It was an unfortunate series of events that kept a new season of “The Terminal List” from getting to air. The 2023 Writer’s Strike, a Screen Actor’s Guild strike, and the busy schedule of the show’s popular lead Chris Pratt, who portrays rogue Navy SEAL Lt. Cmdr. James Reece.
But on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, viewers will catch up with Reece on the other side of international law when “The Terminal List” season two binge drops on Amazon Prime Video.

The Iran war is fast approaching its eight-month anniversary. A conflict U.S. President Donald Trump said would end within weeks has dominated the U.S. political landscape for most of the year. Both Tehran and Washington’s refusal to budge suggests the conflict won’t end anytime soon.

The conflict will cost the GOP its majority in Congress, leaving an uncomfortable final two years of Trump’s second term with a Democrat-controlled chamber set to limit much of his desired agenda.

A B-52 Stratofortress lands at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, April 15, 2021.

Russia launched yet another attack on Ukraine overnight, with at least 16 people killed in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and at least another 69 people injured — figures that include children and other civilian non-combatants.

Posting to social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky decried the attack on civilians. “A horrific Russian attack in the Kharkiv region. A “Shahed” drone struck essentially just civilians—in a park near an ordinary café. Absolute barbarism. Six people were killed, including children. A little girl was killed in her stroller.

Amidst a major buildup of US military forces throughout the Middle East, as Israeli warplanes continue scrambling, conducting what appear to be mock attack runs, and the countdown to the two most consequential elections of this decade–Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the US Midterm elections–runs down, the Iranians are also preparing.

Escalation Underway?

F-15I Fighter Israeli Air Force. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

F-35I Adir Fighter. Image Credit: Israeli Air Force.

The Strait of Hormuz could become “redundant” within five years as Gulf states develop alternative export routes, HSBC Chief Executive Georges Elhedery suggested on Tuesday.

“Of course, we do wish and hope to see a resolution to the conflict… But Hormuz, probably in five years, may become redundant,” he told the HSBC Future Forum in Dubai, Reuters quoted him as saying.

A Sailor directs an F/A-18E Super Hornet from the “Kestrels” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 137 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) in the South China Sea, May 12, 2025.

Another Day, Another Poll, and Another Record Low Approval for Donald Trump – U.S. President Donald Trump has hit his lowest-ever approval rating for the second day in a row.

A newly released Reuters/Ipsos poll found that only 31% of Americans approve of the President’s performance in office, the lowest percentage in any comparable poll during either of his two terms.

President Donald J. Trump signs executive orders, Friday, May 9, 2025, in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

President Donald J.

Wars are costly. And the Civil War was one of the costliest, with estimates as high as $70 billion (adjust for inflation). Even World War II was a fraction of that cost. The United States government had to pay for it somehow and on top of instituting the first income tax in American history, it also decided to place a flat $2.00 per gallon tax on un-aged corn whiskey.
Also Read: A phone tax for the Spanish-American War helped pay for all American wars in the 20th century
Americans, notorious for not wanting to pay taxes (especially on whiskey), immediately found ways to avoid paying the tax.

The new Marvel series “VisionQuest” (now streaming on Disney+) is considered the third installment in a trilogy of limited series: First came “WandaVision,” then “Agatha All Along,” and now “VisionQuest.”
What I loved about “WandaVision” is that it took such an enormous creative swing.

President Donald Trump’s vacillation over who he’s more sympathetic to in the Russia-Ukraine war has flipped once again in recent weeks, with the president seeming to side with Russia.

He agreed to a deal to buy diesel oil from Russia and lift sanctions, and has called for Volodymyr Zelensky to be replaced as Ukraine’s president by someone more willing to agree to a deal with the Russians to end the war.

The PAC-3 MSE is a highly sought-after air defense munition due to its advanced capabilities and versatility.

BRING IT ON | Military Motivation
✓ Military

Europe’s war preparations are exposing artillery import dependence. US product popularity is shifting, favouring South Korea.

Zelenskyy Accuses US Of Delaying Patriot Interceptors – The Patriot air defense missiles are built. They’re paid for. They just aren’t moving.

That’s the heart of what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told a bipartisan group of US senators on Monday, and it’s the sharpest public charge Kyiv has leveled at Washington in this war.

Patriot Missile Interceptor Test. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Patriot Missile Launch. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed several times this year a tripartite summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump.

No such summit has taken place, and now Putin has floated a different three-way summit that would exclude Zelensky.

Tim Murry, a foreign threats compound contractor, drives a T-72 battle tank into position to serve as adversary targets for a joint service exercise, Emerald Flag, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Nov. 30. Emerald Flag is a multi-service exercise aimed to unify information sharing across joint domain platforms.

The family of the Austrian girl whom Army Pvt. John Arthur Bennett raped in 1954 did not support his execution.
The parents of Gertie, who was 11 years old at the time of the assault, wrote to the White House after the administration reached out to them. They replied, saying they did not favor putting Bennett to death. So did Gertie.
“I consent to a commutation of the sentence since even his execution could not eradicate what has happened,” the then-17-year-old wrote.

