Indian Strategic Studies

1 January 2026

China’s Military Reforms Since 2015: Is Time on Its Side?

Dennis J. Blasko

After several years of planning and doctrinal experimentation, on the last day of 2015, the Chinese armed forces (the People’s Liberation Army, People’s Armed Police, and militia) began its most sweeping series of reforms since the 1950s when it adopted the Soviet military organization structure.

The new reforms sought to better prepare the force for deterrence, warfighting, and non-war military actions both in defense of People’s Republic of China’s territory and at increasing distances beyond its borders. Civilian sector cooperation (military-civil fusion, subsumed under the new concept of “Integrated National Strategic Systems and Capabilities”) is essential to provide the personnel, modern weapons (now nearly all produced domestically), logistics, and political support necessary to conduct integrated joint operations in multiple domains (land, sea, air, space, cyberspace, and information).

China holds military drills around Taiwan as warning to 'separatist forces'

Koh Ewe

China is holding military drills around Taiwan simulating the seizure and blockade of the island's key areas, as a warning against "separatist forces". The army, navy, air force and rocket force have been dispatched for the drills which include live-fire exercises, the Chinese military said.

Codenamed "Justice Mission 2025", the drills are taking place days after the US announced the sale of one of its largest weapons packages to Taiwan worth $11bn (£8.2bn). That move drew sharp protest from Beijing which in turn sanctioned US defence firms. Taiwan's push to ramp up its defence this year has also angered Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as its territory.

Taiwan's presidential office has criticised the upcoming Chinese drills, calling them a challenge to international norms.Its defence ministry said it had detected 89 Chinese military aircraft and 28 warships and coastguard vessels near Taiwan on Monday.

Dubai: The Emerging Financial Mecca

Richard Rousseau

Throughout history, cities have attracted investors, artists, entrepreneurs, and wealthy individuals from beyond their native countries and regions. The Hanseatic cities of the 13th and 14th centuries, for example, were at the heart of the revival of trade at the end of the Middle Ages. They were also places where more freedom reigned. Genoa and Bruges took up the mantle from the 15th century onward. Starting in the 17th century, Geneva and Switzerland became popular destinations because of their freedom and security.

Beirut, in the Middle East, acquired the status of a financial center and a meeting point of cultures in the 1960s and ’70s. Starting in the 1980s, Singapore also played a key role as an economic and financial magnet in Asia. In recent years, Dubai and the United Arab Emirates have emerged as preferred destinations for investing and securing capital.

Iran’s Water Crisis: A National Security Imperative

Scott N. Romaniuk & Erzsébet N. Rózsa & László Csicsmann

Iran is confronting an unprecedented water crisis. Rivers that have sustained settlements and agriculture for centuries are drying, while groundwater reserves are being extracted far beyond natural replenishment—over 70% of major aquifers are considered overdrawn. According to Isa Bozorgzadeh, spokesperson for Iran’s water industry, many plains and reservoirs have reached critically low levels. Over the past two decades, the country’s renewable water resources have declined by more than a third, pushing Iran to the brink of absolute water scarcity.

Drought cycles are becoming more frequent and severe; this past autumn marked one of the driest periods in the last 20 years in contemporary Iranian history. For decades, national development policies assumed that engineering and extraction could overcome environmental limits. Today, those limits are reasserting themselves, and shortages are moving from rural peripheries into major cities, placing pressure on a political system already managing numerous economic, social, and national security challenges. Rising scarcity underscores the multifaceted ways in which water intersects with livelihoods, public trust, and national security, creating pressures that extend from rural communities to urban centers and shaping Iran’s domestic and regional policies.

Why Myanmar Remains Poor And Persecuted: Power, Profits, And Proxies (Part II)

Nicholas Kong

Myanmar’s crisis, often framed as a civil war or humanitarian disaster, is fundamentally a struggle over power and profit. For decades, the military has engineered a system that converts political control into personal economic gain. Understanding this architecture is essential to explaining why repression persists despite mass resistance—and why external actors have struggled to shape outcomes.1

Power Structure: Rule by Design

Myanmar’s military rule is rooted in a delusional belief in divine entitlement, akin to royalty, claiming ultimate ownership of the nation and its resources. Over time, this absolutist mindset evolved into a parallel state embedded within formal institutions.

