This week, The Vandenberg Coalition hosted a fascinating discussion between Danielle Pletka, Marshall Billingslea, and Bradley Bowman on the U.S.- NATO relationship. While all agreed NATO has been foundational to America's past success, the question for the panel centered on what role NATO should play in America's present and future. Our namesake, Senator Arthur Vandenberg, was known as a leading isolationist for much of his career. And yet, he would become one of the architects of the NATO alliance....

The CCP has steadily infiltrated elements of American society — While U.S. policymakers primarily have focused on countering China’s military threat, there is another element of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) strategy to defeat the United States that needs attention. In our limited podcast series “China in the Homeland,” The Vandenberg Coalition spoke with policy experts and state government officials about how the CCP is conducting a malign influence campaign targeting America’s homeland, driven by its United Front political warfare operations, that seeks to destroy American institutions and undermine our will to fight for freedom.

Read our latest primer for the key takeaways from our series about kicking China out of the American homeland.

Illicit gold fuels the regime in Venezuela — While conversations surrounding the Venezuelan economy understandably center around oil, another critical resource is often overlooked: gold. For years, Venezuelan terrorist groups and regime insiders have exploited the country’s vast gold deposits to finance their illicit activities and evade sanctions. As the American appetite to engage with Venezuela’s oil and gold sectors grows, understanding the extent to which the regime profits from the gold industry—and the severe human rights abuses tied to it—is increasingly important. Cristina Burelli, founder of both SOS Orinoco and the V5 Initiative, joins Vandenberg Executive Director Carrie Filipetti on Vandenberg Flash Focus to discuss gold in Venezuela.

Resisting Xi’s Designs in the Year of the (Trojan) Horse — TVC Governance Board Member Matt Pottinger & Liza Tobin | Freedom Frequency | May 12, 2026

Any major deliverables on batteries, chips, and Taiwan would be Trojan horses. The president should hold to his vision of reindustrialization with the investments of trusted allies and partners, not mercantilist adversaries. He should win the AI race by safeguarding America’s privileged access to chips. And he should win the peace in the Western Pacific by ensuring Taiwan is strong enough to deter Beijing’s ambitions. That would be the best outcome of his summit in Beijing.

Rebuilding the Arsenal of Democracy — TVC Advisory Board Member Mackenzie Eaglen | The Dispatch | May 11, 2026

Closing the munitions gap requires intellectual honesty about what we have, what we need, and how to fix it. Purchasing mass quantities of munitions and making investments into the industrial base is the right place to start, but the road ahead is long and bumpy. Reversing a decades-long trend of managed decline will not be easy, but it is necessary if America is to maintain peace, which does not keep itself.

Is Ukraine Winning Without U.S. Help? — Aidan Stretch | The Free Press | May 10, 2026

Unlike in the Second World War, America’s role in ending the war in Ukraine is receding, not expanding. Now that the U.S. no longer shoulders Kyiv’s security burden, the limits of Washington’s influence are becoming clearer. Yet when it came time for the parade on Saturday—normally a demonstration of Russia’s military might—Russia’s tanks and missiles were nowhere in sight. Just in case, despite President Trump’s ceasefire, any Ukrainian drones still chose to buzz overhead.

Middle East & Gulf

Michael Allen: (media) China’s Potential Role in Iran Conflict, Israel’s Concerns | (media) Iran Believes They Have the ‘Upper Hand’ on U.S. | (media) U.S. and Iran Trade Fire in Strait of Hormuz As Tensions Escalate With Ongoing Blockade

Behnam Ben Taleblu: (media) What Now? Donald Trump Rejects Iran’s Response to U.S. Peace Proposal

Joseph Bosco: Trump’s Loss in Court Could Become the Linchpin to His Victory in Iran

Mark Dubowitz: (radio) The World Waits on a Potential Peace Deal As the U.S.-Iran War Drags On

Richard Goldberg: (media) How Does the U.S. Achieve Victory in the Iran Conflict?

Rebeccah Heinrichs: (with Curt Mills & Henry Olsen) (podcast) U.S. War With Iran at the Crossroads | (media) Trump Has Been ‘Incredibly Patient’ With Iran’s Regime | (media) This Is ‘Quintessential’ Trump Negotiation Strategy | (media) U.S.-Iran Peace Deal and China’s Influence

Jamil Jaffer: (media) Trump Says Iran Ceasefire Is on “Life Support”

Matthew Kroenig: Iran Does Not Have a Right to Enrich Uranium

Clifford May: Iran Rulers’ Ideology Make Lasting Peace Deal Unlikely | (media) Trump Rejects Iran’s Latest Response to U.S. Ceasefire Proposal

Mark Montgomery: (media) President Trump & Iran’s Fanatics | (media) U.S. Navy Disables Iranian Tanker in Gulf of Oman

Mick Mulroy: (media) U.S. Proposal to Iran Could Be ‘Very Significant’ for Ending War

Amb. Nathan Sales: (media) Trump’s Iran Ceasefire Stance Amid Stalled Negotiations | (media) U.S. Can Resume Operations if Iran ‘Not Serious’ About Talks

Roger Zakheim: (radio) “Sign It or Face Regime Change” | (media) Just Getting the Mullahs to the Table Is Significant

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Defense & Homeland Security

Zack Cooper: (with Melanie Harlowe & Christopher Preble) (podcast) Is the U.S. a Predatory Hegemon? | (with John Konrad) (media) The Great Battleship Debate

Amb. Eric Edelman: (with Bradley Bowman) (podcast) The Axis of Aggressors and Unraveling World Order

Mark Montgomery: (podcast) The West Is Not Ready for Drone Warfare

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China & Indo-Pacific

Victor Cha: (with Kristi Govella) Why Japan and South Korea Won’t Go Nuclear | (et al) (event) Reassessing the Strategic Value of China to Korea | (with Will Todman & Sydney Seiler) (podcast) Is a Cold Peace with North Korea Possible? | (media) Trump Should Seek “Cold Peace” With North Korea

Michael Green: The Japan Opportunity for Australia

Michael Pillsbury: (media) Trump Must ‘Lay Down the Law’ With China | (media) Taiwan Calls China the Biggest Threat to Peace in Indo-Pacific | (media) What China Wants From the U.S. on Taiwan Policy | (media) China Is No Longer Iran’s Best Friend

Matt Pottinger: (with Seamus Boyle) KMT Risks Missing the Lessons of the Wars in Ukraine & Iran

Michael Sobolik: America’s Trump Card in China | (podcast) The Trump Administration's China Strategy

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Europe & Russia

Peter Rough: “We Should Not Frame the World as a Confrontation Between Democracies and Autocracies”

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Democracy, Human Rights, & Humanitarian Assistance

Michael Auslin: National Treasure | Mining The “National Treasure” | (event) National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America

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