Since October 7, 2023, the issue of terrorist use of tunnels has been front and center for those involved in strategic planning and military preparedness. While Western officials responsible for border security should be concerned about the tunnels that Hamas has used in its warfare and that Hizbullah has built …

Key points Observers and practitioners are frequently frustrated at the level of defense burden-sharing in U.S. alliances—alliance members’ contributions to collective defense objectives—and particularly at allies’ low level of investment in their own defense. This paper compares two approaches to soliciting burden-sharing in U.S. alliances: retrenchment and conditionality. Retrenchment refers …

President Donald Trump recently informed Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in Israel that he intends to withdraw the 2,000 U.S. troops stationed in Syria to combat the remnants of Islamic State, according to Israeli media. If true, that news is sure to stir the pot in Washington, where Trump’s pledge to remove …