United States

Germany

Ukraine

Russia

Military & Security

Politics

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner concluded two days of negotiations on a security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a potential Russia-Ukraine peace framework, the Financial Times reported on Dec. 15.

Ukraine, U.S.: Berlin Talks Advance Security Framework But Leave Territory Unresolved

Venezuela

Cyber

Energy

Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA claimed it suffered a cyberattack orchestrated by the United States and conspirators in a statement published on Dec. 15, Reuters reported the same day.

Venezuela: State Oil Company Suffers Cyberattack, Accuses U.S.

Hong Kong SAR, China

China

United Kingdom

Economics

A Hong Kong national security court found Jimmy Lai, the 78-year-old founder of shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, guilty on two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the 2020 National Security Law and one count of sedition under a colonial-era law, Hong Kong Free Press reported on Dec. 15.

Hong Kong, U.S., U.K.: Jimmy Lai Convicted, Raises Dilemma for Trump, Starmer

Syria

Syrian and U.S. forces launched a joint security operation targeting Islamic State sleeper cells on Dec. 14, The New Arab reported the same day.

Syria: Suspected Islamic State Gunman Attacks U.S.-Syria Patrol, Sparking Joint Security Operation

Cambodia

Thailand

U.S. President Donald Trump said via Truth Social that Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet had both agreed to "cease all shooting" effective the evening of Dec. 12 (which has already passed in-region) and revert to the earlier U.S.- and Malaysia-brokered peace accord, Reuters reported the same day. 

Thailand, Cambodia, U.S.: Trump Claims Ceasefire Reset, Bangkok Signals Conditions as Fighting Continues

Brazil

The U.S. Treasury Department lifted sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act on Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and his wife, Viviane Barci de Moraes, g1 reported on Dec. 12. 

U.S., Brazil: U.S. Lifts Magnitsky Sanctions on Brazilian Supreme Court Justice 

Cote d'Ivoire

Mali

The government of Cote d'Ivoire is pressing the United States to deploy intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets to the country to help counter the fuel blockade imposed on the Malian capital Bamako by al Qaeda affiliate Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), Reuters reported Dec. 11, citing conversations with two Ivorian officials.

Cote D'Ivoire: Government Lobbies for U.S. Air Assets to Counter JNIM Blockade on Bamako

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order late on Dec. 11 that seeks to curb state-level artificial intelligence laws as part of the administration's larger deregulation push for the sector, The Washington Post reported the same day. 

U.S.: Trump Signs Executive Order Aiming To Curb State AI Laws

Assessments

Europe

A stock photo shows banknotes of the Russian ruble. 

The European Union using immobilized Russian assets to fund financial support for Ukraine will probably not have major reputational or financial consequences for the eurozone.


Using Frozen Russian Assets To Fund Ukraine Unlikely To Majorly Impact the Euro

Iran

Israel

Lebanon

Palestinian Territories

Yemen

Israeli air defence systems are activated to intercept Iranian missiles over the Israeli city of Tel Aviv amid a fresh barrage of Iranian rockets on June 16, 2025.

Israel-Hamas Conflict

If effective, the laser air defense system will significantly reduce the cost of intercepting short-range aerial threats and bolster Israel's multilayered protection against aerial attacks.


The Role of Iron Beam in Israel's Evolving Defense Architecture

Tracking U.S. Naval Power

This map shows the approximate locations of U.S. Carrier Strike Groups and Amphibious Ready Groups.

U.S. Naval Update Map: Dec. 11, 2025

Middle East and North Africa

Jordanian police close the entrance of a Muslim Brotherhood headquarters on April 23, 2025, in Amman, Jordan.

While the White House has initiated a review process to label the Muslim Brotherhood a Foreign Terrorist Organization, it is unlikely to result in a comprehensive ban on the group.

U.S. Unlikely To Broadly Designate Muslim Brotherhood as a Terrorist Organization

Philippines

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his third State of the Nation Address before lawmakers at the House of Representatives on July 22, 2024 in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. 

A widespread corruption scandal is threatening to cause political instability in the Philippines, which could lead to policy paralysis and weaken the Philippines' posture against China.

