Analysis
Pieces
DECODING: 282 billion dollars, what Beijing chooses to fund
A number, on its own, never tells the whole story. China's 2026 defense budget, set at 1.94 trillion yuan, roughly 282 billion dollars, illustrates…
ANALYSIS: Seven nations, one exercise — what Balikatan 2026 reveals
Seventeen thousand troops. Seven nations. A single exercise. That figure alone sums up the scale of Balikatan 2026, the joint military maneuver that mobilized…
FACT CHECK: Two New Type 055 Destroyers for the Chinese Navy
The Dongguan and Anqing destroyers, of the Type 055 class, were commissioned by the Chinese navy in early 2026, according to IDSA in March…
DECODING: Taiwan Strait Incursions Fall, But the Real Story Is Elsewhere
The average daily rate of Chinese air incursions into the Taiwan Strait fell by half compared with 2025, according to the Straits Times on…
ANALYSIS: China's Military Budget Growth Slows, Yet Crosses a New Threshold
China's 2026 defense budget has been set at roughly 282 billion dollars, according to Reuters on March 10, 2026, a rise of 6.9% that…
DECODING: The Netherlands and the PURL Gamble, One Year Later, in Cold Light
One year after its launch, the PURL mechanism, the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, deserves a reading stripped of the emotion that surrounded its birth.
ANALYSIS: NATO's Eastern Flank Drone Test Matters More Than It Looks
On March 27, 2026, the defense ministers of the three Baltic states signed a joint declaration that, on paper, might read as just another…
DECODING: The 5% of GDP Target, Between Rhetoric and Reality
Five percent. That is the figure every NATO leader now has in mind, the one the Alliance is aiming for across all its members…
ANALYSIS: The Baltic Drone Wall, a Billion Euros Against Doubt
One billion euros. That is the approximate sum that three small Baltic countries, together, have decided to commit to building what official documents now…