Think of this as your weekly strategic weather report exclusively for paid subscribers. Five things to watch and what could break next in war, defense tech, and geopolitics. Just the pressure points most likely to shape the next seven days.
I try to keep this a no-nonsense, high-level brief to start your week… But snark occasionally creeps in.
Happy Labor Day in the States. I’m still working today (off and on), but for those enjoying the symbolic end of summer, enjoy your day off. Personally, I’m looking forward to the cooler Fall weather. Thanks to El Nino, winter may skip Michigan altogether this year which means my Nissan Zed doesn’t have to spend four months garaged.
Source links in the text. Let’s get to it:
BLUF:
Iran is building a toll booth in the Strait of Hormuz and calling it a shipping corridor.
North Korea commissioned a nuclear destroyer the day before trilateral exercises began and gave an eight-month warning.
The AfD got 43.8% in Saxony-Anhalt and the CDU lost two-thirds of its seats.
Chinese state enterprises are supplying the carbon fiber for Russian drones.
And US envoys went to Kyiv for the first time.
Stay sharp.
1. Iran’s New Hormuz Corridor Plan Is a Toll Booth
Iran is set to unveil a new restricted maritime zone in the Gulf alongside maps for a new shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, with Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, confirming the announcement is days away.
