Last week, The Vandenberg Coalition presented the Trump administration with a letter signed by over two dozen national security leaders requesting that in his upcoming summit with Xi, President Trump advocate for the end of the persecution of Christians in China, and in particular, the unjust imprisonmnet of Pastor Ezra Jin. Just as the equally unjust detention of democracy activist Jimmy Lai demonstrates the Chinese Communist Party’s hostility towards the unalienable right of free speech, the arrest of Pastor Jin and his colleagues shows the CCP’s utter contempt for the unalienable right of freedom of religion. Along with Lai’s release, freeing Pastor Jin and his fellow imprisoned Christians should be at the top of President Trump’s list of demands....

For 70 years, Cuba has threatened America — Cuba's communist government supports terrorism and provides a base of operations for other American adversaries, including China and Russia, to threaten the U.S. homeland. The success of Operation Absolute Resolve in Venezuela—combined with years of pressure against the current Cuban regime and its own internal dysfunction—has pushed Cuba to its weakest position in decades, presenting the best opportunity in recent years to force the current regime to collapse and create space for a more friendly Cuban government. 

Read our latest primer on how U.S. foreign policy should counter the Cuba threat. 

Here’s How To Crush Tehran in Three Moves — TVC Advisory Board Member Richard Goldberg | The New York Post | May 1, 2026

President Trump's best path forward is to pursue three lines of effort in parallel: Sustain the blockade and accompanying economic warfare to destabilize the regime’s hold on the state; remake the world in America’s energy dominance image to mitigate long-term price impacts while undermining China’s global ambition to defeat the United States; and order the US military to forge a path through the Strait of Hormuz to restore freedom of navigation on our terms not Tehran’s.

Pentagon Resources Go Far in Latin America — Connor Pfeiffer | RealClearDefense | May 1, 2026

The Biden Administration did not mention the national security threat posed by drug cartels to the homeland and only sparingly discussed the Western Hemisphere. Four years later, the Trump Administration has taken a different approach and demonstrated how to strengthen Hemispheric defense without breaking the bank. That’s why the FY27 defense and national security budget process provides an opportunity to set the conditions for long-term security gains in Latin America.

Buy Fast or Lose Slow — John Noonan | National Review | May 1, 2026

The United States has 250 years of history of groundbreaking innovation; America does not lack ingenuity. It lacks a defense-acquisition system capable of harnessing that ingenuity at scale and on time. America’s strategic edge will not be preserved by nostalgia for past procurement habits. It will be preserved by a system that fuses our national dynamism with policies premised on peace through strength.

Middle East & Gulf

Michael Allen & Richard Fontaine: (podcast) Blockade Brinkmanship

Behnam Ben Taleblu: (media) Iran and U.S. Exchange Fire in Strait of Hormuz, Naval Blockade Remains in Effect | (media) How Much Damage Has Operation Epic Fury Done to Iran’s Nuclear Program? | (media) Hegseth Says Ceasefire With Iran Is Not Over | (media) Trump Says Putin Offered To Help Resolve Iran Conflict

Peter Berkowitz: (podcast) Israel’s Politics Now Defined by One Question—Do You Support Netanyahu?

Mackenzie Eaglen: (with Eliza Fox) Estimating Wartime Damage to U.S. Military Bases in the Middle East as Part of Operation Epic Fury

Reuel Marc Gerecht & Ray Takeyh: Reopening the Strait of Hormuz Is Now Job One in the Iran War

Richard Goldberg: (media) Iran Escalates Attacks in Strait of Hormuz As U.S. Launches Project Freedom

Rebeccah Heinrichs: (radio) Project Freedom: The “Bold Move” to Reopen the Strait of Hormuz

Mick Mulroy: (media) How Feasible Is ‘Project Freedom’ Operation in Iran? | (media) Hegseth Makes ‘Best Argument’ on War Powers Deadline | (media) JD Vance’s Comments on Iran Are ‘Nonsensical’ | (media) Iran’s Impact on Gas Prices Around the World

Danielle Pletka: How Three ‘Isms’ Failed the People of the Middle East

Stephen Rademaker: What Will Happen When the Clock Strikes 60 Days on Trump’s War

Joel Rayburn: (with Rep. Ronny Jackson) (event) Sustaining the Edge: U.S.-Israel Technology and Security

Amb. Nathan Sales: (media) This Will Bring Iranians Back to Negotiations

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Defense & Homeland Security

Michael Auslin: The Declaration at War, Part I: The Revolutionary War | This Fragile Document Deserved a Celebration. At 100, It Got One

Kari Bingen: (congressional testimony) Orbits of Influence: Emerging Threats to U.S. Space Security and Foreign Policy Implications

Mackenzie Eaglen: (with Rep. Filemón Vela Jr.) We Can Fix the U.S. Navy—Here’s How

Mark Montgomery & Craig Singleton: (with Jack Burnham) Unleashing American Drone Dominance

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China & Indo-Pacific

Victor Cha: (with Andy Lim) Can Sports Diplomacy Open a Door on the Korean Peninsula? | (et al) (podcast) The Case for a Cold Peace with North Korea

David Shedd: From Tesla and Apple to Hypersonic Missiles: How China Is Stealing America’s Future

Craig Singleton: (with Jack Burnham) China’s War Wolves: From Commercial Tech to Combat Power | (with Jack Burnham) 5 Things To Know About China’s Wartime Support for Iran

Michael Sobolik: (with Grant Rumley) Is There a China Strategy Behind the Iran War?

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Europe & Russia

Michael Auslin: Why America’s Democracy Needs the British Monarchy

Amb. Eric Edelman & Franklin Miller: Withdrawing Troops from Germany Is an Own Goal

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