US-Europe World Affairs

Catherine S. Schmidt, Director and Editor in Chief.

To Military Personnel in the U.S. Armed Forces.

You are the first line of defender, and the final beacon of hope in the World.

When darkness threatened to swallow whole continents—as it did across Europe and Asia in the horrifying hours of World War II,  it was the U.S Armed Forces who broke that darkness, and liberated millions.

And today, where nations under the heavy chains of tyranny, yearning for the breath of liberation—like those 90 million defiant in Iran, or elsewhere in the world where freedom is denied—

the name of the United States Armed Forces is whispered as the unshakeable promise for Freedom: the ultimate Defender, the true Liberator.

  May God bless, protect all of you in every mission you undertake.

Acknowledgments: Image, U.S flag ©U.S Army Europe and Africa. By Catherine S. Schmidt, Director and Editor in Chief. (Copyrighted material)

May God continue to protect the President and his family, the Law-Enforcement, and the United States of America.

Led by U.S Army Europe and Africa, the multinational SWORD 26 is Army’s annual exercise previously executed as DEFENDER series, this year redesigned and planned to be conducted from late April into part of May 2026. 

While the exercise DEFENDER had its main objectives on the strategic deployment of U.S troops and rapid transportation of military logistics and equipment across the Atlantic to Europe.  

Sword 26 has a shift to more:

• Operational lethality and in-place forces;
• Integrating and deploying cutting-edge technology into modern combat field to increase operational efficiency.

Sword 26 stands as a transformative exercise to examine and solidify the highly advanced cutting-edge capabilities, inter alia, AI-enabled Command and Control (C2) systems, multi-domain integration and counter drone defense system for modern military battlefield. 

This shift aligns with the U.S. Army’s focus on warfighting modernization concept while supporting NATO’s broader transformational goals particularly on the Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative (EFDI).

Across the High North, and the Baltic region, Sword 26 will take place in: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Poland. Sweden, Turkiye, and the United Kingdom. It brings over 15,500 elite personnel—consisting 6,000 U.S. troops with 9,500 military personnel from NATO.

Highlights of the Sword 26

• Strengthening collective defense, security, and deterrence;
• Assessing and operationalizing NATO’s regional plans particularly along the Eastern Flank;
• Transitioning from traditional warfighting into next-generation combat technologies across all domains (land, air, sea, cyber, and space);
• Leveraging the full spectrum of AI-driven tech for the drones, counter-UAS platforms to transform real-time data into the decisive insights which define mission success.

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Acknowledgments: Sources/Image and logo ©DoD/US Army Europe and Africa.Music©Social media. Article by Catherine S. Schmidt, Director and Editor in Chief.

Excerpts from the speech of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, April 9th 2026

“If peace is to have a chance, if the hope for freedom is to be kept alive, the United States must play a powerful and active role in world affairs.

When President Reagan offered those words at a gathering of the Reserve Officers Association on January 27, 1988, the world was a very different place. 

The Berlin Wall still held people’s hopes and dreams captive.  More than 100 million men, women, and children lived in European countries behind an Iron Curtain.

Those differences notwithstanding, what President Reagan knew then, and what I know today, is quite simple:

American leadership is absolutely essential if freedom is to be the rule and not the exception.

As Prime Minister of the Netherlands and now as Secretary General of NATO, I have developed an unflinching appreciation for the value of American leadership.” ©NATO 

NATO Secretary General speech at the Ronald Reagan Institute, Washington, DC April 9 2026 ©NATO 

Stay tuned for the upcoming article

The legacy of U.S Military,

in liberating and rebuilding Germany and Japan, the best model that should be repeated in Iran

Article by Catherine S. Schmidt, Director and Editor in Chief

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President Barack Obama (at the office 2009-2017) and President George W. Bush (at the office 2001-2009) navigated a difficult path with the volatile security landscape of Middle East and the challenges posed by Iran.

Yet in retrospect, both Presidents acted according to the necessities of their time, by implementing Iran policies which were well-suited to the respective geopolitical of their era, and to the regional dynamics at the time. 

While President Bush applied the isolation, the political and economic sanctions against Iran, President Obama took the path of diplomacy and open-ended dialogue in the hope of finding the lasting solution to the Iran’s long decades of dilemma.

Driven by a vision of global peace, President Obama provided the Iranian regime numerous opportunities to dismantle its internal authoritarian structures and ends its destabilizing activities across the Middle East and beyond.

Throughout his administration, pivotal events—including the emergence of mass protests by young Iranian (the Green Movement of 2009), the intense power struggle inside the country, and the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal— brought the sign of potential shift from hardline regime toward a more moderate one. Yet President Obama’s administration soon confronted a sobering reality that the shift was merely transient. The regime continued to double down its role as a regional proxy for Russian and Chinese interests, resumed its nuclear ambition, while escalating hostilities toward its own people inside, the U.S, Israel, its neighboring countries, and the West.

The dawn of 2025 and 2026 has inaugurated a different era– as President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu decided to cast aside the old strategies which couldn’t bring the final breakthrough. They’ve embanked entirely on a different path by placing maximum economic pressure, and later executing military operations combined of  ‘Epic Fury’ and ‘Roaring Lion’ to end the half a century regime’s regional dominance and endless mayhem.

Indeed, the synchronized execution of the U.S. operation Epic Fury and Israel’s Roaring Lion, has for the first time ignited a genuine sense of hope in the region, offering the 90 million Iranians at home and over 10 million abroad a tangible vision of a future without the religious dictatorship. These operations have brought the prospect of a Free Iran closer to reality than ever before. 

Since beginning of the Epic Fury and Roaring Lion,  I’ve attended many events in Iranian’s campaign rallies in Europe, supporting President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s policies to liberate Iran. All I hear in every event and in every rally is– the crowd chant in a rhythmic thunder:  Thank you President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu.  We love you Israel…..U.S.A.

Article by Catherine S. Schmidt, Editor in Chief.

Acknowledgments: Image-1 President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama during the inauguration ceremony in Washington DC. January 20, 2009 © NBC news/ by Kevin Lamarque / Reuters.