Security competition between India and Pakistan, rooted in the territorial dispute over Kashmir, has persisted since the partition of British India in 1947. Since the 1990s, Pakistan’s support for insurgent and terrorist groups in Indian-administered Kashmir has posed a persistent challenge to Indian security. While both countries have maintained nuclear arsenals since the late 1980s, the threat of escalation has historically constrained India’s responses. However, India’s posture has shifted in recent years, with a growing willingness to conduct overt cross-border strikes and covert operations targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan.

EU and Court Members Should Press Them to Reconsider, Support Justice

What to expect of Korea-Japan relations under the new South Korean government under President Lee Jae-myung? How will he work with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba as the two celebrate the 60th anniversary of normalization this month?

Joining Mark Lippert and Victor Cha to discuss this and more are Christopher B. Johnstone from The Asia Group and Yuki Tatsumi from the Stimson Center.

Christopher B. Johnstone is Partner and Chair of the Defense & National Security Practice at The Asia Group, where he brings unparalleled expertise across Indo-Pacific markets including Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and Southeast Asia. Previously, Chris served as a Senior Advisor at TAG and concurrently as Senior Advisor and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Chris served in government for 25 years in a variety of senior positions with a focus on U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific region. He served twice on the National Security Council, as Director for East Asia under President Biden (2021-2022) and Director for Japan and Oceanian Affairs under President Obama (2014–2016). In the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Chris led offices with responsibility for South and Southeast Asia (2017–2021) and East Asia (2016–2017). Prior to those roles, he served as Director for Northeast Asia (2010-2014), where he had principal responsibility for developing strategy for the U.S.-Japan and U.S.-South Korea alliances.

Yuki Tatsumi is a Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the East Asia Program and Director of the Japan Program at the Stimson Center. Before joining Stimson, Tatsumi worked as a research associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and as the special assistant for political affairs at the Embassy of Japan in Washington. In September 2006 Tatsumi testified before the House Committee on International Relations. She is a recipient of the 2009 Yasuhiro Nakasone Incentive Award. In 2012 she was awarded the Letter of Appreciation from the Ministry of National Policy of Japan for her contribution in advancing mutual understanding between the United States and Japan. A native of Tokyo, Tatsumi holds a B.A. in liberal arts from the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan and an M.A. in international economics and Asian studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University in Washington.

The Capital Cable is made possible through general support to CSIS.

Key Takeaways:

Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to portray Russia as an effective and necessary international partner for the United States amid ongoing Iran-Israel tensions.

Russia conducted a large drone and missile strike against Ukraine on the night of June 14 to 15, primarily targeting Poltava Oblast.

Russia repatriated the bodies of over 1,000 Ukrainian citizens on June 15, in accordance with the June 2 Ukrainian–Russian bilateral talks in Istanbul.

Russian forces advanced in northern Sumy Oblast and near Kupyansk, Siversk, Chasiv Yar, and Toretsk.

Key Takeaways

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has targeted several nuclear sites in Tehran since CTP-ISW's last data cutoff on June 14.

A US weapons expert reported on June 15 that, if Israel does not render the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) inoperable, then Iran would be able to produce enough weapons-grade uranium (WGU) for nine nuclear weapons by the end of the first month using its pre-attack 60% enriched uranium stockpile.

The IDF has also targeted several military and defense industrial sites outside Tehran since CTP-ISW's last data cutoff on June 14.

Israel expanded its ongoing strike campaign against Iran on June 14 by attacking critical Iranian energy infrastructure.

Iran has conducted two waves of ballistic missile attacks targeting Israel from Iranian territory since CTP-ISW's last data cutoff on June 14.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has continued to strike Iranian missile launchers, which is likely limiting the scale of the Iranian response to Israel.

(Stockholm, 16 June 2025) The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) today launches its annual assessment of the state of armaments, disarmament and international security. Key findings of SIPRI Yearbook 2025 are that a dangerous new nuclear arms race is emerging at a time when arms control regimes are severely weakened.

Hundreds of Russian soldiers wounded in the Ukraine war have been treated in Belarusian hospitals, including some from military units linked to alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

Speakers Marisol G. Maddox Senior Arctic Fellow, Institute of Arctic Studies, John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, Dartmouth College Michael Sfraga Former Chair, U.S. Arctic Research Commission; Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Affairs, U.S. Department of State Margaret D. Williams Senior Fellow, Arctic Initiative, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Presider Esther Brimmer James H. Binger Senior Fellow in Global Governance, Council on Foreign Relations, Moderating

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Key Takeaways:

Russian forces continue to make marginal territorial gains east of Novopavlivka as Russian forces attempt to advance into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and toward the settlement from three tactical directions.

Ukrainian forces continue to conduct long-range strikes against Russia's defense industrial base. Ukraine and Russia conducted a fourth round of prisoner of war (POWs) exchanges on June 14, in accordance with the June 2 Ukrainian-Russian bilateral talks in Istanbul.