Six months after tapping Gecko Robotics’ suite of wall-climbing robots, drones, and sensors that capture data and apply AI to fix and enhance the Navy’s aging and emerging maritime fleets, the U.S. government is quadrupling the value of its original contract ceiling.
This move signals a shift from the sea service’s legacy acquisition approaches and a growing emphasis on innovation and readiness as a national security priority, the firm’s Co-founder and President Troy Demmer told DefenseScoop ahead of the announcement on Tuesday.
“Historically, the U.S.

This video describes the military situation in

Stephen Losey, A&SF The U.S. Navy on Oct.

The Aviationist The test validated hardware and software in the carrier-based MD-5C Ground Control Station, marking another step toward integrating unmanned aerial refueling into carrier…

Michael Carvelli, RealClearDefense Congress and the Department should explain how funding, authority, and measurable outcomes will support AUTOWARCOM’s mission

Mark Pomerleau, BrDefense When the Army for the first time attempted to integrate Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) tech from defense firm Anduril into its existing comms systems, not…

Ethan M. Encarnacion, NextGenDefense The US Army’s new battle command variant will use an expandable vehicle-mounted shelter to provide more workspace and mobility.

In March 2025, Germany did more than loosen a fiscal rule. It fused two national emergencies — a deteriorating European security order and a deteriorating industrial model — into a single constitutional bargain. The reform de facto exempted German defense expenditure from any domestic budgetary ceiling — as the German Bundesbank itself has acknowledged — and enabled a military expansion of extraordinary proportions. E.U.

Around ten Israeli Air Force F-35 fifth generation fighter aircraft reportedly departed Nevatim Airbase on the evening of October 19, flying through Syrian airspace before entering Iraq, where they conducted simulated attack runs. Similar flights have reportedly taken place over several consecutive days, amid heightened Iranian military alertness and speculation over the possibility of renewed U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran.

The Republic of China Air Force expects to receive additional F-16C/D Block 70 fighter aircraft from the United States by the end of October, following the arrival of the first two aircraft on October 2. Defence Minister Wellington Koo announced on October 12 that of the 66 aircraft ordered six having progressed to flight testing and acceptance procedures. Of those six, two have already been delivered, two are being retained in the United States to support training, and another two are undergoing acceptance inspections.

Ukraine reportedly received no advance intelligence warning of the first of two Russian ballistic missile attack waves overnight Sunday and Monday.

Ukrainian officials confirmed that they received warnings about the second wave, but not the first.

President Donald J. Trump welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska, August 15, 2025 (DoD photo by Benjamin Applebaum)

President Donald J.

Acutely aware of their impending losses in the upcoming November 3 midterm elections, Republican candidates and strategists appear to be turning on each other and preparing their excuses.

With just two weeks left before the midterm elections, a new POLITICO investigation published Monday, October 19, describes growing tension within the Republican Party as candidates and other officials in competitive races grow anxious about a potential Democratic takeover of Congress.

President Donald Trump is warning that Russia could increase its support for Iran if Washington continues to impose new economic sanctions against Moscow.

In recent comments, the U.S. president defended his recent controversial decision to ease pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin as the war in Ukraine rages and drones and missiles hit refineries regularly.

T-90 Tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Russian T-90 Tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Nobody on the Arabian Peninsula is talking about peace anymore. According to The Washington Post, the fight between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis has become the most volatile front in the regional war that started when the U.S. and Israel hit Iran in February.

Both sides now see more fighting as the only way forward.

A U.S. Air National Guard F-15 Eagle from the 159th Fighter Wing, Louisiana Air National Guard, takes off during exercise Sentry Aloha 26-1 at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Jan. 27, 2026.

Hanwha Defense USA executives hosted a “supplier day” during the Army’s annual AUSA summit last week, where they met with dozens of companies to review in-demand technology and weapons components that can be sourced domestically and the most promising places to expand local production capacity.
“We had 70-something suppliers at our event,” HDUSA’s CEO and President Michael Coulter told DefenseScoop. “And they were all American.

The Defense Department announced Monday the results of recent “research security audits” of 30 academic institutions across the country and suggested that probes of other universities could be on the horizon.
In August, Pentagon leaders instructed 30 American universities and specialized technology institutes to immediately audit their academic, financial and research connections to foreign organizations on the so-called Section 1286 list that are deemed to be a security risk due to the possibility that they could exploit American research for adversarial purposes.

On Sunday night/Monday morning, Russia launched yet another large-scale drone/missile attack against Kyiv and other regions in Ukraine.

According to reports, the Russians utilized roughly 16 ballistic missiles, none of which were shot down, that struck energy facilities and power substations in the capital city.

Iskander Missile Attack Creative Commons Image

Iskander-M. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The attacks caused widespread power outages across the city, leaving about 550,000 people without power.

HMS Prince of Wales has left Portsmouth for the

As a result of the ongoing U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s main oil terminals are now empty, and have been for weeks, Bloomberg News reported Monday, citing its own data and additional data from Kpler and Vortexa.

