Benjamin Reed

About the author

Benjamin Reed is a U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq and later worked as a private security contractor in Afghanistan and Europe. In 2022, he deployed independently to Ukraine, where he served in multiple roles, including drone operator and infantryman. He is the author of War Tourist, a forthcoming memoir represented by Writers House.
Morning Brief: Minneapolis Command Shift, DHS Shutdown Risk, China’s Military Purge, Pentagon Updates Counter-Drone Guidance

Morning Brief: Minneapolis Command Shift, DHS Shutdown Risk, China’s Military Purge, Pentagon Updates Counter-Drone Guidance

Federal enforcement leadership changes in Minnesota, renewed shutdown risk tied to DHS funding, internal upheaval in China’s military command, and updated Pentagon guidance on counter-drone operations defined the morning’s security landscape. Developments span domestic law enforcement, congressional budgeting, foreign military leadership, and homeland defense as agencies and governments adjust posture under sustained pressure.

Morning Brief: Gaza Ceasefire, ICE Shooting, Ukraine Conflict Continues

Morning Brief: Gaza Ceasefire, ICE Shooting, Ukraine Conflict Continues

A ceasefire in Gaza remains tied to unresolved recovery efforts, a federal shooting in Minneapolis has escalated into a national political confrontation, and the war in Ukraine is settling into a long-term condition rather than a decisive phase. None of the three shows signs of rapid resolution. Together, they reflect a security environment defined less by escalation than by endurance, with governments managing pressure rather than bringing conflicts to clean conclusions.

Trump Is Wrong About NATO’s Role in Afghanistan

Trump Is Wrong About NATO’s Role in Afghanistan

For two decades, the war in Afghanistan was fought as a coalition effort. NATO allies deployed to combat zones, took casualties, and shared the risks of a war that ultimately ended in failure.

Greenland: Power Requires Restraint

Greenland: Power Requires Restraint

Greenland matters, but how the United States pursues its interests matters more. Power exercised without restraint weakens alliances and erodes leadership.

Russia Is Not a Moral Alternative

Russia Is Not a Moral Alternative

The idea that Russia offers a return to tradition has gained traction among Western conservatives. Social data on family stability, violence, and despair tells a more troubling story.

War Tourist Dispatches #3: Patagonia, Land of Fire

War Tourist Dispatches #3: Patagonia, Land of Fire

As Patagonia burns and Argentina reaches for an old, familiar villain, Israeli backpackers are being cast as arsonists on the strength of rumor, recycled myth, and the comforting lie that disaster always has a single foreign hand behind it.

The Fentanyl War We Pretended Wasn’t a War

The Fentanyl War We Pretended Wasn’t a War

Mexico did not flinch because it cared about Maduro, but because his capture proved the United States had stopped negotiating with old assumptions and started enforcing new ones.

The American Century and the Shape of Military Power Today

The American Century and the Shape of Military Power Today

American power looks weaker because it is no longer theatrical, but it is still shaping outcomes through pressure and alliances while rivals burn men, money, and legitimacy trying to fight the modern world and their own limits.