From Coercion to Capitulation, How China Can Take Taiwan Without a War

By Dan Blumenthal, Frederick W. Kagan, Jonathan Baumel, Cindy Chen, Francis de Beixedon, Logan Rank, and Alexis Turek

Defeating Russia’s Kharkiv Operation Requires Eliminating Russia’s Sanctuary

Current US policy bans Ukraine from using US-provided weapons in Russia, severely hindering Ukraine's defense against Russia's renewed invasion in Kharkiv Oblast.

Why You Can't be an Iran Hawk and a Russia Dove

Moscow and Tehran have formed a military bloc with the aim of defeating the United States and its allies in the Middle East, Europe, and around the world.

Denying Russia’s Only Strategy for Success



By Nataliya Bugayova and Frederick W. Kagan with Kateryna Stepanenko

Positional Warfare in Alexander Svechin’s Strategy



By Pieter Garicano, Grace Mappes, and Frederick W. Kagan

Latest from ISW

From Coercion to Capitulation, How China Can Take Taiwan Without a War

May 13, 2024 - ISW Press

Fear that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) will invade Taiwan and draw the US into a massive war in the Pacific has for many years driven an increasing American focus on preparing for conflict with the PRC. The expansion of PRC military capabilities and Beijing’s announcement of military expansion milestones in 2027 have intensified those fears and sparked intense debates about America’s potential role in and readiness for deterring and defeating a PRC invasion.

Putin's Safe Space: Defeating Russia's Kharkiv Operation Requires Eliminating Russia's Sanctuary

May 13, 2024 - ISW Press

Current US policy prohibiting Ukraine from using US-provided weapons in the territory of the Russian Federation is severely compromising Ukraine's ability to defend itself against the renewed cross-border invasion Russia has recently launched in Kharkiv Oblast. US policy has effectively created a vast sanctuary in which Russia has been able to amass its ground invasion force and from which it is launching glide bombs and other long-range strike systems in support of its renewed invasion. Whatever the merits of this US policy before the Russian assault on Kharkiv Oblast began, it should be modified immediately to reflect the urgent realities of the current situation.

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 12, 2024

May 12, 2024 - ISW Press

Russian President Vladimir Putin replaced Sergei Shoigu with Andrei Belousov as Russian Minister of Defense on May 12, moving Shoigu to the position of Security Council Secretary in place of Nikolai Patrushev. These high-level reshuffles following the Russian presidential election strongly suggest that Putin is taking significant steps towards mobilizing the Russian economy and defense industrial base (DIB) to support a protracted war in Ukraine and possibly prepare for a future confrontation with NATO.

Iran Update, May 12, 2024

May 12, 2024 - ISW Press

Israeli forces continued a "precise operation" targeting Hamas in eastern Rafah on May 12. The IDF Givati Brigade located and destroyed several tunnel shafts and rockets that Palestinian fighters had prepared to fire into Israel. The IDF 401st Brigade identified ten armed Hamas fighters and directed an airstrike targeting them. Israeli soldiers posted photos of the IDF inside the Rafah crossing.

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 11, 2024

May 11, 2024 - ISW Press

Russian forces are conducting relatively limited offensive operations along the Russian-Ukrainian border in northern Kharkiv Oblast and continued to make tactically significant gains in likely less defended areas. The reported sizes of the Russian elements committed to these limited operations and of the Russian force grouping deployed along the border in northeastern Ukraine indicate that Russian forces are not pursuing a large-scale operation to envelop, encircle, or seize Kharkiv City at this time.

Iran Update, May 11, 2024

May 11, 2024 - ISW Press

The IDF continued its limited operation into eastern Rafah on May 11. The IDF 401st Brigade, which seized the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on May 7, destroyed a Hamas rocket launch site on May 10. Israeli ground and air elements destroyed Hamas tunnel shafts. The IDF Givati Brigade also continued operations in eastern Rafah. Hamas fighters fired an anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at an Israeli armored personnel carrier near the Rafah crossing.