Vandenberg Flash Focus

Before launching Operation Epic Fury against Iran, the focus of many within the national security world was whether President Trump would take action against the regime in Cuba. Months later, Cuba remains a dictatorship 90 miles from our shores that partners with our adversaries to harm Americans. John Suarez, Executive Director of the Center for a Free Cuba, joins Vandenberg Executive Director Ca...

While it is critical that the United States maintains our advantage over China in the development and deployment of critical technologies—including and especially artificial intelligence—there are fears that many in the national security establishment have not yet grappled with the risks and consequences of going full speed ahead. Hamza Chaudhry, AI and National Security Lead at the Future of Life...

Lately, most conversations within the conservative national security circles regarding Europe have focused on whether our European allies and partners are adequately fulfilling their defense obligations. However, we cannot forget that Ukraine is still fighting desperately for its own survival against Russia, which remains the most significant direct threat to Europe. Meaghan Mobbs, President of th...

Last week, the whole world watched President Donald Trump travel to Beijing to meet with Chairman Xi Jinping for a high stakes summit. With conflict in the Middle East and simmering trade tensions, the backdrop for the meeting was intense. Underscoring those stressors is China’s increasing hostility toward religious leaders and advocates for free societies, support for America’s adversaries, and m...

Many Americans are thinking about U.S. action against Iran at least in part based on how it is affecting prices at the gas pump, especially after threats by the Islamic Republic have effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. Our campaign against Iran has revealed a critical lesson for U.S. grand strategy: that the United States must achieve energy dominance to ensure affordable, reliable energy at...

While conversations surrounding the Venezuelan economy understandably center around oil, another critical resource is often overlooked: gold. For years, Venezuelan terrorist groups and regime insiders have exploited the country’s vast gold deposits to finance their illicit activities and evade sanctions. As the American appetite to engage with Venezuela’s oil and gold sectors grows, understanding...

April 28, 2026, marks the fifth anniversary of The Vandenberg Coalition’s founding. Over the last five years, conservative foreign policy has seen meaningful successes, faced notable setbacks, and confronted new challenges and opportunities that will shape its future direction. Elliott Abrams, Chairman of The Vandenberg Coalition and Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Forei...

Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri is the founder of Zion Church, one of the largest independent churches in China. Frightened by his influence and belief in something greater than the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the CCP imprisoned Pastor Jin on October 10, 2025, as part of one of the largest crackdowns on Christian churches in the history of the People’s Republic of China. Grace Jin Drexel—Pastor Jin’s da...

For the first time since 1972, the United States left Earth’s orbit en route to the Moon as part of the Artemis II Mission. While the astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft did not step foot on the Moon during this mission, the astronauts set a record by venturing farther from Earth than any human in history. In this episode, Vandenberg Coalition Advisory Board member Kari Bingen joins to discuss...

In recent years, China has increasingly used economic bullying in attempts to obtain concessions from other governments and the private sector. In a new book, China’s Weaponization of Trade: Resistance Through Collective Resilience , Vandenberg Advisory Board member Victor Cha, along with his coauthors Ellen Kim and Andy Lim, discusses China’s economic coercion and outlines a strategy for how coun...

Iran is in the headlines once again, for two important reasons. First, large numbers of brave Iranians continue to take to the streets in the face of significant repression by the brutal regime. And second, the United States is slowly but steadily amassing an impressive amount of firepower and pointing it straight at the Islamic Republic. Zineb Riboua, Research Fellow at the Center for Peace and S...

Last Sunday, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party secured a sweeping two-thirds majority in Japan’s Lower House following snap elections. The decisive win comes at a critical juncture for Japan as it redefines its role in the Indo-Pacific amid rising tensions with China, a deepening partnership with the United States, and growing domestic support for strengthening the...

Last week, Chinese leader Xi Jinping placed his most senior general, Zhang Youxia, under investigation, deepening what has become one of the most sweeping purges in the history of the People’s Liberation Army. Xi has now removed nearly the entire top tier of PLA leadership, raising important questions about the message he is sending to domestic and international audiences, what it means for a pote...

According to The Great Heist: China’s Epic Campaign to Steal America’s Secrets —a new book by David Shedd and Andrew Badger—one critical but often overlooked explanation for China’s meteoric rise has been the scale, scope, and pace of its unprecedented state-sponsored espionage campaign. This effort has been specifically designed to strip the United States of our economic, technological, and milit...

In the last year, China’s defense industrial base produced fighter jets faster than the United States, doubled its inventory of ballistic and cruise missiles, doubled its nuclear warhead inventory, and became five to six times faster than the United States at acquiring weapons systems. While we rest comfortably on peacetime footing, China has positioned its defense industrial base to be on wartime...

The United States has continued to pressure the Maduro regime with F-18 flyovers, the seizure of oil tankers, and new sanctions on Venezuelan entities associated with the Maduro regime, alongside continued strikes on drug boats. Simultaneously, the Venezuelan opposition has continued gaining momentum. Notably, Maria Carina Machado, the head of the Venezuelan opposition, had a miraculous exit from...

The United States faces serious cyber vulnerabilities from its principal adversaries—China, Russia, and Iran. In her report “ A Playbook for Winning the Cyber War ,” Emily Harding, a Vandenberg Advisory Board member and Director of the Intelligence, National Security, and Technology Program as well as Vice President of the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and Internation...

A few weeks ago, President Trump secured the release of all 20 remaining living hostages in Gaza and reached a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. This ceasefire is a tenuous one; Hamas has refused to release the bodies of deceased hostages and has violated agreed-upon boundaries, sparking limited clashes with Israeli forces. Nonetheless, the ceasefire has paved the way for renewed discussions on...

Right now, all eyes remain on the Caribbean, where President Trump’s buildup of military forces has raised significant questions about American intentions and objectives in Latin America. Is the United States simply conducting counternarcotics operations, or are we embarking on regime change or pressure in the region? Ryan Berg, Director of the Americas Program and Head of the Future of Venezuela...

The United States has plenty of work ahead of us if we want to win the global soft power battleground in the fight against China, Russia, and Iran. With good reason, the Trump administration has strongly criticized the implementation of American soft power under the previous administration. Its response has been to cut billions in foreign aid, but while breaking some eggs is ne...

The Vandenberg Coalition's Executive Director Carrie Filipetti sat down with Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) to talk about the national security challenges facing the United States. From how we can work with our allies to push back against the Chinese Communist Party to pursuing “peace through sanctions” to deal with Vladimir Putin, Senator Scott sounds the alarm on how our adversaries ar...

President Trump is slated to speak at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) next week. Though many say it is unlikely that UNGA will reap anything substantial and positive for the United States, the conference will serve as one of the first opportunities for President Trump to outline to the rest of the world his foreign policy vision and approach for the next four years. Amanda Rothschild, f...

After the Reagan administration, the issue of human rights has come to be captured and dominated by the left, with it now being seen as largely synonymous with progressive policy preferences rather than the fundamental rights that align with our founding principles. Some on the right are now highly skeptical of whether human rights as an issue can be salvaged. Yet this month marks the fifth annive...

While many are familiar with the national security case for forcing ByteDance to divest or banning TikTok altogether, its assault on America’s children is just as alarming. TikTok holds unprecedented control over the content consumed by our children, exposing them to dangerous or even illegal content, including anti-American propaganda, antisemitism, pornography, and drugs. TikTok is not just a na...

With the future of the global order hinging on the outcome of today’s great power competition, a group of multi-aligned states has emerged with a growing ability to influence the outcome of this competition. Effectively engaging these 'global swing states' will be essential if the United States is to succeed in preserving an international order that favors American interests an...