The 2008 Constitution entrenched military dominance by reserving 25% of parliamentary seats for serving officers, granting the armed forces veto power over constitutional amendments. The National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) concentrates authority in the commander-in-chief, who controls defense, policing, internal and border security beyond civilian oversight. This structure enables the military to override elected institutions under any declared “emergency,” rendering civilian rule conditional and reversible.

Israel’s Calculus For A Second Strike On Iran: Nuclear Thresholds, Missile Asymmetry, And Regional Risk

Scott N. Romaniuk and László Csicsmann

In late December 2025, Iran’s nuclear and strategic posture has once again become a focal point of regional and global security concerns. Tehran’s refusal to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect nuclear facilities damaged by strikes earlier in the year has underscored a deepening impasse over verification and sovereign control, with Iranian officials demanding a codified post-war conditions framework before permitting access. At the same time, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation publicly asserted that Western criticism targets Iran’s broader scientific progress rather than an alleged weapons programme, a framing that challenges international pressure and complicates diplomatic engagement.

Against this backdrop, Tehran’s rejection of renewed IAEA inspection demands has heightened anxieties in capitals including Jerusalem and Washington that Iran’s latent capabilities—particularly enrichment and missile-related technologies—could be rebuilt with reduced external visibility. These developments reinforce the strategic dilemmas facing Israeli decision-makers as they weigh whether pre-emptive options remain viable.

Why is Türkiye Interested in South Asia?

Akhilesh Pillalamarri

A painting of the First Battle of Panipat, which was fought between the invading forces of Babur against Ibrahim Khan Lodi, the Sultan of Delhi, in Panipat, north India, on April 21, 1526, shows the use of cannons by Babur’s forces.Credit: Wikipedia/Baburnama

The modern nation-state of Türkiye — and its predecessor, the Ottoman Empire — have long been interested in exerting influence on South Asia. Such interest has become evident again after a few decades of occultation. Türkiye has long seen itself as the patron of Muslim interests in the region, and Muslim states in South Asia have sought closer relations with them throughout the ages.

In the past year alone, there have been several suggestions of an enhanced Turkish role in the affairs of the Indian subcontinent. Indian investigators have suggested that a Turkish handler played a role in coordinating Delhi’s November 10, 2025 Red Fort blast. Meanwhile, Pakistan and Türkiye have grown closer, along with Azerbaijan — these countries comprise an informal defense grouping known as the “three brothers.” Moreover, Türkiye supplied military equipment and intelligence to Pakistan during the May 2025 India-Pakistan clashes.

Convergence Amid Divergence: America, China, and the Emerging Minimalist World Order

Rosemary Foot

Two recent episodes involving China-U.S. relations underline an unexpected convergence in the relationship and the potential for these episodes to have a wider impact on the transitioning global order.

First, Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the APEC meeting held in Busan on October 30, 2025, their first meeting since 2019. The agreements reached were not unexpected, largely unambitious, and mostly involved reversals and reinstatements of past policies, welded together by the expectation that there would be follow-on summit meetings between Trump and Xi in the spring and fall of 2026.

Secondly, the U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) document was officially published in November 2025. It predominantly casts China as an economic competitor and accords it an implicit status as one of the “larger, richer, stronger” countries that is, and should be, shaping global order.

What the Donald Trump-Benjamin Netanyahu Summit Really Means

Abdulla Al Junaid

President Donald Trump is intent on bringing about the second phase of the Gaza peace plan.

As President Donald Trump hosts Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago today, the United States faces a strategic recalibration across multiple global theatres. And while framed as a discussion of Gaza’s future, this summit will advance President Trump’s broader geopolitical vision rather than serve Prime Minister Netanyahu’s agenda.

With Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific demanding sustained attention, the Trump administration cannot afford to remain indefinitely focused on Gaza. Reclaiming US influence in South America and the standoff with Venezuela are also top priorities for the president. Consequently, the imperative for President Trump to transition the United States from a direct security guarantor in the Middle East to a more removed strategic architect has never been clearer.

Phase two of the Gaza plan, which focuses on the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza, will constitute the summit’s immediate priority. Israeli government Spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian confirmed that President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu “will discuss the future steps and phases and the international stabilization force of the ceasefire plan.”

