Ukraine has repeatedly made it clear that to take back its entire country it will need thousands of tanks, IFVs, APCs, engineering, bridging and various support vehicles. Drones are force multipliers that help make up the difference in certain areas for Ukraine.
I wrote this week with @sambeal.bsky.social on how the Iran war might affect US military power for years to come, depleting stockpiles & eroding naval readiness. The war is a testing ground for new technologies. But it could also reveal some tactics to China. www.economist.com/briefing/202...
The DoD is actually one giant practical joke being played on INDOPACOM.
Cold War Bundeswehr is BACK
Germany is getting serious about military procurement: 1000 Leopard tanks and 2500 Boxers are on the shopping list. (The Bundeswehr has currently about 300 Leopards)
augengeradeaus.net/2025/07/auf-...
INDOPACOM must be overjoyed knowing the AIM-7s are safe. Not like we burned through a bunch of TLAMs and JASSMs in the Middle East recently..
“The government has blown its stock of political capital on measures that are often sensible, frequently unpopular, but invariably too small, shallow and slow to make a difference.”
This week’s cover leader on Labour’s unhappy first birthday
economist.com/leaders/2025...
Would you like to spend six months writing for The Economist’s business desk in London? Apply for the 2025 Marjorie Deane internship by July 31st
Our cover this week
Huge Reaper loses in Yemen: "at least 15 US MQ-9 Reaper drones have been shot down over Yemen since late 2023, a toll that spiked after the Trump administration’s renewed air campaign on 15 March 2025. Losses, according to the Houthis, could be as high as 22 airframes"
An F/A-18E fighter jet and tow tractor fell overboard the USS Harry Truman today and has sunk in the Red Sea...per the Navy:
My two takeaways:
- The Trump administration has a pretty permissive view of using force against non-state adversaries
- Jihadists still pose a threat in havens old and new
For as long as I've been alive, America has been fighting the war on terror. Trump promised he'd end the "forever wars". Yet since taking office, he's ramped-up air strikes across the Middle East and Somalia. In this week's Economist I look into why
www.economist.com/internationa...
INDOPACOM in shambles right now
ttps://apnews.com/article/b2-bombers-us-yemen-houthis-iran-israel-hamas-war-487247ed0d6c8743b21d18740b649d1c
GEORGE LUCAS IN 1999: it's going to start with military action to force open a blockade, and then end up with a complete collapse and rewriting of the entire galactic order
ME IN 2025: okay I see it now
An extensive air campaign in Yemen, air strikes in Iraq and Somalia, and U.S. troops still deployed to Syria despite an end to the civil war. Why has an administration that is made up of so many figures critical of “forever war” continuing “forever war” unabated? I have a theory.
I'm still not clear who is going to take up this €150bn in EU SAFE money announced today. It seems like a lot of work for a scheme that I don't see getting a lot of take-up. I would NOT assume it will result in much higher defence spending in Europe. My sceptical thread - do point out if I'm wrong 🧵
I think this book could probably be reduced to one sentence.
Will rearmament create a legion of manufacturing jobs in left-behind towns? The economics is uncertain; the politics essential.
How Labour learned to love rearmament
economist.com/britain/2025...
US cuts off intel to Kyiv, hindering its long-range strikes, to build "confidence" (see Walz below).
Meanwhile: "Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 181 strike drones and three missiles ... in the latest attack." abcnews.go.com/Internationa...
US pressure on Moscow? Zilch.
DoD terminating CIVCAS mitigation.
Terrible decision by SecDef.
Our cover story this week: reforming the Pentagon. www.economist.com/briefing/202...
Learned a good bit from this interesting note by my colleague Corbin Duncan on translation issues in diplomacy between America and China: www.economist.com/china/2025/0....
We wrote about this in the summer. There's a view among some in the US military that it currently suffers from a COIN "hangover" with restrictive ROEs.
Could America fight its enemies without breaking the law?
www.economist.com/internationa...
From The Economist
One of my Economist articles being roasted on r/neoliberal was truly my highlight of 2024
Ready for jihadist neoliberalism
Exploring the new world in Santo Domingo
