Category Archives: International Relations

White Paper: Legal and Ethical Challenges of Orbital Warfare: Treaty Limitations, Weaponization, Debris Liability, and Sovereignty in the Space Domain

Posted on March 15, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract The legal and ethical framework governing military activities in orbital space rests on a foundation built for an era whose strategic circumstances bear only partial resemblance to those of the present day. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 — … Continue reading →

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Orbital Deterrence and Escalation: Anti-Satellite Weapons, Debris, Nuclear Risk, and the Reversibility Problem

Posted on March 14, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract The emergence of anti-satellite weapons as operational instruments of national military power has introduced a class of escalatory dynamics into contemporary strategic competition that existing deterrence frameworks are poorly equipped to manage. This paper argues that orbital deterrence — … Continue reading →

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White Paper: Command of Space: What Does Control Mean? Competing Definitions and the Strategic Grammar of Orbital Dominance

Posted on March 14, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract The concept of “command of space” has entered the vocabulary of strategic studies with a confidence that outpaces its conceptual precision. Military doctrine, policy documents, and strategic analysis routinely invoke the goal of space control without adequately interrogating what … Continue reading →

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Space Warfare as Infrastructure Warfare: The Strategic Targeting of Orbital Enablers: A White Paper on the Character of Conflict in the Space Domain

Posted on March 14, 2026 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary Modern warfare has entered an era in which the most consequential targets are not armies in the field, fleets at sea, or cities on the ground, but the invisible infrastructure of orbital space upon which all contemporary military … Continue reading →

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Prolegomenon to the Study of Warfare in Space

Posted on March 14, 2026 by nathanalbright

Introduction There is a peculiar habit among strategists of preparing for the last war. Armies that mastered the trench refined their doctrine for the next great siege; navies that perfected the line-of-battle were overtaken by the torpedo and the carrier. … Continue reading →

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The Memory of Territorial Loss in Iranian Political Culture: History, Trauma, and the Politics of Territorial Integrity

Posted on March 10, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract This paper examines the role of historical territorial loss in shaping Iranian political culture’s distinctive preoccupation with territorial integrity and its deep suspicion of external powers perceived as promoting the fragmentation of the Iranian state. Focusing primarily on the … Continue reading →

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A Legal Taxonomy of Security Carve-Out Instruments

Posted on February 18, 2026 by nathanalbright

Security carve-outs do not arise randomly. They recur through a limited set of legal instruments, each optimized to preserve strategic control while minimizing overt violations of sovereignty norms. What follows is a functional taxonomy rather than a formalist one. 1. … Continue reading →

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White Paper: Security Carve-Outs as the Shadow Constitution of International Law: How Exceptional Zones Quietly Override Sovereignty Without Abolishing It

Posted on February 18, 2026 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary Across the modern international system, a recurring pattern appears wherever law collides with strategic indispensability: security carve-outs. These are territorial, legal, or administrative exceptions that preserve great-power operational control while maintaining the outward forms of sovereignty, decolonization, and … Continue reading →

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White Paper: Tweeted Threats and Diplomatic Friction: Platformized Civil–Military Signaling Failure in US–Uganda Relations

Posted on February 14, 2026 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary When senior officials speak informally in public digital spaces, their words do not remain informal. They become policy signals. Recent tensions between Uganda and the United States illustrate this dynamic. Public social-media rhetoric from Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda’s army … Continue reading →

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White Paper: The Intervention Paradox: Legitimacy Traps, Responsibility Expectations, and the Double Bind of American Power

Posted on February 11, 2026 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary Modern great powers—especially the United States—face a persistent legitimacy paradox. When acting abroad, they are accused of imperialism, aggression, or coercion. When refraining, they are accused of abandonment, indifference, or moral cowardice. The same observers often voice both … Continue reading →

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