Julian McBride

Japan has realized the best defense is a great offense, and the recent geopolitical shift has convinced Tokyo to militarize once again. Facing threats from Russia, North Korea, and China, Japan will not be deterred by its rivals, and the technological powerhouse will display its much-feared military capabilities once more if provoked into conflict.

The destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Dam was an act of desperation by a failing autocrat who thinks of himself as a reincarnated Peter the Great and a nation that still lives in a mindset of rite of passage for territorial conquest. These acts of desperation will not deter Ukraine nor Western support but make it even more likely Ukraine’s defense and membership in the European Union and NATO will be solidified by the war’s end.

Renewed clashes in Kosovo have gained the attention of the international community. Compared to previous provocations, the conflicts on May 29th saw dozens of NATO troops from the Kosovo Force (KFOR), Serbian civilians, and Kosovar police.

The ever-changing geopolitical shift in the Middle East is something to study and watch closely. With autocratic governments coming under pressure in 2022, regional autocrats have self-aligned in 2023 despite ideological differences and look to play smoke-and-mirror politics with China and Russia to force more concessions out of Western states.

Ukraine’s intelligence is not only playing a pivotal role in helping to liberate their country against an imperialist power, but also in weakening the Russian Federation to where they no longer pose a threat to their nation for the near future. Already gaining the ability to conduct raids deep inside enemy territory, along with high-value assassinations, Kyiv’s intelligence apparatus, like America’s, Israel’s, and Britain’s, will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

Preemptions must be made to contain Wagner and its influence as the PMCs look to further their extreme violence to attract more followers and influence. Like ISIS, ultimately the group will become a major global security problem unless their external operations are kept in check.

Finland, which has had a dark and uneasy history with Russia as a neighbor, originally attempted to keep a neutral but aware stance on their eastern neighbor since World War Two. Now that the Russian invasion has changed its stance, the largest reserve and artillery army in Europe now poses the ultimate nightmare to the Kremlin, more so than Ukraine could in the alliance.

The quiet geopolitics of Azerbaijan, which claims to combat Russian influence but silently benefit from, should not be ignored.

With various possibilities, the attack on the Kremlin has left more answers than questions, but the world, including Russian society now knows how vulnerable their fortress truly is. With Putin residing in a bunker after the strike, his strongman aura is diminishing every day the war continues, which brings the possibility that the man who labeled himself a reincarnated ‘Peter the Great’ could very much end up with the fate of Tsar Nicholas II.

The ancient Assyrian Empire in the old, middle, and neo periods fought fiercely in siege tactics to turn rivals into vassalage and extend their force projection across the ancient Near East. These Semitic peoples would lay the foundations of siege warfare along with extraordinary cultural achievements for modern human civilization.

With climate change affecting agriculture, especially in hot climates, Ethiopia and Egypt could potentially be the kickstart of wars over water in regards to the Nile River.