The following speech was delivered by the Hon. Dr. Kevin Rudd to the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, on February 18, 2025. It is reproduced here in full. The Naval War College was ...

The U.S. bombing of key sites related to Iran’s nuclear program has, not surprisingly, generated much debate over the wisdom of such strikes in light of their justification, efficacy, impact on Iran’s ...

All of these threats are, to one degree or another, ripostes to our inadequate thinking about escalation and deterrence. However, these efforts to avoid escalation have been resounding failures. The ...

The strikes on Iran aimed to reassert existential deterrence, instilling fear, not just readiness, while pressuring NATO to evolve from transactional defense spending to credible strategic deterrence.

Any direct deterrent contribution – meaning participation in high-end military operations – will arguably stem from these long-standing and increasingly united U.S. allies.