Garrett Ehinger // Rather than treating this "cartel cancer" with a blunt butcher's knife, the United States should pursue new approaches to securing the border, strengthening domestic law enforcement, and peacefully investing in protecting Mexican democracy.
Author: Realist Review Staff
The East African Spider Web: Offensive Forces Withdraw from Tigray
Cosimo Ceccarelli, Lake Dodson, & Nick Kimble // It is hopeful and noble to believe that this is the new beginning of an era of peace. Still, realistically, the fate of the Horn of Africa continues to waver with unsatisfying uncertainty.
Russia’s Invasion A Year Later: How Putin Could Have Secured His Strategic Aims at a Smaller Cost
Jacob Bosen // Russia missed an opportunity by not utilizing the same tactics that the Soviet Union frequently deployed during the Cold War known as active measures. Political warfare and protracted conflict should have been Russia’s choice of weapons against the United States and Ukraine, not direct military conflict.
Strategic Patience: How the US Can Best Compete With China
Garrett Ehinger // It is, therefore, far from inevitable that China will surpass the United States. To paraphrase Napoleon Bonaparte, “never interrupt your enemy when they are making a mistake.” Lucky for America, China is making several.
Azerbaijan and Iran: A Tale of Two Countries
Alexander Miguel // Iran and Azerbaijan share many cultural similarities. However, these cultural similarities fail to halt a cooling of relations as each country drifts apart geopolitically.
State-Sponsored Terrorism Is Back
Simeone Miller // As the United States faces strategic competition, it must be prepared to respond to the likely increase of state-sponsored terrorism in the coming years. In doing so, it must be cognizant of the blowback of responding to these threats with either unconventional or conventional military force as it has with Salafi-Jihadist terrorists. In lieu, it should be restrained and develop alternative means to engage in the return of state-sponsored terrorism through diplomacy, law enforcement, and intelligence cooperation.
The Importance of Gender Mainstreaming in Military Spaces
Girogia Piantanida // If the army vows to be fighting for freedom, equality and justice, then it cannot itself be against those values by excluding women and/or segregating them to low skilled positions. To fight for certain ideals, the military itself has a duty to represent those ideals.
Europe’s Breadbasket Isn’t Exporting Much Bread
Lake Dodson // Until mutual concessions are made to allow Ukrainian free trade or the Russian invasion of Ukraine ends, the lives of billions hang in the balance as “Europe’s breadbasket” is pillaged.
Why China Lacks Subtlety about Its Intentions with Taiwan
Garrett Ehinger // Taiwan is only about 100 miles off the coast of China, and much like how the United States felt during the Cuban Missile Crisis, China perceives military and strategic threats from a US-aligned Taiwan. But there are other qualities of a democratic Taiwan that cause it to chafe the PRC.
The Case for a Post-Ukraine Peace Dividend
Noah Schwartz // If we accept that the massive military presence we maintain is more of a threat to US democratic norms than Russia, the only option is a peace dividend of mass defense cuts.