WAR ON THE ROCKS:
The Shifting Fortunes of the Kurds
https://warontherocks.com/the-shifting-fortunes-of-the-kurds/
The Kurds’ fortunes have ebbed and flowed in recent years, but the fall of the Assad regime in Syria in December 2024, the 2025 decision by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to dissolve and engage in talks with the Turkish government, and the 2026 U.S.-Israeli war with Iran had enormous ripple effects on the lives of Kurds in the Middle East and Kurdish
WAR ON THE ROCKS:
At a Glance: American Quadcopter Component Manufacturing
https://warontherocks.com/cogs-of-war/at-a-glance-american-quadcopter-component-manufacturing/
The extent of China’s drone dominance — and how to decouple from it — has long been a source of debate and anxiety in Washington. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reignited controversy by publishing a visual analysis of military quadcopter components, exploring China’s advantages in parts
WAR ON THE ROCKS:
Lost in Translation: How A Premier Chinese Think Tank Views U.S.-Chinese Competition
https://warontherocks.com/lost-in-translation-how-a-premier-chinese-think-tank-views-u-s-chinese-competition/
On May 13, 2026, Air Force One landed in Beijing for President Donald Trump’s first state visit to China in nearly a decade. That same morning, the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations published a report titled The Evolving World and the
WAR ON THE ROCKS:
The Ukrainian Push for Long-Term Strategic Planning
https://warontherocks.com/the-ukrainian-push-for-long-term-strategic-planning/
Welcome to The Ukraine Compass, a weekly digest of Ukrainian commentary and analysis from across the political spectrum only for War on the Rocks members. Each Monday, we bring you a curated selection of articles from Ukrainian media offering insight into how Ukrainians themselves debate the issues shaping their
WAR ON THE ROCKS:
The Defense Industrial Alliance Washington Is Throwing Away
https://warontherocks.com/cogs-of-war/the-defense-industrial-alliance-washington-is-throwing-away/
As the relationship between the United States and Canada continues to degrade, it now comes at the expense of each country’s industrial security.Last month, the Pentagon announced the unilateral suspension of the 86-year-old Canadian Permanent Joint Board on Defense in response to what the
WAR ON THE ROCKS:
The Art of Statecraft in an Age of Strategic Failure
https://warontherocks.com/the-art-of-statecraft-in-an-age-of-strategic-failure/
Jack Watling, Statecraft: The New Rules of Power in a Divided World (Macmillan, 2026)The war against Iran exposed a multitude of forced errors and own goals in the conduct of statecraft. The purpose of sound statecraft is the integrated application of a state’s tools and its repertoire of governmental instruments of
WAR ON THE ROCKS:
A New Force Posture Concept for Europeanizing Extended Nuclear Deterrence
https://warontherocks.com/a-new-force-posture-concept-for-europeanizing-extended-nuclear-deterrence/
During the Cold War, Europe kept asking whether Washington would risk an American city to save a European one. It was an impolite question, but a useful one, which is why it never quite left the room. It has now packed its bags and moved east. Earlier this year, French
WAR ON THE ROCKS:
Not Imaginary: The Deterrence Gap is Real and America Needs Low-Yield Nukes
https://warontherocks.com/not-imaginary-the-deterrence-gap-is-real-and-america-needs-low-yield-nukes/
Nuclear policy debates are at their best when they force hard questions about risk, deterrence, and military necessity. They are at their worst when disagreement is recast as bad faith. In 2018, as an outgrowth of a rigorous policy review process, the Trump administration’s
WAR ON THE ROCKS:
The 2026 War on the Rocks Summer Fiction Reading List
https://warontherocks.com/the-2026-war-on-the-rocks-summer-fiction-reading-list/
You can tell a lot about a person from what fiction they keep on their nightstand. Once a year, we make the staff, contributing editors, and show hosts of War on the Rocks tell on themselves.Kerry AndersonThe Midnight Library, Matt Haig (2020). Drawing on evergreen themes from books and movies such as Sliding Doors
WAR ON THE ROCKS:
Misreading Myanmar’s War: Why the Junta’s Recent Gains Don’t Mean Imminent Victory
https://warontherocks.com/misreading-myanmars-war-why-the-juntas-recent-gains-dont-mean-imminent-victory/
To understand how close Myanmar’s pro-democracy resistance came to victory last year — and how far it has slipped since — there is no sharper microcosm than the story of a Gen Z sniper. In April 2025, a female teenager, Anina, enraptured the world, her
Defending Ukraine
