National Security

“The 51st Star We Never Voted On: How Israel Became America’s Problem Child”

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Let’s dispense with the polite fiction. The United States has 50 states on paper and one premium subscription state overseas that gets all the benefits with none of the awkward obligations like paying federal taxes or pretending to listen to Washington. Welcome to Israel, America’s unofficial 51st state — the only one close enough to lecture Congress but far enough away that we pretend it’s “just an ally.”

Promises, Pivots, and Surveillance: How Trump Went From FISA Foe to FISA Friend

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Campaign Trump told voters the surveillance state was dangerous and abused. Governing Trump is preserving the surveillance state with adjustments. Campaign Trump framed FISA as existential corruption. Governing Trump treats it as infrastructure in need of maintenance.

Since 1942, the United States Has Been Going to War Illegally — and Everyone Pretends That’s Fine

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Enter the War Powers Resolution — Congress’s attempt to look relevant after Vietnam without actually reclaiming its authority. The War Powers Resolution is often defended as a guardrail. In reality, it’s a constitutional fig leaf stapled to a surrender note.

Starmer wants to kneecap our Department of War; Giving Diego Garcia to a nation 1,300 miles away is not how an ally treats us.

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500 years ago—514 to be exact—Pedro Mascarenhas, a Portuguese explorer looking for a better route to India and China, encountered a long and narrow uninhabited island in the Indian Ocean. He named it Dom Garcia in honor of the man who financed the exploration. That was in 1512. The island was re-discovered in 1544 by …

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Small Nukes, Big Idea: Why SMRs Are the Future Catching Up With the Past

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SMR stands for Small Modular Reactor. The concept is simple: instead of building massive, one-off nuclear cathedrals that take fifteen years, billions of dollars, and three generations of lawyers, you build smaller reactors that are standardized, factory-produced, shipped in modules, and deployed where power is actually needed. They’re designed to be safer, faster to build, easier to scale, and—most importantly—repeatable.

The Ironic Curtain; Europeans who lived under communism hate it. Those spared pursue it.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s speech at the Munich Security Conference shook up the European leadership by reminding them of the dangers of communism. He did this because his grandpa, Pedro Víctor García, a refugee from Castro’s Cuba, taught him well about the dangers of communism.

The Battlefield Moved, Humans Didn’t: Why a 1930s Historian Still Understands Modern War Better Than We Do

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Nearly a hundred years ago, Sir Herbert Butterfield sat down and committed the unforgivable sin of telling historians, strategists, and polite academics something they still hate hearing today: war is not a clean system. It is not a spreadsheet problem. It is not solved by better charts, prettier maps, or a PowerPoint deck with the right color palette. War—every war—boils down to frightened human beings trying to reconcile self-preservation, honor, faith, and meaning while other frightened human beings try to kill them.

Four Fires, One Ally With a Hose: Why NATO Has to Grow Up So America Can Survive

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At the Munich Security Conference, Secretary of State Marco Rubio did something unusual in modern diplomacy: he told the truth politely. He reaffirmed America’s commitment to Europe, praised NATO, spoke warmly about shared history and civilization—and then, in effect, slid a note across the table that read: You’re going to have to handle more of your own business.

The Day the Fighting Cocks Died: How West Point Traded the Warrior Ethos for Political Safety

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That was 1967. Vietnam was raging. Cadets were not being groomed for cable news panels or Senate confirmation hearings. They were being prepared for jungles, rice paddies, ambushes, and body counts. Humor, especially gallows humor, wasn’t a problem to be solved—it was a survival mechanism. The name “Fighting Cocks” wasn’t vulgar to them; it was irreverent, aggressive, and just juvenile enough to signal that these were young men who understood they were not being trained for polite society. They were being trained for war.

From Scorched Earth to Empty Shelves: How Some Wars Are Fought Without Firing a Shot

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Future wars won’t thunder across borders on tanks or scream overhead in fighter jets. That’s old-fashioned, noisy, and—worst of all—obvious. The next wars will arrive quietly, wearing lab coats, carrying clipboards, and insisting it’s “just a naturally occurring disruption.” No explosions. No declarations. Just empty shelves, euthanized livestock, and a government spokesperson calmly reminding you that there is no evidence of foul play at this time.

Penguins, Treaties, and Radar Dishes: The Quiet Militarization of Antarctica

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There’s a comforting little bedtime story we tell ourselves about Antarctica. Nobody owns it. Nobody fights over it. Scientists in parkas share data and hot cocoa while penguins waddle around like tiny tuxedo diplomats. It’s the one place on Earth where humanity supposedly agreed to stop acting like humanity.

Civil Defense Starts at the Range: The Forgotten Skill of a Free People

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There’s a certain kind of battlefield respect that doesn’t need a movie trailer, a podcast, or a camouflage beard oil sponsor. It’s quiet. It’s ancient. It’s earned. And it belongs to the rifle marksman—the one who can hit what needs to be hit, when it needs to be hit, without turning the entire valley into a fireworks show.