The Watch

The U.S. Navy christened the USS Iowa at a ceremony in Groton, Connecticut. U.S. NAVY THE WATCH STAFF The United States christened its 24th Virginia-class nuclear powered fast-attack submarine in April 2025 at a ceremony at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut. The USS Iowa embarked for sea patrols after a ceremony attended by top naval officials and Iowa’s former first lady. The submarine, which has been under construction and at sea trials since 2019, is 115 meters long and can operate faster than 25 knots. It has a crew of 135 and can dive to more than…

DIÁLOGO AMERICAS ILLUSTRATION DIÁLOGO AMERICAS Trinidad and Tobago kicked off the new year under a state of emergency, following an alarming rise in violence and retaliatory gang killings. “The gangs in Trinidad and Tobago are growing and competing with each other for control of illicit businesses, territory, access, routes and control of illicit goods,” Guillermo Holzmann, defense analyst and academic at the University of Valparaíso, Chile, told Diálogo, a publication of U.S. Southern Command. “With the increased number of gangs, there is a rise in corruption. With greater corruption comes increased institutional weakness. All of this generates more space for the…

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping shake hands during the G20 summit at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in November 2024. REUTERS DR. R. EVAN ELLIS/U.S. ARMY WAR COLLEGE Investment and activities by Chinese companies in Mexico always have been more significant than generally realized. Between 2001 and 2023, the China-Latin America Network of Mexico’s prestigious National Autonomous University identified $20.8 billion in Chinese Communist Party (CCP) investment across 150 projects. That presence, and associated influence, likely will expand significantly in the coming years since China-based companies are well…

U.S. Marines scan for simulated threats from the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer during a drill in the Pacific Ocean in July 2024. SGT. AMELIA KANG/U.S. MARINE CORPS THE WATCH STAFF As the surge of small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) in battle poses a deadly challenge for modern military forces, the U.S. Marine Corps has announced it will equip deploying units with handheld prototype systems designed to counter the drones. “Unmanned aerial systems are a threat not just to infantry Marines, but to all Marines,” said Lt. Gen. Eric Austin, deputy commandant for combat development and integration. Starting this summer,…

USNORTHCOM and NORAD Commander Gregory Guillot cautioned against the sale of the “Goldilocks” portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, saying it could imperil North American missile defense. AFP/GETTY IMAGES THE WATCH STAFF The commander of the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) urged federal lawmakers in April 2025 to resist pressure to auction off a crucial segment of the electromagnetic spectrum. Gen. Gregory Guillot told the House Armed Services Committee that opening the sweet spot of radio frequencies known as the “Goldilocks” part of the spectrum to commercial users would endanger North American missile…

Minister of Security and Citizen Protection Omar García Harfuch speaks during a presentation of incoming President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Cabinet members in Mexico City on July 4, 2024. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Six years ago, Mexico’s president disbanded the country’s Federal Police and handed security responsibilities fully to the military. Now, his successor has quietly begun to build an elite civilian investigative and special operations force to fight the drug cartels. President Claudia Sheinbaum had already shown a willingness early in her presidency to move away from former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s often-criticized “hugs, not bullets” strategy. It focused on addressing…

U.S. Soldiers, assigned to 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 12th Infantry Regiment, patrol the southern border outside of Sierra Blanca, Texas, on March 31, 2025. Under the direction of U.S. Northern Command, Joint Task Force – Southern Border aligns efforts to seal the border and repel illegal activity. PFC. MALIK WADDDY FIFFEE/U.S. ARMY United States President Donald Trump, in a national security memo signed April 11, authorized the transfer of federal land along the U.S.-Mexico border to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to support the mission to halt illegal immigration. The 60-foot-wide, 700-mile-long strip of land, known as…

The flight deck crew aboard a French Navy Atlantique 2 surveillance plane monitor cockpit instruments as the aircraft patrols over the Baltic Sea in January 2025 as part of NATO’s Baltic Sentry mission. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS THE WATCH STAFF Three months after NATO announced Baltic Sentry, a mission to guard undersea communications cables in the Baltic Sea after commercial ships were accused of damaging equipment and a gas pipeline there, no new sabotage has been alleged in the waterway. The incidents had raised fears of Russia creating havoc and spying in the strategic region. “Across the alliance, we have seen elements of…

Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, commander of the United States Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee in April 2025. Guillot, pictured above testifying before Congress in 2024, has requested the authority to disable unmanned aerial systems within 5 miles of the Mexico-U.S. border. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE THE WATCH STAFF The commander of the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) told a Congressional committee in April 2025 that he has requested permission to shoot down drones near the Mexico-U.S. border to…

Sailors from the Mexican and U.S. navies participate in the closing ceremony of the North American Maritime Security Initiative Pacific Exercise 2023. CMDR. DAN SLEDZ/U.S. NAVY THE WATCH STAFF Maritime security forces from Canada, Mexico and the United States gathered last year for two exercises held a few weeks apart designed to increase the effectiveness of the North American nations in tackling illicit activity in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The North American Maritime Security Initiative (NAMSI) exercises, based out of U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) facilities in San Diego, California and Corpus Christi, Texas, better acquainted the Canadian maritime forces,…