Just after a band of mercenaries tried to oust the government in the Maldives back in 1988, I asked a Maldivian diplomat, using a familiar military catchphrase, about the strength of his country’s “standing army.” “Standing army?” the diplomat asked with mock surprise, and remarked perhaps half-jokingly, “We don’t even …

Israeli air strikes on Wednesday near Syria’s capital Damascus killed three fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and wounded four others, a war monitor said. Syrian state news agency SANA earlier reported two soldiers had been wounded in the strikes overnight Tuesday-Wednesday. It quoted a military source as saying …

For a long time, the White House’s hardliners have tried to pull Europe into their conflict with China. They need this conflict to preserve their dominant position and to keep Europe more reliant on them. They use Russia’s war with Ukraine, China’s technological advancement, and their exaggerated emphasis on democratic …