The “Unipolar Moment” Is Over—and America Still Hasn’t Noticed

Brandon J. Weichert

Following the end of World War II, the United States and the victorious Allies built a world system that was designed to mitigate the chances of another world war from erupting. By the end of the Cold War in 1991, the Americans seemed to have not only ensured the system they established after 1945 would dominate into the new century, but that it would be supported exclusively by unquestioned American dominance far into the future.

Flash forward to 34 years later, and it’s an entirely new ballgame.

The “New World Order” Isn’t What America Hoped For

Today, the United States is hobbled by a turgid economy, seriously divided domestic politics, an unstable society, and a military that has not really won a war since the Gulf War in 1991 (though some would quibble with this, since the United States has not technically fought in a declared war since 1945).

After decades of globalization, wherein the purveyors of American global hegemony paradoxically demanded the gutting of America’s economy and the spreading of America’s once-exclusive wealth and capabilities to the rest of the world, other nations are today rising to power. Many have argued we have entered a multipolar world order. And it is true that many powers have started rising from behind the shadow of the waning American colossus.

Why a Peacekeeping Force Won’t Help Ukraine

Andreas Umland

Since spring 2025, Western security guarantees for Ukraine have played an important role in public debate and political planning regarding the end of the Ukraine War. The recently announced peace plan and the 28-point counterproposal to an earlier US proposal issued by the UK, France, and Germany state that Ukraine should receive “reliable” or “robust” security guarantees. These documents and the associated public debate have once again brought to the fore the question of what such guarantees might mean.

Although European and US leaders discussed security guarantees throughout 2025, the specific future commitments, measures, and coordination needs remain unclear. If these issues are not clarified in advance, there is a risk that paper promises of “security guarantees” will not be fulfilled. Inconsistent implementation of support and defense commitments would not only be dangerous for Ukraine but also further undermine an already shaken European security order and the rules-based international system.

Ukraine Now Using Drone Boats To Attack Russian Riverine Targets

Howard Altman

Ukraine is expanding its uncrewed surface vessel (USV) attacks to hit Russian targets on the Dnipro River and its tributaries. Kyiv’s USV campaign has previously hit enemy shipping, warships, and infrastructure in attacks made famous by the country’s State Security Service (SBU) and Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR).

Meanwhile, as Russia begins to build out its own USV effort, Ukraine also said it struck a storage site for those vessels on Tuesday night in a preemptive effort to keep them from being deployed.

The 40th Coastal Defense Brigade of the 30th Marine Corps recently released a video showing the Barracuda USV it developed carrying out a mission in the Dnipro region. The video purports to show the Barracuda making its way through an inlet before hitting a small camouflaged Russian boat and outpost. The video then cuts to aerial drone views showing an explosion and resulting destruction.

Japan reaching for a bigger, richer stake in Central Asia

Scott Foster

The first summit meeting of the Central Asia Plus Japan Dialogue was held in Tokyo on December 20, 2025, bringing together the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Leaders discussed economic cooperation, the environment, critical mineral supply chains and other issues.

The summit marked an upgrade in diplomatic importance from nine foreign ministers’ meetings between 2004 and 2022, 14 meetings of senior officials since 2005, 13 Central Asia Plus Japan Dialogues since 2006 and an economic forum in 2011.

“The international situation has changed drastically,” Takaichi said, adding “and the region’s importance is growing as a trade route connecting Asia and Europe.

“Central Asia has great significance and potential in terms of geopolitical importance, economic security and mutually beneficial business opportunities.”

Airstrikes only first step to stop Islamic terrorists on march through Africa

Edmund Fitton-Brown

Thursday’s strikes on ISIS targets in Nigeria signal an intensifying American fight against jihadist expansion across Africa.

ISIS maintains a presence across the African continent, but its most dangerous concentrations lie in the west — particularly in northeastern Nigeria and the tri-border area connecting Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

To the east, ISIS fighters actively terrorize populations in Somalia, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where US special forces have previously conducted counterterrorism operations.

Local cooperation is paramount for success in such operations, and it’s notable that yesterday’s strikes were conducted in consultation with Nigerian authorities in Abuja.

The Nigerian government has not always been as effective as it should be in protecting Nigerian Christians and in fighting the twin jihadi menaces of Boko Haram and ISIS.

Any plan for counterterrorism in Africa must also consider Al Qaeda, which has multiple franchises in the continent and is arguably just as dangerous as ISIS.

Who won the war?

