Articles
Securing the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal—the transoceanic waterway through which five percent of global commerce flows—is critical for U.S. national security.
September 8, 2026
Military historian Max Boot discusses current events in Syria, Iran, and his recent book Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to Present on Uncommon Knowledge. Boot explains how guerrilla warfare has been, and still is, the most common form of conflict even today, as seen in Syria and Afghanistan. Since conventional tactics do not work for unconventional armies, Boot offers lessons to be learned and applied to today’s battles. Boot further argues that now it is more important than ever to understand the history and operation of insurgent forces.

Max Boot
Articles
The Panama Canal—the transoceanic waterway through which five percent of global commerce flows—is critical for U.S. national security.
September 8, 2026
Articles
The proliferation of land-based missiles, cheap drones, and integrated anti-access/area-denial networks has overturned centuries of assumptions about naval dominance, allowing regional powers—and their proxies—to hold critical maritime trade at risk. Traditional sea powers must adapt on two fronts: preventing chokepoint closures through deterrence by denial and mitigating them through resilience by design.
September 8, 2026
Articles
There is one sure-fire way to prevent adversaries and enemies from weaponizing chokepoints against the United States: Maintain an economy that does not require goods and commodities to pass through them.
September 8, 2026