Geopolitics & Defense
Geopolitics, conflicts and defense: Ukraine and Russia, the Middle East, China and Taiwan, NATO, military industry, sanctions, trade and energy security.
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This reading list brings together items from the sources selected for Geopolitics & Defense. Open each item at its original source for the complete article, episode or video. This is a selection of current coverage, not a complete archive.
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‘Addicted to the Guard’: Generals call for ‘traffic cop’ to control state governor’s demands
One National Guard leader proposed a new "traffic cop" to filter state and federal activation and employment requests as the Guard faces increasing demand.
Après Trump
Three hundred thousand tons of diesel (tons, not barrels) is what Trump says he extracted from Putin. The deal is easy to mock, but it’s worth understanding why it happened. Diesel is at record highs, and every European leader publicly condemning the move is privately relieved somebody finally told Zelenskyy to stop hitting Russian refineries. What the 5D-chess crowd misses is simpler: Ukraine and Iran are now the same war, because diesel trades globally and two kinetic conflicts are squeezing the same supply.
Disrupt, Strike, Assault and Endure: The 4 pillars of the US Army’s new warfare guidance
“How The Army Fights” is a new 46-page U.S. Army-issued guide on how the service should fight — and survive — on the modern battlefield.
NORTHCOM’s Joint Task Force-Gold to coordinate cyber warfare for Golden Dome
Col. Kevin “Stoney” Stonerook, deputy commander of US Northern Command’s Joint Task Force-Gold (JTF-Gold), said the unit’s roles and responsibilities are still being ironed out.
How Ukraine Can Counter Russia’s Newest Jet-Powered Geran Drones
Ukraine is staring down a new enemy in the skies: the jet-powered Geran-5 drone. It is a constant threat to the city of Kyiv, keeping its citizens awake all hours of the night and still threatening them into the next day. Right now, Ukraine only has partial solutions to the problem. But there are a few innovative designs in the pipeline that suggest that help is on the way. Today, we look at how Ukraine might solve its jet-powered drone problem. 0:00 Ukraine's New Concern 1:16 The Evolution of Shahed Drones 5:07 Existing Interception Strategies for Jet-Powered Geran-5 Drones 9:14 Better Interception Strategies for Jet-Powered Geran-5 Drones The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), EU, and NATO visual information does not imply or constitute an endorsement. Media licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): By Kremlin.ru: http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/57436 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67843 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/71496 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/73200 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76446 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/78301 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/78515 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/78622 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/78870 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/79708 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/80017 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/80222 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/80346 By Khamenei.ir: https://farsi.khamenei.ir/photo-album?id=39135 https://farsi.khamenei.ir/photo-album?id=50658 https://farsi.khamenei.ir/photo-album?id=54790 Media licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/): By National Police of Ukraine: https://vn.npu.gov.ua/news/nebezpechnyi-vrozhai-2024-politseiski-vybukhotekhniky-obstezhyly-mistsia-padinnia-4-vorozhykh-bezpilotnykiv By Fars News: https://www.farsnews.com/photo/13930221001447/comments/ads.php https://www.farsnews.ir/photo/1402070
European officials weigh mix of high-tech drones and heavy armor
European leaders are figuring out the right mix between unmanned systems and heavy armor to secure NATO's eastern flank.
High Altitude Balloons Are A “Game-Changing” Capability: Army Space Command Boss
The Army recently disclosed it rushed high-altitude balloons to support operations in the Middle East.
Missiles, drones and air-defense weapons galore: Images from AUSA’s final day
Industry hopes to catch the eye of Army acquisition officials with an array of artillery, drones, trucks and more as AUSA 2025 gets underway.
The Paradox of Victory: When Winning in Ukraine Raises the Nuclear Stakes
In 2022, Jeremy Shapiro warned in “We Are on a Path to Nuclear War” that the war between Russia and Ukraine was heading toward nuclear escalation. Four years into the war, we asked him to revisit that argument.Image: Vyacheslav Argenberg via Wikimedia CommonsIn your original piece, you named nuclear escalation as “the path that we are currently on.” Instead, the past few years have brought several rounds of stalled negotiations and, more recently, a near-frozen front line.
‘You’re a coward’: Protesters heckle Hegseth during AUSA panel
Protesters derailed a Washington, D.C., panel featuring U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, calling him a “war criminal” and a “Nazi.”
F-35C Makes First Arrested Landing Aboard A Ford Class Carrier
The landing on the future USS John F. Kennedy marks a key step in integrating the F-35C with the Ford class after years of delays and technical challenges. The landing marks a key step in integrating the F-35C with the Ford class after years of delays and technical challenges.
US Army generals propose larger-footprint, more frequent military exercises in Korea
A month after President Donald Trump intervened to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea, citing a desire not to upset his “very good relationship” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, the commander of Army forces on the peninsula said he’d like to go bigger – both in exercise frequency and geographic scope.
