised war of choice. He wants the Europeans to underwrite their own security, not to mention Ukraine’s. In order for Europe and Ukraine to earn seats at the table, he has suggested, they will have to pay up, with Europe agreeing to spend more on defense and Ukraine having to pay back the American aid it previously received. This sent shockwaves through the region last week.

Trump and His Three Musketeers: A New U.S.-Russia Approach to Ukraine

Ahmed Charai

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What sets Trump apart is his willingness to take big risks in pursuit of big wins.

President Donald J. Trump’s most consistently repeated geopolitical promise was to end the Russia-Ukraine war. While this goal is popular among American voters, peace alone will not satisfy them. The real question is: How does that peace make Americans feel about themselves? Trump’s legacy hangs on the answer.

This is a high-wire act that could lead to either a traumatic fall or a crowd-pleasing triumph. It could resemble Richard Nixon’s withdrawal from Vietnam or Joe Biden’s pullout from Afghanistan—a stinging defeat that diminishes America while emboldening its foes. In both cases, Americans felt worse about themselves, even though the fighting had stopped.

Now consider Ronald Reagan’s disengagement from Nicaragua or George H.W. Bush’s departure from Iraq in 1991—both ended conflicts while leaving local leaders in charge, claiming they would seek peace and prosperity. The first two outcomes tarnished promising presidential legacies, while the latter two became mildly positive historical footnotes.

How does Trump avoid a Nixon-Biden verdict and secure a Reagan-Bush judgment?

That depends on Trump and his three musketeers: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Like the chevaliers of old, they carry out the king’s will and require both courage and cunning.

Europe's Moment of Truth

Lawrence Freedman

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This substack has been going for just over three years. Weeks after we started posting Russia invaded Ukraine, and while I have written about many other topics since then, Ukraine has been my dominant concern.

This is both because this is one of the defining issues of our time, at least for a European, and also because after a long career studying a variety of wars I ought to be able to contribute to discussions on the state of this particular war and how it might conclude.

My approach to this task, which developed over time, is based on the following principles:

• Rely on trustworthy sources and don’t try to push the analysis beyond which they can support.
• Always pay attention to what the key actors are saying for this is the best guide to their priorities and concerns, if not necessarily to the truth.
• Conflicts develop in stages, each one shaping the one to come. This is why it is best to avoid firm predictions, especially about stages well beyond the current one, as these will depend on choices that have yet to be made and factors that cannot be anticipated in advance.
• While avoiding getting drawn into highly speculative scenarios, many stages away, do explore possibilities - developments that are conceivable given what is known about the current state of affairs - even if they are unlikely to transpire. So long as they are not confused with predictions, the analysis can still illuminate key factors influencing the course of the war.

Trump’s Ukraine Gambit: A Victory for Russia, A Disaster for Europe

Fabian Hoffmann

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Yesterday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on social media that he had a “highly productive” call with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the war in Ukraine. From a European perspective, Trump's framing—flattering Putin while speaking over the heads of Ukrainians—reads like a worst-case scenario.

Early hopes that Trump might actually increase pressure on Russia now seem greatly misplaced. More than ever, the American president appears determined to settle the war as quickly as possible, even if it means overriding Ukraine’s interests and those of America’s European allies.

While Trump sees a “deal” to resolve a geopolitical nuisance and score political points at home, Europeans—and, most importantly, Ukrainians—face an outcome that may shape their security environment for years and decades to come, with potentially disastrous consequences for the continent.

The problem with the American peace plan, as it stands—allowing Russia to retain captured territory since February 2022 while gradually lifting sanctions—is that it pressures Ukraine into a settlement that preserves much of Russia’s power and rewards its imperial ambitions, all while the U.S. pulls back from the European continent. Under these conditions, a follow-on war in Ukraine within the next five years, whether to seize more territory or to assert political control over Kyiv, seems almost inevitable.

Much ado about nothing

Thomas PM Barnett

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One cannot conjure up self-importance anymore than one can delete the importance of others.

True in interpersonal relations; true in international relations

Last week Vice President JD Vance spooked Europe with a lecture on mass migrations and needing to be more open to far-right political influences — a fairly obvious attempt to school allies on the MAGA agenda (in effect, arguing, Come on in! The water’s fine!). Naturally, that sort of self-regard went over like a lead balloon. Just because the US is retreating from globalization doesn’t mean Europe has to follow. Anyway, the real message was that America is abandoning Ukraine as soon as possible, so be prepared Europe!

With that sort of messaging, Europe naturally freaks out, the Russians are delighted, and US media and experts celebrate or decry the “deathknell” of the Transatlantic bond.

It kind of amazes me that whenever Trump 2.0 makes some sort of pivoting announcement, like Vance did by saying US security concerns for the next several decades were going to be China-centric versus Euro-Russia-centric, everybody treats it like a done deal that supersedes all past, present, and future realities.

It does nothing of the sort. It is pure assertion fueled by aspiration.

Microsoft’s New Quantum Computer, Summed Up In 3 Words

Brandon J. Weichert

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By creating a new state of matter, Microsoft’s engineers have ensured their quantum computer is truly one-of-a-kind.

Everyone is fixated on the race for artificial intelligence dominance. Few, however, are taking the quest for quantum supremacy seriously. They should not lose sight of this—especially because Microsoft has just made what they claim to be a significant breakthrough in the mission to be the leader of the quantum computing revolution.

Microsoft’s “Majorana 1” Quantum Chip

It’s called “Majorana 1,” and Microsoft says it is the world’s first Quantum Processing Unit (QPU) powered by what’s known as a topological core, which is designed to scale to a million qubits on a single chip. And the chip in question—what Microsoft calls a “topoconductor,” short for topological conductor—can fit into the palm of your hand.

The “Majorana 1” device gets its name from “Majorana Zero Modes” (MZMs). An MZM is a unique quantum particle that exists at the edges of certain materials (such as what the Majorana 1 is made of). They must exist in a state of absolute zero to operate. What’s more, they allow for rapid processing of highly complex problems at a very low error rate.

Warfare at the Speed of Thought: Balancing AI and Critical Thinking for the Military Leaders of Tomorrow

Amanda Collazzo

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The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence is transforming how individuals acquire, process, and apply knowledge, enabling faster decision-making and policy development. AI-driven technologies enhance personalized learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving, particularly within strategic decision-making; however, it is crucial to address concerns of overreliance, overuse, diminished critical thinking skills, and ethical implications. AI should be the sidekick, not the superhero—sharp minds lead machines, not follow them. By evaluating the impact of generative AI on learning, we can identify both the advantages and challenges that technological advancements present for our future military leaders. We must define the balance between independent thought, creativity, and the integration of AI to help shape AI’s long-term role in developing leaders and enhancing decision-making for effective military operations.

Mortimer Adler once said that learning is “an interior transformation of a person’s mind and character, a transformation which can be effected only through his own activity.” This understanding emphasizes the idea that genuine learning is not a passive process—it requires deep engagement, critical thinking, and personal effort. In an era increasingly dominated by AI and digital tools, there is a growing concern that learners may become overly reliant on technology and decrease their intellectual capacity. When an individual’s cognitive engagement is primarily directed toward navigating a computer program—whether an AI-driven tutor, an adaptive learning platform, or a search engine—it is easy to mistake memorization for true understanding. The rapid availability of answers at one’s fingertips may create an illusion of proficiency when, in reality, the knowledge has not been fully internalized or critically understood.