Commentary • Page 7 of 42 • The Defense Post

Aug- 2025 -

19 August

How South Korea Could Tip the Scales in a Taiwan Contingency

South Korea, while traditionally sidelined in Taiwan conflict scenarios due to its focus on North Korea, could play a crucial, non-combat role that significantly improves US and allied outcomes.

Jul- 2025 -

30 July

Around 1,500 people from Bedouin tribal families who had been held in Sweida governorate were evacuated under a ceasefire agreement, following fierce clashes between tribal forces and Druze gunmen

Amy Austin Holmes

Disarmament Without Safeguards Is a Death Sentence for Syria’s Minorities

Ahmad al-Sharaa’s violent campaign to forcibly unify Syria is backfiring and must be replaced with inclusive governance and local security to achieve lasting stability.

29 July

Maintainers at Moody Air Force Base prepare to inspect an A-10 Thunderbolt II for wing frame cracks

Arthur Herman and John Burer

Reindustrializing for Security: Why America’s Defense Industrial Base Must Come First

To ensure national security in today’s volatile global environment, the US must revitalize its defense industrial base by reimagining and reinvesting in modern, flexible manufacturing.

14 July

Representatives of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) during a briefing near the border in northern Ukraine

Denis Rafalsky

Russian Volunteer Corps vs. Maksym Kryvonis Battalion: Liberators or Traitors?

The RDK and BMK illustrate how war blurs the line between patriotism and treason, forcing individuals into morally complex choices shaped by personal and political fractures.

8 July

A soldier of the artillery crew of the Rifle Battalion special unit of the Main Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine in the Zaporizhzhia region performs a combat mission using a portable rocket launcher ''Partizan'' in the Zaporizhzhia direction, Ukraine

Mahir Zeynalov

Russia Can Survive a Long War. Ukraine Can’t

Russia is historically and strategically built for long wars, and it is adapting to the war in Ukraine faster than the West is responding, giving it a growing advantage.

4 July

South Korea special forces during a drill.

Jihoon Yu

Caught in the Middle: South Korea’s Strategic Dilemma in a Taiwan Contingency

While South Korea cannot fully detach from a Taiwan crisis due to its alliance with the US and regional dynamics, it also cannot afford full military engagement due to geographic, economic, and domestic constraints.

Jun- 2025 -

30 June

Ju Hyung Kim

The US Can’t Fight Two Wars in East Asia — and Should Stop Planning Like It Can

The US and its allies aren’t realistically prepared to fight two wars at once against China and North Korea.

20 June

A member of an Iranian Army honor guard stands at attention in front of a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a ceremony

John Davenport

Note to Trump and Netanyahu: Iran’s Theocracy Is Unlikely to Collapse

Despite widespread discontent in Iran, the regime is unlikely to fall through revolution or external provocation, and pursuing such a strategy could trigger catastrophic consequence.

19 June

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the President of the European Council Antonio Costa

Harry Readhead

Poor Communication Is Putting Europe’s Ability to Defend Itself at Risk

Europe’s ability to defend itself is being undermined not just by underinvestment, but by poor communication — especially the failure of smaller, innovative defense companies to make themselves seen, heard, and understood by policymakers, investors, and the public.

6 June