Daily Brief ONEST Brief: Foreign Troops in Lebanon, Türkiye-Saudi-Pakistan Military Pact, Ukraine’s Drones Beat U.S. Forces in Training The security architecture of the Middle East is shifting quickly. Israel and Lebanon are discussing foreign personnel to verify Hezbollah’s disarmament — but cannot yet agree on who would command them. Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are moving their new mutual-defense pact from political declaration toward actual military coordination. By Olga Nesterova • 7 min read
BRI countries by region Deep Dive Follow China’s Money. A New Global Order Is Taking Shape. From ports and mines to railways, power grids, factories and critical minerals, mapping where China is investing, building and financing in 2026 — and what Beijing’s expanding footprint reveals about the global balance of power. By Olga Nesterova • 15 min read
Explained North Korea Is No Longer Just Arming Russia. It Is Becoming Part of Russia’s War Machine. Watch this analysis on YouTube For much of the war in Ukraine, North Korea’s role could be described relatively simply: Pyongyang supplied weapons that Moscow needed. That description is becoming obsolete. North Korean artillery shells are feeding Russian guns. North Korean ballistic missiles are striking Ukraine. North Korean soldiers By Olga Nesterova • 8 min read
Explained Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan Just Created a New Defense Bloc. What Does It Actually Mean? Saudi wealth, Pakistani nuclear weapons and NATO’s second-largest military are now connected by a mutual-defense pact — raising difficult questions for Israel, Iran, NATO and the United States. By Olga Nesterova • 10 min read
Explained Is the “Graham Russia Sanctions Bill” Actually Sanctioning Russia? The Graham bill is being sold as a major new sanctions package against Moscow. It does sanction Russia. But some of its most powerful provisions target countries buying Russian energy — potentially with tariffs of up to 100% on their exports to the United States. By Olga Nesterova • 8 min read
News Iran Names Its Price for Reopening Hormuz — And It Goes Far Beyond the Strait Tehran is demanding sanctions relief, frozen assets, war compensation and changes to U.S. regional policy. The fight over Hormuz is becoming a negotiation over the postwar balance of power in the Middle East. By Olga Nesterova • 5 min read
President Trump signs executive orders on birthright citizenship and birth tourism. Daily Brief ONEST Brief: Canada Surges Ahead, Ukraine's Air Defense Crisis, New NATO Warning ECONOMY Canada adds 75,000 jobs while U.S. labor market unexpectedly contracts North America's two largest economies delivered dramatically different employment reports today. Canada added 75,000 jobs in July, more than four times economists' expectations, while unemployment fell to 6.4%, its lowest level in By Olga Nesterova • 7 min read
Photograph of Hiroshima after the atomic bomb. (National Archives Identifier 22345671) Deep Dive Hiroshima, the World Court and the Nuclear Order Coming Apart At 8:15 on the morning of August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb called Little Boy over Hiroshima. The bomb exploded approximately 600 meters above the Japanese city. In seconds, heat, blast and fire destroyed much of its centre. Tens of thousands of people were killed By Olga Nesterova • 20 min read
Explained Why the U.S. Just Bought Billions in Japanese Yen Watch this analysis on YouTube Earlier this week, Reuters reported that the U.S. Treasury had alerted major banks that Washington could intervene in currency markets to support Japan's yen. Then, during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David, photographers captured Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's handwritten note: By Olga Nesterova • 4 min read
Daily Brief ONEST Middle East Brief Trump Says Talks Are Happening. Iran Says They Aren't. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump announced that the United States had canceled a planned military strike against Iran after, according to him, requests from Iran and several Middle Eastern countries to give diplomacy a chance. Trump said the By Olga Nesterova • 3 min read
Editor's Note Editor’s Note: Demo•cracy The word democracy comes from two ancient Greek words: dēmos — the people, and kratos — power. Through the years, we’ve been conditioned to focus on one half of that equation: presidents, institutions, wars, elections, negotiations, and the people who hold power. It’s understandable. Kratos dominates our news feeds, television By Olga Nesterova • 2 min read
Deep Dive What really happened in Ceuta? In this 22 min video, we break down the Spain–Morocco border crisis, the sudden migrant surge into Ceuta, Italy’s response, Schengen rules, EU reactions, Donald Trump’s criticism of Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara, and the wider geopolitical implications for Europe, NATO, and U.S.-EU relations. By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
