When crowds took to Iran’s streets to protest against the government in early 2026, the images seemed familiar. The demonstrators across cities, not just Tehran, chanted against political authority, and security forces responded with overwhelming force. But one of the most important stories of the current movement and politics of Iran is not whether the protests are visible. Rather, the more important story is how repeated cycles of protest and repression have transformed how young Iranians think about power, risk and the possibility of change.

As global instability distracts American attention across Europe and the Middle East, a strategic reckoning is long overdue. Washington must recognize the urgency that it faces in the Indo-Pacific. The rise of China as a peer competitor presents not only an economic challenge but a military one. The ideological dogma of the Chinese Communist Party makes reunification with Taiwan a necessity. If the United States is not careful, they may well be walking into a military confrontation that they are wildly unprepared for.

The European Defense Community (EDC) marked the first attempt to create a common European defense framework. Today, it is more important than ever to understand the failure of the EDC and the consequences it entailed. At the heart of this failure was the ambition of the nation states to make sovereignty prevail over the federal character of the European project.

Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine have had a detrimental impact on the respect of arms control treaties between Russia and the United States. There is a need for the U.S. to formulate a plan to reinstate these agreements in the aftermath of the Ruso-Ukrainian war and eventual leadership change in Russia. To do so, the United States must evaluate Cold-War era efforts to foster communication.

In early 2024, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the Doomsday Clock to 90 seconds to midnight, marking the closest approach to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis. The world is on a precipice, and we must remain vigilant.

Why has Iran resolved to ensure crippling sanctions and exist as a pariah state in the international system? Is the Iranian leadership rational for seeking nuclear weapons?

As Joe Biden begins his term as President of the United States, he is left with the question of how to best tackle the dispute between the United States and Iran over the Iranian nuclear program and the JCPOA. To best understand how the Biden administration ought to proceed, it is important to first understand the legal context behind the final actions of the Trump administration and what strategy they wished to pursue.

Currently, the United States theoretically maintains the ability to defend Taiwan using conventional force, thus potentially avoiding the need for an all-out nuclear war with China over the fate of the island. What happens if the status quo shifts and nuclear threats are the only way to protect Taiwan?