Oshkosh adapts JLTV for Dutch military patrol vehicle
Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Defense has begun production of the first prototype of the Dutch Expeditionary Patrol Vehicle, or DXPV. According to the company, the new vehicle, also called the “Kaaiman,” was derived from the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, or JLTV, and adapted for the Netherlands Ministry of Defence. At the 2026 AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition, Pat Williams, the company’s chief program officer, described the “production” as “an important step in delivering next-generation capability to the Netherlands.”
Hegseth uses AUSA spotlight to highlight autonomy, ‘generational’ defense investment
Senior officials also revealed that the Defense Autonomous Working Group has been absorbed into a new Task Force Autonomous Warfare, which sits inside the Special Operations Command.
Sikorsky’s Nomad 100 VTOL Drone Is Now Quad-Packed In A Container For Rapid Deployment
The Fast Pack gets a quartet of autonomous fixed-wing aircraft into action as quickly as possible from remote locales with no infrastructure. The Fast Pack gets a quartet of autonomous fixed-wing aircraft into action as quickly as possible from remote locales with no infrastructure.
Forterra partners with Hypercraft on autonomous vehicle for high-risk missions
Defense companies Forterra and Hypercraft have collaborated to produce a contested-environment-ready autonomous vehicle, which they showed off for the first time at the Association of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C.
Indonesia screwed up... badly
Time to pay our debts, for having years of oxygen. Time to smoke some haze. Indonesia cuts oxygen to Singapore and Malaysia 00:00 – When the Sky Turns Orange 01:17 – The Singapore F1 Miracle & Marina Bay Disappears 02:22 – Blind Riding: Zero Visibility on the Ground 02:56 – Satellite Images Reveal the Hidden Hotspots (Kalimantan & Papua) 04:45 – The Calculated Gamble That Backfired Completely 05:54 – Proof It Wasn't "Natural" 06:48 – Shifting Winds: From the Philippines to Malaysia & Singapore 08:32 – How Timing Exposes the "Man-Made" Firestorm 09:27 – The Monsoon Shift: Entering School Closure Territory 10:42 – The Most Outrageous Government Defense: "We Send Oxygen" 12:20 – NASA Fire Maps Tracking Real-Time Chaos 13:28 – Where Did International Aid (Japan & Malaysia) Disappear To? 16:43 – The Legal Loophole & Prosecution Deadlock 18:12 – The Climate Paradox: Why the Rain Stopped Coming 20:19 – Weak Governance & Regional Fallout: What’s Next? 23:45 – Final Thoughts: The Cost of the Transboundary Haze Sources: - https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/2110334804973486136 - https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/2110368546190500007 - https://x.com/imbktan/status/2110259076349542658 - https://x.com/DoNotMindPlease/status/2108455114688417887 - https://x.com/Jateng_Twit/status/2109613336182845485 - https://x.com/daddyyuki/status/2109621226696220995 - https://x.com/calvinelcheng/status/2108517271509295175 - https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/ - https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/ --- X: https://x.com/defensepolitics Telegram: https://t.me/defensepoliticsasia Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/defensepolitics Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/defensepolitics/ Patreon (Free): https://patreon.com/defensepoliticsasia/ Discord: https://discord.gg/gc6DW6DpHk --- Support DPA's reporting and work financially (to circumvent Youtube's suppression): Patreon: https://patreon.com/defensepoliticsasia/ Locals: https://defensepoliticsasia.locals.com/ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/defensepoliticsa
Ukraine Is Suddenly Sending A Robot Army Against Russia | VisualPolitik EN
🔐 Learn about finance with us in a simple, free, and straight-to-the-point way: https://www.visualfaktory.com/free-gift/ Ukraine is already using ground drones, known as UGVs, on the front line. During Operation Vivaldi on the Lyman front, heavy bombers dropped kamikaze ground robots more than 10 kilometers behind Russian lines, and old Soviet armored personnel carriers packed with explosives helped Ukraine break through the Russian defenses at Nove and Katerynivka. But combat is only a small part of the story. Robots like the MAUL evacuate wounded soldiers, others clear and lay mines, and according to Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, ground robots carried out 25,143 logistics and evacuation missions in August, more than three times as many as in January. In places like Kostiantynivka, they have become the main way to keep the troops supplied. In this video we look at what these robots are really doing on the front, whether Ukraine is using them at scale or they are mostly propaganda, and whether they could break the stalemate and ease Ukraine's shortage of soldiers. Join the VisualPolitik community and support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/VisualPolitik
US Army taps 9 companies to build next-gen command and control software
The U.S. Army announced that it is awarding initial contracts to several defense technology companies to build applications for its new battlefield software.
‘Nobody’s losing pay’: Army Cyber Command head says new tech mastery program won’t affect troop wages
The head of the U.S. Army’s digital defense wing on Monday reassured soldiers in the field that a new initiative aimed at enhancing cyberspace proficiency wouldn’t affect their pay.
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