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War & Conflict Monday, September 21, 2026
When Saudi Arabia realizes it's backed the wrong horse
The United States went to war with Iran in the belief that American power could quickly overwhelm Tehran’s ability to threaten the Middle East. For Saudi Arabia, the war is producing nearly the opposite result. Iran has been badly hit, but it and its regional allies have demonstrated that they can…
China is outfoxing the US in the battle for Mideast influence
Washington talks about “influence” as though it were a mystical vapor that leaks out of every military base closure. But Beijing’s rapidly growing clout in the Middle East shows that influence can come in many forms. While the Pentagon debates whether and where to rebuild U.S. bases battered by…
GOP's war for eyeballs
Republicans are starting to trounce Democrats in political spending across the Senate map, and that advantage is now showing up in one of the metrics campaigns care about most: impressions. Why it matters: Money matters in a campaign's closing weeks, but what campaigns are ultimately buying is…
U.S. Strikes 70th Alleged Drug Boat, U.N. Brief Condemns Attacks
U.S. forces with Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere struck a go-fast vessel allegedly carrying illicit narcotics on Friday, killing four people aboard. The strike – the 70th since President Donald Trump announced the campaign one year ago – brings the total number of people killed to 234. The…
"National security" becomes Trump's executive sledgehammer
What do a White House ban on journalists, a 250-foot arch near the nation's capital and Greenland have in common? President Trump needs all of them for national security purposes, he and his administration have argued. Why it matters: As he's unilaterally shattered presidential norms, Trump has…
USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Sept. 21, 2026
These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of Sept. 21, 2026, based on Navy and public data. In cases in which a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the chart reflects the location of the…
Busting the Myths of the US Military’s Presence in Hawai‘i
As land leases come up for renewal, a new report reveals the facts about the U.S. Armed Forces’ impacts in the Pacific Islands.
U.S. Army Contracts First Batch of Maritime Precision Strike Missiles
The U.S. Army contracted the first batch of Precision Strike Missiles designed to strike moving maritime targets last week. Lockheed Martin was awarded $1.2 billion by the ground branch for work on the early operational capability munitions of PrSM Increment 2, a variant that integrates a new…
Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit, North Korea Launches More Missiles
On September 20, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles, its second launch in a little over a week.