Author: Jordan Henry

• 

  Reality Always Wins | Is Putin in Trouble?

  In his latest Reality Always Wins post, Paul Saunders flags a curious trio of articles he spotted on the front page of Russia’s official government newspaper, Rossiiskaya Gazeta. Read together—a practical guide to coping with mobile internet outages disrupting Moscow life, a defensive enumeration of Ukrainian ceasefire violations, and a piece musing about whether Donald

  MORE
• 

  Strategic Implications of the Iran War (w/ Nikolas Gvosdev)

  Strategic Implications of the Iran War (w/ Nikolas Gvosdev) Two months into the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, the conflict shows no signs of imminent resolution, with both sides convinced that time is on their side. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has rattled global energy markets, but neither Washington nor Tehran appears ready to

  MORE
• 

  Reality Always Wins

  A new Substack by Center for the National Interest president Paul Saunders explores how reality inevitably prevails over those who try to ignore, deny, or forcibly reshape it. In his inaugural post, Saunders traces the title back to a 2004 quote from a Bush administration official who dismissed the “reality-based community” and claimed that the

  MORE
• 

  The Popular Mobilization Forces: Power, Influence, and the Future of Iraq

  In our latest Policy Brief, we welcome a guest contributor from Iraq, Alfadhel Ahmad, who writes in collaboration with CFTNI Senior Fellow Joshua Yaphe. The topic is “The Popular Mobilization Forces: Power, Influence, and the Future of Iraq,” and the two authors explore the sad reality that the current Iran War is masking. Washington has

  MORE
• 

  April 19, 2026: Turning the Screws on Europe

  April 19, 2026: Turning the Screws on Europe Is Russian state media prepping its audience for a showdown with Europe? Recent broadcasts have framed European drone factories as legitimate military targets and accused Kyiv of deliberately dragging the continent into conflict with Moscow. Beneath the rhetoric, a quietly advancing Duma law (reportedly drafted inside Putin’s

  MORE