Cogs of War Our dedicated vertical on defense tech & industry, brought to you by an epic partnership between War on the Rocks & Booz Allen Hamilton. National security is inextricably linked to technological prowess, talent, and industrial capacity. We aim to leverage deep expertise and thought leadership to foster the most substantive, impactful conversation possible.

If you’re working where defense meets innovation, @Cogs0fWar is for you. Follow our dedicated vertical on defense technology and industrial base issues for cutting-edge analysis.

Sea mines are back as a weapon of war, and the world's most critical shipping lane is in the crosshairs. (Members Only)

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The best leaders may retire, but their legacy stays with the next generation of marines forever. (Members Only)

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The United States Is Repeating Its Silicon Mistake with Gallium Nitride China controls 99 percent of the world’s primary gallium, a critical mineral and semiconductor crucial for building the microchips of the future. In 2023,

The next semiconductor failure will be faster and harder to reverse than the last one.

What the War Against Iran Means for the U.S.-South Korean Alliance South Korea’s security is no longer confined to the peninsula. That is the real lesson from the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz. And if decision-makers

A distant chokepoint just became South Korea's most urgent security problem. The U.S.-South Korean alliance was not built for that.

A 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon offers a brief pause, but the underlying tensions are far from resolved. (Members Only)

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How to Contribute to Cogs of War Cogs of War is our dedicated vertical on defense technology and defense industrial base issues, produced in partnership with Booz Allen Hamilton. Read on

Have a story about an American innovation born from war that shaped civilian life, the military, or society? We welcome your submissions. Selected contributors will compete for War on the Rocks memberships and cash prizes.

I’m Sorry, Dave. I’m Afraid I Can’t De-escalate: On (AI) Wargaming and Nuclear War Recent experiments placing large language models in simulated nuclear crises have produced alarming headlines. “Bloodthirsty” AI systems escalate

AI and nuclear strategy are a more complicated mix than most are willing to admit.

How the War in Iran Is Affecting Its Northern and Eastern Neighbors When the U.S.–Israeli war with Iran began on Feb. 28, there were immediate impacts on the countries to Iran’s west — as Iran struck multiple Gulf Arab

Iran's war doesn't have clean edges. It bleeds into every border, every trade route, every calculation its neighbors have to make. (Members Only)

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The signs of Iran's collapse are mounting. The real challenge is what fills the void. (Members Only)

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When Identity Means Everything 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.

In wartime, suspicion can feel like common sense. But when does vigilance turn into something more corrosive? (Members Only)

I’m Sorry, Dave. I’m Afraid I Can’t De-escalate: On (AI) Wargaming and Nuclear War Recent experiments placing large language models in simulated nuclear crises have produced alarming headlines. “Bloodthirsty” AI systems escalate

In a new essay for @warontherocks.bsky.social, Andrew Reddie and I look at recent coverage of nuclear wargaming involving LLMs. We assess 1) what wargaming is best used for, 2) why LLMs are trigger-happy, and 3) how AI can fit into the wargaming stack. warontherocks.com/im-sorry-dav...

Iran and the Indispensable Broker: How Pakistan Outmaneuvers India on the World Stage In Sept. 2025, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defense pact, formalizing what decades of quiet cooperation had already made real. The defense

Smart piece in @warontherocks.bsky.social by @upenn.edu’s
Farah Jan on #Pakistan as the indispensable broker, and how it’s outmaneuvered #India to gain influence by mediating disputes. Definitely worth reading. warontherocks.com/iran-and-the...

The United States Is Repeating Its Silicon Mistake with Gallium Nitride China controls 99 percent of the world’s primary gallium, a critical mineral and semiconductor crucial for building the microchips of the future. In 2023,

Losing silicon manufacturing was an accumulation of policy choices. Repeating that mistake again with defense-critical chips would be a strategic failure.

New today for War on the Rocks members:

When Identity Means Everything warontherocks.com/ca...

Cogs of War Our dedicated vertical on defense tech & industry, brought to you by an epic partnership between War on the Rocks & Booz Allen Hamilton. National security is inextricably linked to technological prowess, talent, and industrial capacity. We aim to leverage deep expertise and thought leadership to foster the most substantive, impactful conversation possible.

Builders, policymakers, investors, and operators: this is your arena. Follow @Cogs0fWar to join the conversation on the future of defense innovation.

What the War Against Iran Means for the U.S.-South Korean Alliance South Korea’s security is no longer confined to the peninsula. That is the real lesson from the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz. And if decision-makers

The Strait of Hormuz crisis hit South Korea harder than most expected. It also exposed a gap at the heart of one of America's most important alliances.

I’m Sorry, Dave. I’m Afraid I Can’t De-escalate: On (AI) Wargaming and Nuclear War Recent experiments placing large language models in simulated nuclear crises have produced alarming headlines. “Bloodthirsty” AI systems escalate

AI wargaming is generating buzz, but the conclusions being drawn deserve a much closer look.

Home A platform for analysis, commentary, debate and multimedia content on foreign policy and national security issues through a realist lens.

Today in War on the Rocks:

I’m Sorry, Dave. I’m Afraid I Can’t De-escalate: On (AI) Wargaming and Nuclear War

What the War Against Iran Means for the U.S.-South Korean Alliance

The United States Is Repeating Its Silicon Mistake with Gallium Nitride

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Ceasefires and Communications Welcome to The Adversarial. Every other week, we’ll provide you with expert analysis on America’s greatest challengers: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea,

Iran maneuvers over a global chokepoint, Russia bans Telegram, China courts Taiwan's opposition, North Korea tests missiles, and Iraq's security dynamics shift. (Members Only)

Membership War On The Rocks Platinum An All-Access Pass to War on the Rocks What Our Members Are Saying “I’ve been a member since 2016. War on the Rocks is a melting

Stay sharp. Stay informed. War on the Rocks delivers the insights serious professionals rely on. Join now.

The F-35 Is a Masterpiece Built for the Wrong War Think of a violin made by a master craftsman: beautiful, precise, capable of extraordinary performance, but impossible to produce quickly or cheaply. It

The F-35 is delivering exactly the capabilities it was designed for. Yet those capabilities may be insufficient for the future campaigns America is preparing to fight.

Iran and the Indispensable Broker: How Pakistan Outmaneuvers India on the World Stage In Sept. 2025, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defense pact, formalizing what decades of quiet cooperation had already made real. The defense

India built relationships everywhere and obligations nowhere. Being welcome is not the same as being indispensable.

Winning in the Donbas: What Russia’s 2014–2015 Campaign Reveals About Modern War It is clear that the U.S.-Israeli decapitation, airpower-centric, and precision strike campaign are again not enough to bring about the two countries’

Ground combat isn't obsolete. The Donbas campaign remains one of the most instructive case studies on what modern land warfare actually looks like in practice.

A new gang suppression force is arriving in Haiti. The question is whether it can change anything on the ground. (Members Only)

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The future of Russian oil is not as clear as it seems. The cracks run deeper than sanctions alone. (Members Only)

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Nuclear deterrence failures, proliferation risks, and the future of US extended deterrence are all on the table. From Iran to the Korean peninsula, the stakes could not be higher. (Members Only)

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The hardest part of leaving the military isn't the transition paperwork. It's figuring out who you are when the institution that defined you no longer does. (Members Only)

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