Robert Satloff

When President Trump meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the sixth time this year on December 29, the two leaders should ask themselves a question they thought was already settled: Who won the Hamas-Israel war?

When he visited Jerusalem in October, Trump proclaimed Israel the victor: “You’ve won,” he told Israel’s parliament. But Hamas leaders called the war a failure for Israel and a “victory for resistance and steadfastness.” And three months into the ceasefire, the answer is not so simple. While the Palestinian people in Gaza suffered horrific losses, Hamas itself did not lose – at least, not yet.

The Strange Fear of Russia

George Friedman

There is talk of Russia moving into Belarus, launching attacks on Latvia and Lithuania, and preparing a massive operation in and around the Black Sea. Many fear that if the Russia-Ukraine war ends without Russia being forced out of the relatively small territory it now holds, Moscow will surge into other areas to restore the borders of the former Soviet Union.

What is strange, given the Russian military’s performance in Ukraine, is that it still inspires such fear. Nearly four years since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia controls only about a fifth of the country and is bogged down in fighting over a handful of towns and villages along the front line. The fact is that Russia failed in its original mission, which was to occupy all of Ukraine, as shown by its failed attempt to capture Kyiv, far from today’s battlefront.

It is true that Ukraine cannot drive the Russians out of the territory they now hold. But it is also true that Russia in four years has failed to break Ukrainian resistance or gain substantial ground. Its inability to achieve its stated goals raises serious questions about Russian military power. Russia expected to take far more territory and did not imagine the war would still be going on today with so little to show for it. This cannot be the war Moscow planned.

No Peace Plan Will Stop the Terrorists' Jihad Against Israel

Khaled Abu Toameh

Since the announcement of Trump's plan, Hamas... has dismissed the idea of laying down its weapons. It has also made it clear that the role of any international force should be limited just to monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire with Israel. According to Hamas, the proposed International Stabilization Force should be stationed at the borders of the Gaza Strip, and not in areas controlled by the terror group.

"The Palestinian people have the right to all resistance [meaning: terrorism against Israel]." — Hamas statement, palinfo.com, December 12, 2025. These statements by Hamas and the other Palestinian terror groups show that they have no intention of honoring Trump's plan. They view the Trump plan as nothing more than a temporary ceasefire that allows them to regroup, rearm, and pursue their Jihad to annihilate Israel.

John Simpson: 'I've reported on 40 wars but I've never seen a year like 2025'

John Simpson

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that the current conflict in his country could escalate into a world war. After nearly 60 years of observing conflict, I've got a nasty feeling he's right.

Nato governments are on high alert for any signs that Russia is cutting the undersea cables that carry the electronic traffic that keeps Western society going. Their drones are accused of testing the defences of Nato countries. Their hackers develop ways of putting ministries, emergency services and huge corporations out of operation.

Authorities in the west are certain Russia's secret services murder and attempt to murder dissidents who have taken refuge in the West. An inquiry into the attempted murder in Salisbury of the former Russian intelligence agent Sergei Skripal in 2018 (plus the actual fatal poisoning of a local woman, Dawn Sturgess) concluded that the attack had been agreed at the highest level in Russia.

The New Cold War is here

David Roche

The New Cold War is not a forecast. It’s here and now. Where the conflict takes us does need forecasting, however. For our destination I shall set out some scenarios for you to choose from. But first a bit of history.

We had a few misconceptions in 1989, when we welcomed the ‘end of history’, meaning the end of systemic confrontation between hegemonic great powers, after the Berlin Wall fell. And also in 2001, when we invited China to participate in the free world economy by joining the WTO. The idea was that the richer China got, the more Chinese society would become like us, espousing our democratic niceties. China actually became more dictatorial the more it succeeded in becoming a poverty-free, middle-income economy. A few bouts of liberalisation and social eruptions came to nothing. Since President Xi Jinping came to office in 2013, societal control and conformity have become increasingly systemic and ubiquitous. Anecdotally, a decade ago, China had a security camera for every ten citizens. Now there is one for every two.