A Corruption Scandal Threatens Political Crisis in the Philippines

A Thai soldier points out an area on a map near the Cambodian border during a press visit on Aug. 16, 2025, in Sisaket, Thailand. 

Renewed fighting along the border could surpass the July clashes in scale, and while U.S. pressure will likely compel both countries to return to the ceasefire, the risk of future flare-ups will remain high.

Latest Thailand-Cambodia Clashes Will Test U.S. Appetite for Intervention

Snapshots

The U.S. Navy's Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group participates in joint operations with the U.S. Air Force on Nov. 13, 2025.

Increased military mobilizations, failed negotiations with Maduro and persistent aggressive rhetoric suggest the Trump administration will likely soon escalate its Caribbean military campaign to targeted strikes in Venezuelan territory.

The U.S. Remains Poised To Attack Venezuelan Territory

U.S. Naval Update Map: Dec. 4, 2025

Eurasia

Russia's President Vladimir Putin, accompanied by Kremlin economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, meets with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner at the Kremlin in Moscow on Dec. 2, 2025.

Fundamental disagreements between Ukraine and Russia over territorial concessions and security guarantees suggest that peace negotiations are unlikely to lead to a comprehensive breakthrough.

Despite U.S. Diplomatic Push, Ukraine Peace Still a Long Way Off

Portugal

Spain

People visit the 1627 Pilgrim Village at "Plimoth Plantation," where role-players portray pilgrims seven years after the arrival of the Mayflower, in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

On Thanksgiving, the United States celebrates the Plymouth Colony. However, few know that New England's colonization was a response to major geopolitical pressures -- particularly England's struggle against the Spanish both on the Continent and in the New World.

Thanksgiving and Puritan Geopolitics in the Americas

Global Trade

U.S.-China Relations

While efforts by China and others to de-dollarize their international trade will fragment the international trade financing regime to some extent, they will do little to undermine the dollar's dominance.

The Geopolitics of Trade: De-dollarization and International Trade

U.S. Naval Update Map: Nov. 26, 2025

The United States encompasses territory spanning from the Arctic Circle and Central Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico and the North Atlantic.    The Greater Mississippi Basin is the United States' core and serves as the underpinning of its role as a global superpower.    The basin hosts an extensive network of navigable rivers that overlay the world's largest contiguous piece of arable land. This naturally interconnected river system facilitated integration among settlers and allowed for cheap transport of goods, providing the United States with the ability to feed itself efficiently and rapidly build up industry and capital to expand west. The Midwestern core gave early America strategic depth, while an expanding U.S. coastline, naturally indented with deep harbors, provided its opening to the world.    After reaching the Pacific coast in the mid-19th century, the United States found itself insulated by two oceans. On the continent itself, geography again has worked in the country's favor: lakes to the north and deserts to the south insulate the United States' population centers, with both Canada and Mexico facing too many natural constraints of their own to seriously rival it.    This unparalleled level of wealth and protection gives the United States options that few to no countries can claim. For one, the United States has used its wealth and security to build up the world's largest navy. Control of the world's major sea-lanes gives the United States the power to facilitate or deny trade to allies or rivals of the day. The onus therefore is on the United States to carefully manage its engagements abroad and build up strategic allies to protect its overseas interests and preserve its strength at home. 

SITUATION REPORTS

Ukraine, U.S.: Berlin Talks Advance Security Framework But Leave Territory Unresolved

Venezuela: State Oil Company Suffers Cyberattack, Accuses U.S.

Hong Kong, U.S., U.K.: Jimmy Lai Convicted, Raises Dilemma for Trump, Starmer

Syria: Suspected Islamic State Gunman Attacks U.S.-Syria Patrol, Sparking Joint Security Operation

Thailand, Cambodia, U.S.: Trump Claims Ceasefire Reset, Bangkok Signals Conditions as Fighting Continues

U.S., Brazil: U.S. Lifts Magnitsky Sanctions on Brazilian Supreme Court Justice

Cote D'Ivoire: Government Lobbies for U.S. Air Assets to Counter JNIM Blockade on Bamako

U.S.: Trump Signs Executive Order Aiming To Curb State AI Laws

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