What can leaders do about a transnational organization that is a militia, a political party, a social services network, and a smuggling operation at the same time — and one that has resisted various dialogues and survived repeated attacks?American, Lebanese, and other leaders should recognize Hizballah’s hybrid, transnational nature and grapple with the unique challenges the organization creates. Otherwise, they will fail to resolve the Hizballah predicament while creating conditions for ineffective agreements, new wars, and squandered opportunities in the Levant.
Author: Michael
The amphibious invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, remains the largest and most complex amphibious operation in history. On the first day alone, Allied forces landed eight divisions, including five amphibious assault and three airborne, totaling roughly 160,000 personnel. That force more than doubled within days.Normandy was unprecedented in scale but not in kind. A Taiwan invasion would present the reverse problem: Taiwan’s size is not the unprecedented part — the operational challenges are.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy has been confirmed to have brought the Z-8D helicopter into service, with the aircraft relied on primarily for anti-submarine warfare operations, but also to support amphibious assaults, search and rescue, and logistics missions. The first clear images of the aircraft emerged publicly in March 2025.
WSAV TV news (Savannah, GA) reported that Sgt. Quornelius Radford, 29, was given six consecutive life sentences for six offenses of attempted murder. He was found guilty on June 18.
The U.S. Air Force on June 29 deployed F-15EX long range fighters to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, Japan, which represented part of the service’s gradual preparation to permanently station the fighter type at the facility. While the decision to permanently station the new fighters on Okinawa was first announced in 2022, replacing F-15C/D fighters that were long since considered obsolete, the program has suffered from significant delays.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy has deployed one of its two most capable destroyers, the recently commissioned Type 055 class destroyerDongguan, for itsfirst long-range voyage in active service. The Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Ministry of Defense reported that the ship sailed southeast in the waters between Okinawa Island and Miyako Island on June 30, heading towards the Pacific Ocean. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force deployed a Mogami class frigate and a P-3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft to conduct surveillance and gather intelligence on the destroyer’s transit.
Iran’s parliament speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, told state television on Tuesday that Tehran is prioritizing diplomacy with the United States while remaining, in his words, “prepared for war and will respond accordingly.”
He framed it as a dual track, dialogue first and force if the talks collapse, and he delivered it as Iranian and American delegations arrived in Doha for the latest round aimed at salvaging the agreement that paused nearly four months of fighting.
The warning was not abstract.
Europe is rearming, and tanks are back on the t
Creating a hybrid navy with an untested system
The Marine Corps is creating a new primary military occupational specialty for scouts starting on Oct. 1, Corps officials announced on Tuesday.
The new scout field, which will have a military occupational speciality, or MOS, code of 0315, will make up a 26-Marine scout platoon within infantry battalions, with scout teams being added to light armored reconnaissance battalions, reads a Marine Corps news release.
Scout platoons are equipped with advanced optics, communications equipment, and drones for reconnaissance and surveillance missions, the release says.