Defense One Radio, Ep. 201: Conflicts to watch in 2026

CFR's Paul Stares unpacks the latest annual survey of foreign policy experts bracing for what might lie ahead.

• Ben Watson
• December 18, 2025

The D Brief: Trump rebrands housing subsidies as ‘bonus’; Venezuelan navy starts escorting tankers; SOF needs jamming ranges; Big arms sale to Taiwan; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• December 18, 2025

The D Brief: Trump sets blockage on Venezuela; Europe warns of war; SecDef won’t release boat-strike video; Nominees to fill long-vacant posts; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• December 17, 2025

The D Brief: Fentanyl now a ‘WMD’; Airstrikes rise in Somalia; Cocom consolidation, mulled; Post-quantum encryption; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• December 16, 2025

The D Brief: 3 Americans killed in Syria; Ukraine peace talks; Germany on Russian sabotage; Scharre on AI in war; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• December 15, 2025

New GAO, Navy reports warn of serious V-22 Osprey safety risks, with some fixes stretching into 2030s

The pair of accountability reports highlight Joint Program Office woes and maintenance failures.

• Thomas Novelly
• December 12, 2025

The D Brief: More F-35s head south; The divide in Space Force; No sign of ‘enemy from within’; FBI’s antifa fumble; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson, Thomas Novelly and Bradley Peniston
• December 12, 2025

There’s a divide within the Space Force. Congress is forcing the service to address it

The new service was supposed to meld the “tribes” of operators and acquisition specialists. It didn’t happen.

• Thomas Novelly
• December 11, 2025

‘Enemy from within’? NORTHCOM commander says he hasn’t seen it

Top DOD officials defended National Guard deployments to American cities, which are facing multiple injunctions from local judges, during a Senate hearing.

• Meghann Myers
• December 11, 2025

The D Brief: US seizes tanker; House passes $901B NDAA; US pushes business-centered ‘peace plan’; Chipping away at US AI edge; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• December 11, 2025

The D Brief: F/A-18s’ Venezuelan flyby; Unpublished version of NSS; Little public support for boat attacks; Funding falters for Navy’s next jet; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson, Thomas Novelly and Bradley Peniston
• December 10, 2025

The D Brief: NDAA deets; Boat-strike tug-of-war; DOD’s AI plans; GD’s collaborative lab; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• December 9, 2025

The D Brief: Higher spending on the way?; Anti-boat effort’s lopsided costs; Security-strategy reax; Navy’s next frigate program; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• December 8, 2025

Today’s D Brief: New Natsec Strategy; Boat-strike video shows survivors; Russia’s worrisome template; Ukraine’s tech support to the US; And a bit more.

• Bradley Peniston
• December 5, 2025

Legal experts fail to see justification for continued U.S. military strikes on drug boats.

Partisan lines were drawn after Thursday's briefing on the Hill about the Sept. 2 strike.

• Thomas Novelly
• December 4, 2025

Hegseth broke rules, DODIG concludes, even though he said Yemen strike details were ‘safe to declassify’

Inspector general’s Signalgate report arrives two months after SecDef alleged the office had been “weaponized.”

• Meghann Myers
• December 4, 2025

The D Brief: Evolving boat-strike defense; Signalgate report, published; The $148B failure; New poll on natsec issues; And a bit more.

• Bradley Peniston and Ben Watson
• December 4, 2025