A rigorous, policy-relevant journal on national & international security, brought to you by @utsystem in association with @StraussCenter and @ClementsCenter
Simplistic readings of the "Thucydides Trap" risk driving fatalistic foreign policy. In our latest, Robert Stone (@ufhamilton) and Joshua Hammond (@NavalWarCollege) argue that reducing ancient history to power politics misses Thucydides’ true insights.
tnsr.org/2026/09/trapped-by-…
ALT Trapped by the Tradition: Reading Thucydides on Strategy and Policy | "In place of the tired invocations of inevitable war, procrustean power politics, and democratic fickleness, Thucydides offers insights into the importance of international legitimacy, national character, and democratic exceptionalism." by Robert Stone and Joshua Hammond
Is great-power competition with China destined for war?
In our latest article, Robert Stone (@ufhamilton) and Joshua Hammond (@NavalWarCollege) argue that reducing Thucydides to generic power politics misses his core insights.
Read now: tnsr.org/2026/09/trapped-by-…#Strategy#IR
ALT Scholar | "Trapped by the Tradition: Reading Thucydides on Strategy and Policy" by Robert Stone and Joshua Hammond
Policymakers shouldn't have to synthesize conflicting academic and intelligence inputs. In our latest article, James Kwoun (@NDU_EDU) proposes a framework for the Intelligence Community to integrate social science, history, and analysis.
tnsr.org/2026/09/embracing-n…#Intelligence
ALT It is unrealistic for senior policymakers, operating under severe time constraints and pressure, to integrate fragmented insights from intelligence analysts, social scientists, and historians. A more helpful approach is to have the Intelligence Community assume this responsibility and create a framework to synthesize perspectives grounded in fundamentally different epistemologies. | "Embracing (Not Bridging) the Gap: Integrating Intelligence Analysis, Social Science, and History" by James Kwoun
Thank you for hosting me for this conversation at the @AspenSecurity Forum.
We discussed political prisoners, Belarusians’ opposition to Russia’s war, and Moscow’s growing grip on our country.
A free and democratic Belarus is essential to Europe’s security.
Recorded at @AspenSecurity this summer: Belarusian democratic leader @Tsihanouskaya joins Horns of a Dilemma with @mkimmage & @RGVest.
They discuss resisting dictatorship, supporting Ukraine, and why a free Belarus is vital to NATO security.
ALT "Changes in Russia can start from the changes in Belarus" | Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's Battle for Belarus"
Recorded at @AspenSecurity this summer: Belarusian democratic leader @Tsihanouskaya joins Horns of a Dilemma with @mkimmage & @RGVest.
They discuss resisting dictatorship, supporting Ukraine, and why a free Belarus is vital to NATO security.
ALT "Changes in Russia can start from the changes in Belarus" | Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's Battle for Belarus"
In our latest, James Kwoun (@NDU_EDU) argues that attempting to "bridge" the scholar-practitioner gap is a mistake. Instead, national security analysis must embrace epistemological differences to build integrated judgments.
tnsr.org/2026/09/embracing-n…
ALT Strategist | "Embracing (Not Bridging) the Gap: Integrating Intelligence Analysis, Social Science, and History" by James Kwoun
ALT Shuxian Luo | "China tends to condone and shield Pyongyang when it perceives US assurances vis-à-vis Taiwan as weakening; conversely, China is inclined to constrain North Korea when Washington demonstrates a strong willingness to reassure Beijing on the Taiwan issue." Quote from "A Plum for a Peach? Issue Linkage, Taiwan, and China’s Policy toward North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Program"
New article in @TXNatSecReview The conventional view: CN's DPRK policy and the TW question in US-CN relations are separate files. My argument: they're two ends of the same string. CN's willingness to rein in NK rises & falls with how much reassurance it perceives from US on TW./1
Why does China alternate between constraining and shielding North Korea?
In our latest article, @joy_shuxian_luo (@UHMAsianStudies) argues Beijing links DPRK policy to US assurances on Taiwan and outlines a middle path to manage both flashpoints.
Read at tnsr.org/2026/09/a-plum-for-…
ALT Scholar | "A Plum for a Peach? Issue Linkage, Taiwan, and China’s Policy toward North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Program" by Shuxian Luo
ALT "On War and Politics" by Sheena Chestnut Greitens | "The contemporary world presents example after example of the need to integrate the use of military force with broader tools of strategy and statecraft in service of broader political goals—and scholarship across history and political science highlights the costs of failing to do so well."
Is space diplomacy just standard statecraft, or a sticky new lever of global influence? On the latest Horns of a Dilemma, experts break down China’s space partnerships with Egypt, the UAE, and Iran.
@lprubin73 | @NunnSchoolGT | @DayanaAlagirova
ALT "China's Bid for Space Supremacy in the Middle East" with Lawrence Rubin, Lincoln Hines, and Dayana Alagirova
Is space diplomacy just standard statecraft, or a sticky new lever of global influence? On the latest Horns of a Dilemma, experts break down China’s space partnerships with Egypt, the UAE, and Iran.
@lprubin73 | @NunnSchoolGT | @DayanaAlagirova
ALT "China's Bid for Space Supremacy in the Middle East" with Lawrence Rubin, Lincoln Hines, and Dayana Alagirova
Most of us think of cognitive biases as quirks of everyday decision-making, but a recent Texas National Security Review study shows they are deeply embedded in people’s attitudes toward nuclear weapons and war.
Read more in our recent blog. ⤵️
nti.org/risky-business/the-h…