Commentary

In July 2023, the first Latvians started their 11-month State Defense Service, as the recently reinstated conscription is called. The first year of conscription has gone smoothly. There have been no severe mishaps or scandals, and public support has...

Equatorial Guinea is a country that was freed from colonial rule but never truly escaped the influence of the economic superpowers in a globalized world. When Spain granted independence to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea in 1968, Francis Macias...

Background For the eighth year in a row, the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report labeled Libya as a Special Case country. Typically, the Department of State gives a country a score from one to three based on...

On March 26, a majority in the Tallinn City Council declared no confidence in its elected mayor, Mihhail Kõlvart, who has governed since 2019. His replacement by Acting Mayor Madle Lippus (Social Democratic Party) marks the end of almost...

The three Baltic states jointly announced on Jan. 19, 2024, their intention to build a defensive line along their borders with Russia and Belarus. Initial details are scarce. The defensive line will not include coastal defenses — Baltic coasts...

The United States has led the international economic order for the last seventy-eight years, with only the Soviet Union posing a serious challenge. However, China is starting to pose a severe threat to the United States by trying to...

Ukraine’s counteroffensive appears to be stalling. Part of this derives from Western expectations that Ukraine would continue to make significant gains. The other main reason is Russian adaptation and the digging of massive trenches while Ukraine was preparing for...

In an effort to transform the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) into the most technologically advanced military in the world, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is systematically reorganizing its science and technology sectors to ensure that new innovations simultaneously advance...

On February 2, 2023, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III announced the temporary return of American troops to four new military bases in the Philippines, restarting a military presence there that has been dormant for thirty years. These four new...

In early November 2023, Estonia announced a decision to allow Taiwan to open an unofficial, non-diplomatic economic and cultural representative office in Tallinn. The opening of an office does not mean that Tallinn and Taipei are establishing official diplomatic...