Column
Pieces
COLUMN: The 2026 NDAA and Its $800 Million for Ukraine, One Week Later
A week, in budget terms, almost never changes a number. But it often changes its framing. The 2026 NDAA, signed in early February 2026…
COLUMN: The Pentagon crosses the symbolic $1.01 trillion threshold
A trillion dollars doesn't sound like an ordinary number; it sounds like a confession, one made by an era that chose its budget before…
COLUMN: Washington sanctions Rosneft and Lukoil, the opening salvo of Trump's second term
On October 22, 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in what amounts to the first measure…
COLUMN: seven nations, between rhetoric and reality
Seventeen thousand soldiers. Seven countries. One month of joint military exercises. The numbers behind Balikatan 2026 impress on paper, but this column sets out…
COLUMN: what China's slowing military budget reveals about the balance of power
People have often asked me, these past few weeks, what to really make of the 2026 Chinese defense budget. Set at 1.94 trillion yuan,…
COLUMN: Why Balikatan 2026 matters more than it looks
Every year, the Balikatan military exercise brings together Philippine and American forces in a routine joint drill. In 2026, however, something changed in scale:…
COLUMN: seven nations, what Western observers take away
Seventeen thousand troops. Seven nations. A message that needs no translation. Exercise Balikatan 2026 brought together these considerable forces, according to Asialink, in an…
COLUMN: China's military budget is slowing — what the numbers confirm
Some numbers, on the surface, say nothing at all. And then there are numbers that, once you actually look at them, tell an entire…
COLUMN: Balikatan 2026, Japan Steps to the Front Line Since 1945
The Balikatan 2026 exercise mobilized 17,000 troops from seven countries, according to Asialink, including Japan's first combat deployment since 1945, a historic marker that…