According to the Bloomberg report, no tankers have docked at the Kharg Island crude-exports terminal since August.

A Polish F-16 pilot awaits instructions from his crew chief after completion of a Baltic Air Policing sortie at Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania, Aug. 30, 2017.

This video describes the military situation in

Two sets of recently revealed statistics have more to say about the Russo-Ukrainian War than the hoopla emanating from the Kremlin and the White House, both of which claim, openly or implicitly, that Russia is defeating, and will defeat, Ukraine.

Putin Can’t Bomb His Way to Victory 
The relentless Russian bombing of Ukrainian civilians and Kyiv’s admitted inability to protect them from ballistic missiles and certain types of drones is usually adduced as evidence for such dark prognoses.

RAF Basketball’s top team proved why they

A Marine artillery battalion has traded in its

Cognizant of how sensitive American voters are to the price of gas at the pump, Iran is seemingly hell-bent on spiking oil prices as high as it can ahead of American midterm elections next month.

For President Donald Trump and his Republican Party, energy costs could become the political cudgel their adversaries use to win the various midterm races.

Gas Prices in Davenport, Florida. Image by National Security Journal.

The situation bears some resemblance to the failed Iranian hostage crisis, which contributed to President Jimmy Carter’s massive 1980 reelection defeat to Ronald Regan.

With various actions, most recently the oil deal with Russia to lift sanctions and purchase diesel, President Donald Trump has been accused of acting with the midterm elections in mind.

But a new report says Iran is also eyeing those elections in its own decision-making.

Twenty-six ships from 13 partner and allied nations steam in formation with Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) during a multinational maritime exercise as part of Fleet Exercise (FLEETEX) 250 in the Atlantic Ocean, June 25, 2026.

After securing an historic military agreement with Greenland, U.S. President Donald Trump is looking to capitalize on the deal and begin exploiting the Arctic island’s enormous natural resources – but his recent comments about American companies drilling for oil in Greenland are facing competition from European Union figures who are preparing to change the political bloc’s approach to oil and gas exploration in the region.

Welcome to The Ukraine Compass, a weekly digest of Ukrainian commentary and analysis from across the political spectrum only for War on the Rocks members. Each week, we bring you a curated selection of articles from Ukrainian media offering insight into how Ukrainians themselves debate the issues shaping their country.Western coverage often narrows the view to the battlefield — these pieces widen it, revealing the texture of daily life, politics, and public argument in a nation at war.

Defence Medical Academy have won the championsh

Russia launched 16 ballistic missiles at the Kyiv region overnight on Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy subsequently accused Washington of failing to share critical intelligence on the devastating assault.

This latest aerial onslaught came as tensions between Washington and Kyiv over U.S. intelligence contributions continue to climb.

Tu-160 Bomber. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Tu-160 Bomber Russian Air Force Photo

Yet Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday denied that the U.S. had halted any sharing, suggesting technical issues might be to blame.

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants a Trump-Xi summit to discuss the future of Ukraine — without President Zelenskyy, according to a new report.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Putin proposed talks between the three leaders in November to negotiate an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on terms favorable to Putin.

Putin June 2026 Kremlin Photo Handout.

Putin in October 2021 Creative Commons Photo

According to a former Russian intelligence officer, the Russian president broached the idea during a phone call with Trump earlier this month.

Iran has launched an intensified campaign of attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, right as Washington was celebrating a meaningful increase in daily traffic.

The attacks are again driving up oil prices.

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Farragut (DDG 99) arrives at Pier 88 during the International Naval Review (INR) 250 Parade of Sail in New York, July 4, 2026. The Parade of Sail marks the opening of INR 250, a multinational maritime celebration commemorating the 250th anniversaries of the U.S.

Over the weekend, Ukraine launched one of its most massive drone attacks against Russia since the beginning of the war.

According to some claims, Kyiv launched more than 1000 attack UAVs on Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Putin in Meeting In January 2023 Creative Commons Photo

Drones were detected in multiple Oblasts, with Saint Petersburg as the main focus of the air raid.

Vice President JD Vance faced criticism after a tense exchange with the husband of an American soldier killed during the war with Iran.

During a CBS town hall, Joey Amor questioned whether American military leadership had adequately protected US personnel: Amor’s wife, Master Sgt. Nicole Amor, was among six American service members killed in an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait on March 1.

F-15 in museum. National Security Journal Photo.

F-15 fighter at Museum. National Security Journal Photo.

RAF Brize Norton has been undergoing a major £

Western countries are looking to replenish ammunition supplies, creating demand on energetics material used in warheads and propellent.

Denmark has reaffirmed its sovereignty over the semi-autonomous territory of Greenland after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed the island would soon begin major oil, gas, and mineral extraction.

Washington and Copenhagen signed a deal last month that ended a near two-year standoff over the island’s future, which Trump has repeatedly claimed is essential to U.S. security.

Oil Platform. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Generic Oil Tanker Image. Image Credit: Creative Commons.