The Weekly Preflight: 5 Things I'm Watching

Think of this as your weekly strategic weather report!

Week of April 13, 2026

Welcome to this inaugural Preflight!

Every Monday, I’ll give paid subscribers five developments I’m watching. Think of this as your weekly strategic weather report. These are the pressure points, weapons stories, policy shifts, battlefield signals, and strategic tells that could shape the next seven days. Not necessarily the biggest headlines… Just stuff on my scope.

This preflight is in addition to the two exclusive articles my awesome paid subscribers already receive; this does not replace anything, nor does it telegraph what I’ll be writing about in detail for the upcoming week.

This is what’s on my radar:

1. The Blockade Is Live. Now What, Don Tzu?

As of this morning, the US Navy has begun enforcing a maritime blockade on vessels entering or exiting Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. Don Tzu is playing a masterful game of ten-dimensional chess here.

Blockade the blockade with our own blockade. Brilliant strategy. The Iranians couldn’t possibly wait this one out.

Also, the scope is more “targeted” than Trump’s initial announcement suggested: CENTCOM clarified it will not impede vessels transiting to and from non-Iranian ports, which is a meaningful carve-out. The stated logic is to deny Iran the toll-booth revenue it’s been extracting while the rest of the world eats $100-plus oil.