When Strongmen Fall, Power Rarely Follows Cleanly

The fall of a strongman does not end a regime so much as expose the machinery beneath it, where armed institutions, fear, and habit decide whether power reforms itself or hardens into something more dangerous.

WAR MACHINE

The gears keep turning long after the shooting stops, grinding youth into dust, spitting them home hollow and loud-eyed, and then dressing the damage up with a neat little “thank you for your service.”

CIA Base in Afghanistan: A Day in the Life

Wake up in the dark, throw on cargo pants and boots, mainline coffee and Rip Its, live in cable traffic inside the TOC, and if you are lucky you end the night at the fire pit with a stiff drink and a short laugh before you do it all again.

Ukraine’s Trident Laser Weapon

Born out of battlefield necessity and sharpened by constant pressure, Ukraine’s Trident laser system shows how a nation at war can compress decades of weapons development into months and put cutting edge energy weapons to work where they matter most, over cities, infrastructure, and the front lines.