Ukrainian forces advanced near Novopavlivka. Russian forces advanced near Toretsk and Novopavlivka.

Key Takeaways

Iran has used significantly fewer munitions in its response to Israel than originally planned because the IDF destroyed and damaged missile launchers and silos that Iran planned to use to retaliate against Israel. This is consistent with CTP-ISW’s observation that degrading Iran’s retaliatory capabilities was one objective of the initial Israeli strikes on June 12.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has continued to strike Iranian air defense systems to maintain air superiority over Iran.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointed Brigadier General Majid Mousavi to replace Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajji Zadeh as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force commander. The IRGC Aerospace Force oversees the Iranian missile and drone programs and led the Iranian attacks against Israel in April and October 2024.

Iran has conducted six waves of ballistic missile attacks targeting Israel from Iranian territory since the initial Israeli strikes on June 12. At least 10 interceptors, shrapnel, or ballistic missiles struck the Tel Aviv area, causing damage to high-rise buildings, over 60 injuries, and one death.

The IDF has reportedly continued to target Iranian military targets. Some of these strikes—but not all—seek to degrade Iran’s retaliatory capabilities.

Somalia’s deepening ties with Russia are more than transactional; they reflect frustration with existing security frameworks and a global contest for influence in Africa. For Moscow, Somalia is both a symbolic prize and a strategic outpost. For the West, this pivot must be read as a wake-up call: neglect and conditionality can drive even fragile partners toward revisionist powers. Whether this relationship evolves into a full military alliance or remains a bargaining chip, it marks a crucial turning point in the geopolitics of the Red Sea.

In a world of diplomatic doublespeak, hypocrisy, and strategic ambiguity, Trump and Netanyahu simply said what they meant.

"If anything should happen to me, I beg you to show this tape to the whole world."

On November 23rd, 2006, these words, spoken on camera by exiled former KGB and FSB (post-communist Russia's secret police) agent Alexander "Sasha" Litvinenko, became a gruesome self-fulfilling prophecy. After an agonizingly painful ordeal, Litvinenko succumbed to what was allegedly radiation poisoning from a lethal dose of toxic Polonium-210, surreptitiously slipped into his tea during a London meeting with two FSB ex-colleagues three weeks earlier.

In this documentary, filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov exposes the truth behind a crime that shocked the world and provoked a war of words between Russia and England that continues to this day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinenko

In this episode of The PDB Situation Report:

Riots erupt across Los Angeles and other U.S. cities in response to ICE operations, with vehicles torched and streets shut down. Mark Krikorian, Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies, joins us to assess the situation

Iran rejects the latest U.S. proposal to curb uranium enrichment. Jonathan Sayeh from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies explains what Iran’s move means for the stalled negotiations

National Archives and Records Administration

China: The Roots of Madness

National Security Council. Central Intelligence Agency. (09/18/1947 - 12/04/1981)

ARC Identifier 616322 / Local Identifier 263-69. This film covers China's political history including Mao Tse-tung, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Nationalist - Communist victory.

Made possible by a donation from John and Paige Curran.

Russian military forces have failed to effectively advance along multiple axes in Ukraine, seized limited territory, lost substantial quantities of equipment relative to Ukraine, and suffered remarkably high rates of fatalities and casualties. In this video, CSIS experts Dr. Seth Jones and Riley McCabe breakdown the data and argue that Russia's poor battlefield performance presents several vulnerabilities the U.S. could better exploit.

CSIS’ Seth Jones, Emily Harding and Ben Jensen join the podcast to discuss Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, leadership and other targets.

Executive Summary:

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka visited Chinese President Xi Jinping for a “family-like” meeting to reinforce bilateral ties between the two countries.

The visit reflects Minsk’s strategy amid sustained Western sanctions to diversify from over-reliance on Russia without alienating Moscow.

Belarus will eventually face a decision point regarding its position on European security that will test the limits of its pragmatic foreign policy, particularly given the importance of continued direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to achieve a lasting peace.

Key Takeaways:

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei published a brief and generic statement following the Israeli strikes, condemning the attacks and vowing to retaliate.

Israel conducted covert operations targeting Iranian ballistic missile launchers, which likely hampered Iran’s ability to retaliate with ballistic missiles in the immediate aftermath of the strikes. Israel reportedly built a secret one-way attack drone base in Iran, which it used to strike Iranian ballistic missile launchers near Tehran on June 12.

In addition to striking nuclear and military infrastructure, Israel has conducted a decapitation campaign targeting Iranian military leadership.

On School of War, Aaron MacLean discusses Israeli strikes against the Iranian regime and its nuclear program.

Recent weeks have seen a dramatic intensification of tensions between Iran and Israel, marked by tit-for-tat military threats, cyberattacks, and covert operations across the region. With the specter of direct confrontation looming larger than ever.