Military forecasts went similarly awry. Accepted wisdom was that China would never seek to grow its military in step with its booming economy. One reason for this was the typical Marxist-Leninist fear that a big army could threaten the Party’s grip on power as much as protect it. China was expected to opt for a relatively modest military, heavy on boots and light on tech. The PLA would only develop a limited range of key weapons systems to keep foes like the Russians and the US at bay. But China would not rival or threaten them militarily, so the thinking went. Now, China’s military seeks to match that of the US both in mass and sophistication in the air, on sea and on land. China has all but succeeded in this goal – except for nukes. And China is rushing to close that gap. That is what lies at the heart of the New Cold War.

How America can tame the Russian bear

Thomas Graham

Since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, the United States has lacked a coherent Russia policy. Until that moment, Washington had pursued two distinct approaches over the previous eight decades. Containment – countering the threat Soviet expansionism posed to the existing world order – defined US Cold War strategy. Integration – ushering Russia into the Euro-Atlantic community of free-market democracies as a strategic partner – was the stated goal from the end of the Cold War until Russia attacked Ukraine in 2014. Containment was a historic success: the Cold War ended largely on US terms. Integration failed badly. Russia grew more authoritarian and increasingly hostile to US interests across the globe.

During the past decade, relations have only continued to deteriorate. Administrations have spoken of relations in different terms, but none has formulated an enduring framework. President Barack Obama abruptly abandoned integration as an immediate goal but offered nothing in its place. President Donald Trump advocated engagement, although his administration actively countered Russian revisionism. President Joe Biden, in response to Russia’s massive invasion of Ukraine in 2022, settled on ‘integrated deterrence’ Trump has now returned to office with hopes of normalising relations with Russia, but he has given no clear indication of what that would entail.

US Immigration Policy and the Normalization of Military Rule in Myanmar

Tin Shine Aung

On November 24, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it had terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Burmese nationals. Secretary Kristi Noem justified the decision by claiming that conditions had “improved enough” to make the return safe, citing the military’s declared end to its state of emergency, plans for elections, and what DHS described as “notable progress in governance and stability.”

That assessment stands in direct contradiction to Washington’s own policy positions. Just one week before the DHS announcement, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on Myanmar reiterated that the junta’s planned upcoming election is a “sham,” echoing warnings from the European Union and independent experts and researchers. How DHS concluded that Myanmar is suddenly safe, while the rest of the U.S. institutions continue to denounce the regime’s political process as illegitimate, remains unanswered.

To Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, the DHS description borders on Myanmar military propaganda and was subsequently slammed by U.N. experts, including Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar. It also reflects the quiet normalization of military rule. In addition to misrepresenting reality, this move will have profound consequences for Burmese communities in the United States and the U.S. as a global normative actor.

Japan’s Long Return to Artificial Intelligence

Songruowen Ma and Kenddrick Chan

In the neon-lit laboratories of 1980s Japan, the future seemed already written. While Silicon Valley was in its infancy, Tokyo was already pouring billions into several major technology programs aimed at supporting cutting-edge scientific research. These included the Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), next-generation R&D program, and the Act for Strengthening Infrastructure for Research and Development of Industrial Technologies. Japanese companies took the cue, with Toyota starting to explore the auto-drive and voice command system, while the likes of Hitachi, Toshiba, and Panasonic had developed their own robotics divisions. The Japanese government also launched the “Fifth Generation Computer” project, aiming to create an “epoch-making computer” to surpass Europe and the United States in the field of information and technology.

Unsurprisingly, it was also in Japan that neocognitron, the architectural ancestor of the neural networks that power systems like ChatGPT, was developed by computer scientist Kunihiko Fukushima.

The Worst Hacks of 2025

Lily Hay Newman

It was a strange year in cyberspace, as US president Donald Trump and his administration launched foreign policy initiatives and massive changes to the federal government that have had significant geopolitical ramifications. Through it all, the steady drumbeat kept pounding of data breaches, leaks, ransomware attacks, digital extortion cases, and state-sponsored attacks that have unfortunately become a backdrop of daily life.

Here's WIRED's look back on this year's most significant breaches, hacking sprees, and digital attacks. Stay alert, and stay safe out there.

Salesforce Integrations

Attackers grabbed data from the sales management giant Salesforce in at least two breaches this year—but they didn't compromise Salesforce directly. Instead, the group breached third-party Salesforce contractor integrations, including those of Gainsight and Salesloft.

