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July 02, 2026
 

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James Stavridis
A Cyber Force would centralize military cybersecurity, building a cadre of elite tech warriors akin to the Green Berets in cyber space.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 14, 2026
The Pentagon needs to create the green berets of tech
America’s current cyber defenses are a patchwork of governmental and private-sector efforts.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned withdrawal of 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany could undermine NATO cohesion and diminish U.S. influence in Europe and Asia.
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2026
Trump’s troop drawdown in Germany is a warning shot
The withdrawal of U.S. forces from Germany sparks strategic questions for Europe and Asia.
A couple views a vandalized poster of outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest on April 13, one day after Hungary's general elections.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2026
Hungary’s shift unlocks new opportunities for NATO and Ukraine
Ukraine. By the time of his rejection by the electorate, he was widely regarded as Putin’s top ally in Europe and a Trojan horse inside the alliance.
NATO allies, including Britain, have backed the U.S. for decades and, while unlikely to join in the fight against Iran, would likely help secure the Strait of Hormuz if diplomacy fails.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2026
European allies should clear the Strait of Hormuz
Today, many in Europe recognize the threat of Iran, but were not willing to launch a sudden offensive operation against it without due consultation and giving diplomacy a chance.
Hamas conducts a public hostage handover ceremony in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, in February.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 23, 2025
The Gaza peace plan will fail without American troops
Trump has been clear that he is not enthusiastic about overseas troop deployments in general — and the use of U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza may be a bridge too far.
The tanker Boracay, part of Russia's "shadow fleet" suspected of involvement in drone flights over Denmark, is escorted by a French naval vessel on Oct. 1 off the coast of Saint-Nazaire, France.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2025
Putin is taking his hybrid warfare to the sea
Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to contest the Baltic, make no mistake.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump at their summit meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, last Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2025
Ten ways to force Putin back to the bargaining table
Clearly, it’s going to take “severe measures,” to use Trump’s own words, to get Moscow not just to sit at the bargaining table but stay for dinner.
A tense exchange of nuclear threats between U.S. President Donald Trump and Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and prime minister, underscores the danger that reckless rhetoric could spark a war.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 6, 2025
Moving nuclear subs isn’t something you announce on social media
A tense exchange of nuclear threats between U.S. President Trump and Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and prime minister, highlights the dangers of reckless rhetoric.
U.S. soldiers man a checkpoint on a road outside Tikrit, Iraq, in November 2003. Airstrikes alone won’t truly eliminate Iran’s nuclear program — only a costly ground invasion like the one that took down Saddam Hussein could do that.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2025
What will it take to end Iran’s nuke program? An army.
Trump’s claim that the U.S. “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program was widely disputed, with current estimates saying it was severely damaged and set back by 12 to 24 months.
A B-2 stealth bomber drops a dummy bomb during a drill. As diplomacy falters, military options against Iran are gaining traction. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 8, 2025
Could U.S. and Israel destroy Iran’s nuke program? Yep, here’s how.
Having lost control of its decimated proxies — Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis — Iran has few moves left on the chessboard.
German and U.S. soldiers participate in Allied Spirit 24, a multinational training exercise, in Hohenfels, Germany, in March 2024. Reforger, NATO’s massive Cold War-era exercise to rush U.S. troops to Europe, was shelved after the Soviet collapse. But with Vladimir Putin attacking neighbors, maybe it’s time to revive it.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 28, 2025
How can Europe deter Putin? Revive the ‘Reforger.’
The massive Cold War military exercise put a stop to Soviet aggression then, and it could do the same with Russia now.
A protest called "America, wake up" is held in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv on March 8, days after U.S. President Donald Trump paused American military and intelligence support for Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 14, 2025
Ukraine needs U.S. weapons — but it needs intelligence more
The problem is that, on issue after issue, Trump changes course on a whim.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. by his side, speaks with the media during his first official arrival at the Pentagon to take his new post on Jan. 27.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 28, 2025
Firing top generals makes the U.S. less secure
How should we think about this rare purge at the very top of the uniformed military? Is it unprecedented?
A makeshift memorial for Ukrainian soldiers who died fighting invading Russian forces and the Monument to Independence in Kyiv on Feb. 14
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2025
Ukraine can survive with the ‘least worst’ peace deal
Clearly the main issue and unfortunately it looks like Trump’s idea of ending the war fast means doing very little for the people who were actually invaded.
Houthi supporters hold a rally in Sanaa, Yemen, on Friday. A coordinated international military effort is needed to exploit Iran's weakened influence and neutralize the Houthi threat in Yemen.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2024
The next Iranian proxy to target is the Houthis
A coordinated international military effort is needed to neutralize the Houthi threat in Yemen, which disrupts global shipping and exploits Iran’s weakened influence.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an official welcoming ceremony with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on June 19. Some 10,000 Korean soldiers are headed to the battlefields of Ukraine to assist Russia in its illegal invasion.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 1, 2024
North Korea troop deal exposes Putin’s weakness
Many North Korean soldiers will die and some will desert despite the consequences, but their military impact will likely be insignificant.
An Israeli aerial assault on Iran’s nuclear sites and other targets would be a very complex operation, involving dozens of F-15s, in-flight refueling and the targeting of numerous known and undisclosed facilities.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 6, 2024
An Israel-Iran war could turn into a deadly nightmare
Israel is fully justified in wanting to hit back at Iran. Yet hating your enemies too much can cloud your judgment.
A German Navy frigate takes part in the BALTOPS 22 exercise in Baltic Sea in June 2022. Russia will push back against NATO's Baltic drills, although the correlation of forces at sea is now weighted heavily against it. 
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2024
Putin’s next target may be the ‘NATO lake’
Some say the argument that Putin would invade the Baltic states is overblown; but just three years ago, no one believed he would invade Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin knows that if NATO member states are dragged back into policing a restive Balkans, they will be distracted from their focus on supporting Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2024
Putin’s new front in the Ukraine war is in the Balkans
The Russian leader is pushing propaganda and religious strife in Kosovo and Bosnia to distract NATO from his illegal invasion.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have conducted an escalating series of attacks against merchant shipping in the region using drones, ballistic missiles and commandos on helicopters and speedboats. 
COMMENTARY
Dec 20, 2023
U.S.-led naval force might not end Houthi ship attacks
U.S. Navy commands Operation Prosperity Guardian, a global coalition formed to counter the Iranian-backed Houthis.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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