Author: Michael

China controls 99 percent of the world’s primary gallium, a critical mineral and semiconductor crucial for building the microchips of the future. In 2023, it placed export controls on gallium to retaliate against American restrictions on the export of advanced chips to China. In December 2024, China escalated to an outright ban on gallium exports to the United States. The U.S. National Defense Stockpile had zero gallium reserves when that ban landed.The United States has been here before. The United States pioneered and scaled modern silicon semiconductor infrastructure.

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The Russian Aerospace Forces deployed Su-35 long range air superiority fighters to escort a pair of Tu-22M3 strategic bombers for a flight over the Baltic Sea on April 20. The Tu-22M3 is one of the longest ranged combat aircraft in the world, with the Su-35 being unable to accompany the aircraft throughout the duration of its flight, instead taking turns with Su-30SM fighters to perform escort duties.

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South Korea’s security is no longer confined to the peninsula. That is the real lesson from the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz. And if decision-makers in Seoul didn’t understand this before, they surely understand this now.The U.S.-South Korean alliance was built to deter North Korea, defend South Korea, and stabilize Northeast Asia. That mission remains indispensable, but a serious disruption in the Strait of Hormuz now hits South Korea directly through energy imports, shipping, industrial production, and economic confidence.

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Belgian Chief of General Staff Frederic Vansina has stressed that European states need to urgently strengthen their defences, and have an approximately four year window to build up a sufficient capability to deter Russia without U.S. support. He stressed the necessity of European militarisation over the next four years, adding that Ukraine was “buying time for us,” and “that’s why we support them so strongly.” By 2030, he stated, “the war in Ukraine, we hope, will be over. Russia will be there with its army of 650,000 to 700,000 seasoned troops.

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