Cyberwarfare is here – and we must be ready

Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst MP

Britain’s national resilience is being tested in ways that would have been unthinkable a generation ago. The threats we face no longer come solely from hostile militaries with their bombs and artillery, but from cyber operations that target our essential services, our economy, and the systems that underpin daily life. This article is the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the UK Defence Journal. If you would like to submit your own article on this topic or any other, please see our submission guidelines.

In the 12 months to September 2025, GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre handled a record 204 “nationally significant” cyber attacks, up from 89 in the previous 12 months. That works out as four attacks a week, aimed squarely at our national security, economy and critical infrastructure. It comes as no surprise that a substantial proportion were linked to Advanced Persistent Threat actors – nation-states or highly capable criminal organisations.

When people think of cyber attacks, they might picture the recent Jaguar Land Rover incident, which is estimated to have cost the economy nearly £2 billion. Or attacks on the NHS, disrupting services and compromising patient privacy as systems are locked down and data stolen.

Will AI Kill the Firm?

SAMI MAHROUM

DUBAI – Almost everywhere, debates about AI remain narrowly focused, indeed almost fixated, on its impact on employment and return on investment. Which jobs will disappear? Which skills will endure? Are current valuations justified? These questions, while important, overlook a deeper issue: whether firms – the institutions that have organized economic life for the past two centuries – will themselves survive in their current form in the wake of AI.

It’s worth remembering that the firm is not a natural feature of economic life. It emerged in the 16th century, as merchants sought new ways to manage the vast distances and uncertainties of global trade. To meet those challenges, the Muscovy Company was formed in 1555 under Britain’s Queen Mary, to be followed by the more famous British and Dutch East India Companies. These joint stock companies pioneered a new model: pooling capital from hundreds of investors and building bureaucracies capable of managing years-long projects. Through accounting, auditing, and hierarchy, they created an architecture of trust that made large-scale collaboration among strangers possible.

31 December 2025

The Year That Took India and Pakistan to the Brink

Audrey Wilson

In May, India and Pakistan faced off in their worst military conflict in decades, perhaps permanently altering the status quo on the subcontinent. The crisis began with a terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi quickly—and without concrete evidence—blamed the violence on Islamabad; a few weeks later, India launched missile strikes against militant targets in Pakistan, which swiftly retaliated.

The resulting confrontation lasted four days and killed dozens of people, including civilians. It saw faster escalation than ever before and the first full-scale use of combat drones between the two nuclear-armed countries. The fighting ended abruptly with a cease-fire that generated further disagreement and both India and Pakistan claiming that they had won. Ultimately, the brief military skirmish may have raised the risks of a future war.

People Who Drink Bottled Water on a Daily Basis Ingest 90,000 More Microplastic Particles Each Yea

Ritsuko Kawai

Sarah Sajedi was visiting Phi Phi Island, Thailand, when she was dazzled by the beautiful scenery of the Andaman Sea. However, when she looked down at her feet, she saw that the white sandy beach was covered with plastic debris, most of which was from plastic bottles.

After many years in the business world as the cofounder of an environmental software company, the experience inspired Sajedi to become a researcher. She had always had a passion for waste reduction, but she realized that the problem was consumption itself.

Thus, as a doctoral student at Concordia University in Canada, Sajedi reviewed over 140 scientific papers to determine the effects of plastic bottles on the human body. She found that people ingest an average of 39,000 to 52,000 microplastic particles per year from food and drinking water, and those who use bottled water on a daily basis ingest nearly 90,000 more microplastic particles into their bodies.

“Drinking water from plastic bottles is fine in an emergency, but it is not something that should be used in daily life,” Sajedi explains. “Even if there are no immediate effects on the human body, we need to understand the potential for chronic harm.”

Long-Term Effects Remain a Mystery

It’s not just Taiwan ... 5 flashpoints that could spark World War Three in 2026

Robert Fox

There is something ambivalent about the season of goodwill, as it usually triggers a splurge of journalistic predictions of bad things to come for the new year, more trouble and pestilence and worse wars. One point of comfort is that journalists, on the whole, make lousy prophets. So, in the ambiguous spirit of the season, let's look at the places and occasions that could spark wider confrontation, even regional war or a global standoff.

Not that I can foresee a war in Europe, or anywhere else, of the kind gloomily forecast by Mark Rutte, the secretary general of Nato – “on the scale of war our fathers and grandfathers”. Whatever is in the works, it will not be anything like the great wars of the 20th century.

