The popular memory of Ignacio Zaragoza is often compressed into a single date: May 5, 1862. In much of the United States, Cinco de Mayo has become a cultural celebration detached from the military and political context that produced it.

Diplomacy in irregular warfare (IW) is not a supporting act; it is one of the main ways the United States competes for power and legitimacy below the threshold of conventional war. That claim matters even more now because the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has shown that contests over legitimacy, sanctions, coalition management, information, logistics, and economic resilience are not ancillary to...

Today’s world is rife with flashpoints for future conflicts, and America’s baptism by fire into drone warfare, such as we’ve seen in Ukraine, may be close at hand. Tactics and technologies born in the Russo-Ukrainian war have already appeared in Myanmar, Colombia, and Mexico, as well as in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and Iraq.

Migration is the most destabilizing force in the world today, vastly exceeding the impact of nuclear weapons, war, poverty, oppressive governments, natural disasters and all the other causes of instability that news outlets focus on. In fact, the main destabilizing impact of the other factors is the migration they cause.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has endured almost 3,000 Iranian missile and drone strikes since February 28, 2026. This volume of kinetic activity exceeds that of any other nation in the theater, including Israel.