Since the outbreak of the war, Ukraine has assembled the most combat-tested air defense network in the world, drawing important lessons for future conflicts.

Russia has re-invented its long-range strike capabilities over the course of the Ukraine war, moving from import dependency and exhausted stockpiles to a domestic production capacity that is now eclipsing NATO.

EU governments are racing to develop drone warfare capabilities with the help of Ukraine. These efforts will help boost European strategic autonomy in the short term, but from a deterrence standpoint, drones are only half the answer.

Amid new threats and wavering US support, European states are pouring unprecedented political will and financing into closing capability gaps. None is as pressing as a deep-strike capability, which, despite concerted efforts across European institutions, is still not expected to come online for years if not a decade.

After decades of near total dependence on the United States, Canada is now looking to Brussels to diversify its defense relationships. But decades of supply chain and regulatory integration with the US defense industry will limit what’s achievable in the short-term.

The involvement of Canadian defense firms in EU’s SAFE instrument could serve as a genuine bridge between two defense industrial bases that have historically operated in separate ecosystems. But the path to Brussels is paved with grand plans that never came to fruition.

Italy’s acquisition of the Bayraktar TB3 represents new momentum toward continental strategic autonomy while also highlighting failures in the EU’s internal push for drone development.

EU states have maneuvered to minimize the fallout from a war they were not consulted on. Yet two weeks on, they’re being pulled into it anyways.

In his efforts to overhaul the Canadian military, Prime Minister Carney must thread the needle between strategic autonomy and political reality, all while carefully avoiding backlash from Washington.

The chaotic conclusion of the decades-long Nagorno-Karabakh dispute was a blow to Russian influence in the South Caucasus. Now Washington is moving to fill the vacuum.