There will be no let-up in the intensity of combat and violence we are now seeing in Ukraine, Sudan, Rwanda and Congo, and Yemen. The standoff between Thailand and Cambodia seems tense as ever, and the ghastly bouts of civil strife and massacre in Myanmar are intensifying as the military junta finagles elections this spring.

A random spark in several of these conflicts could be the trigger for wider confrontation. As Rutte warned, we need to be prepared for war in order to prevent it.

Introduction: China’s Sweeping Ambitions for Building World-Class Military Power

Benjamin Frohman and Jeremy Rausch

As Beijing continues escalating its use of military coercion across the Indo-Pacific and leverages its massive industrial capacity to support military actions by Russia and Iran, the implications of the growth of the PRC’s military power are becoming only more concerning. By 2027, CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping, who also serves as chairman of the Central Military Commission, has instructed the PLA to be capable of invading Taiwan.[1] In July 2024, NATO labeled the PRC a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine due to its large-scale provision of dual-use components and materiel to Moscow’s war effort.[2] Likewise, critical chemical precursors and technological support that Beijing provides to Iran’s ballistic missile program helped Tehran develop the highly accurate missiles it used to attack Israel and U.S. military assets in the Middle East in 2025. Taken together, Beijing’s intention to use its development of world-class military capabilities to revise the territorial status quo in the Indo-Pacific and support its authoritarian partners in pursuing their own aggressive aims illustrates the PRC’s growing military threat to the United States and its allies and partners.

New Book Exposes How China Is Weaponizing Cyber Power Across the Western Hemisphere

— Dr. Luis O. NoguerolMIAMI, FL, UNITED STATES, December 26, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- "Dragon in the Matrix: Technical Realities of Chinese Cyber Operations Targeting the West," a groundbreaking investigation into China’s cyber and hybrid warfare across the Americas, is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Published by the Miami Strategic Intelligence Institute (MSI²) in partnership with Bravo Zulu Publishers, the book will be officially released on January 31, 2026, in both Kindle and paperback editions.

Authored by Dr. Luis O. Noguerol, a veteran cybersecurity executive and academic with more than four decades of experience in government, private-sector security, and intelligence-related cyber operations, and Dr. Rafael Marrero, a nationally recognized geopolitical strategist, author, and founder of MSI², "Dragon in the Matrix" delivers a precise, evidence-based analysis of how digital warfare has become a central instrument of state power.

Dr. Noguerol, who serves as Co-Founder and Senior Fellow for Cyber at MSI², holds a Ph.D. in Management with a specialization in Information Systems and Technology and has advised organizations on compliance with federal cybersecurity frameworks, including NIST, FISMA, and FIPS

New Quality Combat Forces Underpin Military Modernization

Arran Hope

The last few months of 2025 have seen a proliferation of authoritative policy documents and commentaries discussing “new quality combat forces” (新质战斗力), a term that refers to the integration of emerging technologies with military capabilities. These include the Central Committee’s “Recommendations” (建议) for the 15th Five-Year Plan, a commentary on the plan by Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice-Chair Zhang Youxia (张又侠), and other articles in authoritative media penned by military theorists and scholars. These pronouncements provide more detailed insight into what the term means, how it relates to other concepts such as “advanced combat forces” (先进战斗力), and its increasing importance to the Party’s notion of systems confrontation. [1][1]The phrase “新质战斗力” has no settled translation in English. Some, mirroring the common translation of “新质生产力” as “new (quality) productive forces”... They also warn against over-indexing on technological development as a marker of military modernization, warning that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) still must improve in a number of other areas, such as cultivating personnel who are both technically competent and politically reliable.

New Quality Combat Forces Underpin Push for Intelligentized Warfare

The PLA has been discussing “new quality combat forces” for decades (FMSO Foreign Perspectives Brief, December 2024). But the concept has become much more prominent in PLA discourse following Party assessments that new and emerging technologies are beginning to significantly impact the nature of warfare. General Secretary Xi Jinping first used the phrase in January 2019 at the CMC’s military work conference, where he called for “increasing the proportion of new-type combat capabilities” (要加强新型作战力量建设，增加新质战斗力比重”) (People’s Daily, November 17). It received wider attention after the Two Sessions meetings in 2024, when Xi used it in conjunction with an analogue phrase for the economic sphere, “new quality productive forces” (新质生产力).

