Issue #51: The Strait Is The Global Food Chain One-fifth of globally traded oil moved1 through the Strait of Hormuz every day. Twenty-two percent of global LNG. Qatar’s Ras Laffan facility which is the source of roughly 20 percent of global LNG exports was struck by Iranian drones and shut down production at the start of the 2026 Iran War. Marine insurance premiums are still … Continue reading The Rising Ledger Volume III: At The Brink of World War 3 Issues #51 to #65

Arms control doesn’t just mean treaties. It means inspections. Verification. Satellites watching missile silos. Inspectors counting warheads. Communication channels between adversaries so that a radar malfunction doesn’t get interpreted as an incoming strike. The 1983 Soviet satellite false alarm nearly ended the world. A Soviet officer named Stanislav Petrov chose not to report what his instruments showed as an incoming American first strike, and he … Continue reading The Nuclear Surveillance Architecture is Gone

In May 2025 — approx ten months ago — India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed states, engaged in four days of open conflict involving cross-border drone and missile attacks. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists described it as “nuclear brinkmanship.” Two countries with a combined nuclear arsenal of roughly 300 warheads exchanged live fire for four days and the world did not end. The crisis de-escalated. … Continue reading India and Pakistan fired Missiles at each other

NATO states have less than 5 percent of the air defence capabilities necessary to protect central and eastern Europe from large-scale attack. That figure comes from the Financial Times, sourced from European officials. Less than 5 percent. The alliance exists and their  flags fly. The summits happen. The communiqués are issued. The spending pledges are made. And yet the actual physical infrastructure required to defend … Continue reading NATO Has Less Than Five Percent Of Air Defense Capabilities Needed

Russia tested the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile in October 2025. The missile is nicknamed “Flying Chernobyl” because it emits radioactive exhaust from its unshielded reactor. It can fly for 15 hours non-stop and cover 14,000 kilometres. Putin says its true range could be unlimited. A nuclear-powered missile with potentially unlimited range that leaves a trail of radioactive contamination wherever it flies. This is a real … Continue reading The Flying Chernobyl

France’s President Macron announced France’s first warhead stockpile increase in over three decades. He also announced a new doctrine allowing French nuclear aircraft to deploy to eight European partner nations. This happened in direct response to what Macron described as US unreliability. Let that sequence sit: the US became unreliable enough as an ally that France, a country that hasn’t added nuclear warheads in thirty … Continue reading France Expanded It’s Nuclear Arsenal