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🔥China, Iran, North Korea and Russia are often discussed as an informal group of countries most interested in reducing US’s global influence.

In reality, there is no formal agreement that brings these 4 together.

However, they are connected by a number of two-way (bilateral) deals.

🔥On 28 February 2026, the US and Israel started a bombing campaign against Iran.

Iran responded by closing the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping, including 20% of the world’s oil supply. It also attacked US allies in the region.

In our latest Pro report, we analyse the effects of the Iran War on the global economy and energy markets, as well as the results of the military campaign so far.

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The news journalism of today (especially “mainstream”) is largely stuck in the post-modernist era:

• Sceptical about truth: a range of opinions on a topic is often preferred to looking for some underlying “reality”.

• Narratives over facts: media outlets focus on building strong stories instead of finding a neutral view.

• De-construction: journalists have become good at criticising facts and worse at finding or constructing them.

There is a clear conflict here:

News journalism has a deeply “modernist” purpose — to look for the truth and to share it.

However, the journalism of today almost rejects the possibility of finding this truth.

Around the 1970s, news media went through this Revolution of Subjectivity, and mostly accepted that an author is a human with emotions and bias who thinks in stories. (Thank you, Hunter S. Thompson.)

It is time to make the next, meta-modernist, step forward and finally accept that biased humans can still look for truth, and maybe even find it.

If you want to take this step forward together with the industry, you are in the right place.

Post factum’s mission is to return to the truth-seeking roots of news journalism, bringing you content that is factual, neutral, concise, accessible, systematic and visual.

If you want to support us, please have a look at Post factum Pro: this membership gives you weekly reviews of pivotal geopolitical events, full access to our Data Boards, and more.

Your support is the only reason we exist.

Thank you for reading!

— this is from our latest text on “Meta-modernism, explained”.

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🔥The US has a strong capability for offensive cyberattacks but weaker and unorganised defence.

US Cyber Command has 133 teams of 6,000 people total, spread between offensive (40), defensive (68) and support (25).

The 2023 Cybersecurity Strategy was replaced in March 2026 by a brief (7 pages) “Cyber Strategy for America” that drops new regulations in favour of offensive disruption.

Some critical infrastructure in the US is operated by private companies, making it harder for the government to control the strength of cyber defence there.

The US company Anthropic released its latest model to selected US technology and services companies to improve their cyber defences.

We analysed cyber strategies for every major power in our latest report.

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🌍Cyber space has no international treaty. There is no agreement on what counts as an act of war, and what is a legal response to a state-sponsored cyberattack.

A zero-day is a flaw in a computer program that is known to hackers but not to the developer.

A zero-day can be hidden until used to attack a system.

Other cyberweapons include:

• Malware: “virus” software made to damage computers or steal data.

• Ransomware: malware that locks files until a payment is made.

• Phishing: fake messages pretending to be legitimate websites or services to trick people into giving away passwords or installing malware.

• DDoS: overloading a computer system with a very large number of fake requests (“Distributed Denial-of-Service”).

In recent years, cyberattacks are more often focused on tricking the humans involved in the computer systems.

The use of malware in cyberattacks fell from 60% in 2019 to 18% in 2025.

Social engineering is the manipulation of human psychology to get secret or private information.

For example, pretending to be someone else to log into their account through a customer support service.

Read more in our report on the Geopolitics of Cyber.

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🔥 Cyber warfare is the use of digital tools by states to spy on, damage or pressure other states.

Some countries use cyber tools to steal money as a source of income.

Digital (or cyber) space is now seen as the 5th area of military activity, alongside land, sea, air and space.

Cyber space has no international treaty. There is no agreement on what counts as an act of war, and what is a legal response to a state-sponsored cyberattack.

A zero-day is a flaw in a computer program that is known to hackers but not to the developer.

A zero-day can be hidden until used to attack a system.

Other cyberweapons include:

• Malware: “virus” software made to damage computers or steal data.

• Ransomware: malware that locks files until a payment is made.

• Phishing: fake messages pretending to be legitimate websites or services to trick people into giving away passwords or installing malware.

• DDoS: overloading a computer system with a very large number of fake requests (“Distributed Denial-of-Service”).

In recent years, cyberattacks are more often focused on tricking the humans involved in the computer systems.

Read more in our free and ad-free report, including:

The use of AI in cyber; Doctrines and strategies of major powers; History of cyber warfare.

postfactum.co.uk

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🔥 Geopolitics of Microchips
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Advanced microchips are needed to train and run AI systems, and a secured supply of the best chips gives a technological advantage in both military and civilian industries.

The Taiwanese company TSMC produces over 60% of the world’s microchips, including 92% of the most advanced ones.

TSMC’s chip-making machines have a remote shutdown feature, so they can potentially be disabled from afar if taken over by China.

TSMC’s equipment, in turn, relies on unique electrical circuit printing machines, produced only by the company ASML in the Netherlands.

Under US pressure, ASML banned the sales of these advanced machines to China.

Since 2022, the US has restricted sales of chips, equipment and intellectual property to China to slow their advance in chipmaking.

Everything you need to know about US-China rivalry in microchips:

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🔥 China’s Navy Modernisation:

China built the world’s largest navy, with 841 warships in 2026 compared to 465 for the US:

• Shipbuilding capacity: China can build or repair 200 times more ships than the US by tonnage. This includes commercial capacity, which can legally be used for military purposes in China.

• Average age: 70% of China’s ships are younger than 15 years old; 25% of US ships are.

• Total tonnage: the US fleet is at 8.3 million tons, China’s is at 3.2 million.

• Submarines: the US has 66 nuclear-powered submarines; China has 32, with new subs added yearly. China also has diesel-electric submarines.

• Aircraft carriers: the US has 11, all nuclear-powered; China has 3, planning to add a new one every 2 years.

The US has started testing repairs at shipyards in Japan and South Korea to boost its capacity.

US submarine fleet is expected to shrink to 46 by 2035 because of slow shipbuilding and repairs.

Continue reading, free and ad-free, on postfactum.co.uk

🔥Taiwan, explained
Chips, Ships and US vs China

Taiwan is a self-governing democracy of 23 million people that China considers a part of its territory.

Taiwan produces 92% of the most advanced microchips, making it important for almost any technology, including advanced weapons or AI.

• 180 km of the Taiwan Strait separate China and Taiwan. Around 20% of global sea trade is shipped here.

Our full report on the Geopolitics of Taiwan is free and ad-free on postfactum.co.uk, as always.

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Trump’s Tariffs, revisited: Reasons and Effects.

This Pro piece is available to check out for free on Post factum.

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