China: An Ally Waiting for Russia’s Defeat?

Sergey E. Ivashchenko

From the first months of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia tried to present China as a strategic partner, capable of supporting it on the international arena. However, Beijing chose a more cautious line of behavior. Chinese statements about the necessity of negotiations and peaceful settlement sound regularly, but they remain declarative. Beijing is careful to avoid concrete steps that could turn it into a full-fledged mediator.

The reasons for such caution are obvious. First, China strives to preserve the image of a global power, capable of influencing conflicts, but does not want to take upon itself responsibility for their outcome. Second, direct interference in the negotiation process would put Beijing in an uncomfortable position: it would have to openly designate whose side it stands on and take upon itself quite concrete, and not declarative, commitments. In conditions when China simultaneously develops economic ties with Russia and supports trade relations with the West, such clarity is disadvantageous.

Crisis Response as Deterrence: Strategizing the Use of Elite Capabilities to Deter Adversary Aggression

Spencer Meredith

The potential People’s Republic of China (PRC) takeover of Taiwan includes a full spectrum of military and non-military options. Yet the capabilities to do so are secondary to the will of China’s Communist leaders to accomplish it. Given the tyranny of distance that limits U.S. and partner access and resupply, the timing of crises inside the first island chain remains decidedly in Beijing’s sphere of influence. To counter China’s preponderance of initiative and momentum emanating from the mainland, the United States and its partners have been expanding resources and operational applications to slow, if not deny, a hostile takeover. The goal is to influence adversary decision-making before needing to defeat adversary forces through combat.

Foremost have been service-specific approaches supporting the theater commander, ranging from shipbuilding and expanded air and maritime freedom-of-navigation operations[1] to offensive space and cyber capabilities.[2] Irregular warfare activities are also increasing to build and sustain resistance in the area[3] and to expose and exploit adversary vulnerabilities.[4] All told, Joint Force efforts to increase multi-domain capabilities have the potential to counter the growing threat from China. However, applying that capability within the adversary’s decision space requires more than manpower and materiel; it requires intellectual overmatch to defeat the adversary’s strategy. The Joint Force can draw on a wealth of lessons learned from the Cold War and twenty years of counterterrorism (CT) and counterinsurgency (COIN)—to say nothing of the growing evidence from the large-scale “battle lab” in Ukraine. Yet little research has examined the potential for crisis response (CR), as an irregular-warfare specialization, to support strategic-deterrence efforts.

How Iran's Sanctions-Evasions and Willing Support Retinue Keep It Alive

Majid Rafizadeh

The regime has learned that sanctions are only as effective as their implementation. Over time, the regime has institutionalized sanctions evasion, embedding it into state policy and delegating it to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated economic networks. This has turned evasion from an improvised response into a permanent survival machine.

Iran's continued oil exports depend on countries that are prepared to ignore sanctions, interpret them loosely, or exploit enforcement gaps. The central role in this system is played by China, which purchases large volumes of discounted Iranian oil, assuring China of a steady flow of oil and Iran of a steady flow of cash. So long as demand exists, Iran will try to find ways to supply it.

Grounding Iranian airlines would sever a key logistical lifeline for sanctions evasion and regional influence. This requires sanctioning not only Iranian carriers but also foreign companies and governments that provide aircraft parts, maintenance, insurance, fuel, and airport services. Without these inputs, Iran's aviation network cannot function.

Palestinian Authority 'Help' Is a Trap for Washington: Trump Has the Opportunity to Break a Cycle of Defeat

Pierre Rehov

The Palestinian Authority is not a neutral Muslim-majority entity seeking peace. Its doctrine has, for decades, blended conventional diplomacy with asymmetric warfare — using terrorism as an instrument of policy. In the last decade, this double game has not disappeared. It has merely learned to speak the language of Western guilt. Countries in the West have actually rewarded its terrorism, both by continuing lavishly to fund it and by climbing over one another to recognize a fictitious, nonexistent "Palestinian State."

Palestinians in Gaza might be tired of Hamas, but that does not mean they are ready to live peacefully side-by-side with Israel.

Just imagine the Palestinian Authority inside Gaza's reconstruction ecosystem, with access to donor funds, humanitarian logistics, and institutional channels. Reconstruction money is not neutral. It creates influence, dependency, and leverage. The Palestinian Authority understands this better than anyone.

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