Recent Posts
Blog•Feb 19, 2026
A Worrying Military Build-Up in the Western Balkans?
In this episode Blerim Vela examines the accelerating military modernisation across the Western Balkans, highlighting Serbia’s post‑2015 procurement surge and its ripple effects on neighbours. He explains how NATO members such as Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia are upgrading forces to meet alliance standards while non‑NATO states like Kosovo and Bosnia‑Herzegovina pursue defensive capabilities amid a growing security dilemma. Vela underscores the legacy of 1990s conflicts, Serbia’s multi‑vector strategy, and the risk that defensive moves can be misread, potentially destabilising the region.
By War on the Rocks
Blog•Feb 18, 2026
Lessons From Past Israeli-Palestinian Talks for Trump’s Negotiators
The episode examines how lessons from historic Israeli‑Palestinian negotiations can inform President Trump’s ongoing cease‑fire talks following his October 2025 20‑point plan. Former State Department negotiator Aaron David Miller stresses that Trump’s personal, high‑level pressure on Netanyahu was crucial to Phase One’s...
By War on the Rocks
Blog•Feb 18, 2026
How Are Iran’s Proxies Doing Amidst a Weakened Regime?
In this episode Farzin Zandi revisits his 2025 analysis of Iran’s gray‑zone strategy, assessing how the regime’s weakened state after the 12‑day war has eroded the morale, funding, and deterrence of its proxy network. He explains that proxy financing remains...
By War on the Rocks
Blog•Feb 18, 2026
China Now Finds Itself in Al-Qaeda’s Crosshairs
In this episode Colin Clarke and Lucas Webber examine al‑Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s recent propaganda that explicitly threatens China over its treatment of Uyghur Muslims, marking a shift from peripheral to central antagonism. They trace the evolution of jihadist...
By War on the Rocks
Blog•Feb 17, 2026
The Greatest Threat to Acquisition Transformation Is Fear
In this episode, Bonnie Evangelista argues that the biggest obstacle to transforming the Department of Defense’s acquisition system is not policy or oversight but an entrenched culture of fear that rewards compliance and penalizes risk. She illustrates how this fear‑based incentive...
By War on the Rocks
Blog•Feb 17, 2026
Recalibrating U.S. Intelligence Strategy for an Uncertain Global Order
In this episode Alexander Bick and Philip Potter argue that U.S. intelligence must adapt to a more contested global order by (1) treating leaders' public statements as credible indicators of intent, (2) systematically mapping elite and non‑state ecosystems, (3) emphasizing...
By War on the Rocks
Blog•Feb 12, 2026
Will These Four Defense Innovation Reforms Improve Industry’s Lot?
In this episode Madeline Field examines four 2026 Pentagon reforms—a defense‑innovation memo, an AI memo, an executive order on industry standards, and a pilot commercial‑license program—assessing how they reshape the innovation ecosystem and procurement. While the memos aim to streamline...
By War on the Rocks
Blog•Feb 12, 2026
Gilded Capability: Overinvestment and the Survivability Paradox
The episode examines how overinvestment in elite capabilities—whether elite pilots in WWII Japan or modern high‑cost platforms—creates a survivability paradox that undermines long‑term combat effectiveness. By concentrating resources on a few "gilded" assets, militaries must boost survivability, driving up costs,...
By War on the Rocks
Blog•Feb 11, 2026
Pauses Without Peace: What Last Year’s Ceasefires Reveal About Global Conflict Management
In this episode Gopi Krishna Bhamidipati examines how the Trump administration’s diplomatic interventions in 2025‑2026 produced ceasefires across Gaza, the Israel‑Iran clash, India‑Pakistan tensions, the Thailand‑Cambodia border dispute, and Ukraine‑Russia, but stopped short of achieving lasting political settlements. The host...
By War on the Rocks
Blog•Feb 11, 2026
Sweet Nothings: Rutte’s Trump-Whispering Is Counterproductive
In this episode Leonard A. Schütte critiques NATO Secretary‑General Mark Rutte’s overt flattery of President Donald Trump, arguing that while it has temporarily eased tensions—such as the Greenland dispute—it ultimately undermines NATO’s needed Europeanization. He contrasts Rutte’s approach with that...
By War on the Rocks
Blog•Feb 10, 2026
Does Guaranteeing Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge Still Serve U.S. Interests?
In this episode Rob Geist Pinfold examines whether the United States should continue guaranteeing Israel’s qualitative military edge (QME) amid shifting regional dynamics and Netanyahu’s surprising call to cut U.S. aid. He traces the historical evolution of U.S. military assistance—from Cold‑War...
By War on the Rocks
Blog•Feb 10, 2026
Biodefense Blind Spot: Why Washington Confuses Pandemics with Bioweapons
In this episode Junaid Nabi explains how the convergence of generative AI and synthetic biology is creating a new class of biological threats that evade traditional pandemic‑focused defenses. Recent AI models such as Evo 2, Claude Opus 4, and OpenAI’s o3 can design...
By War on the Rocks
Blog•Feb 9, 2026
Deterrence Won’t Fail in the Taiwan Strait — It Will Be Bypassed
In this episode J. William DeMarco argues that recent Chinese military activities around Taiwan are less about rehearsing an invasion and more about a strategy of paralysis—using encirclement, law‑enforcement vessels, and limited rocket fire to create economic and political pressure...
By War on the Rocks