I know this is yesterday’s post…but there is good stuff here. Anyway…I hope you enjoy the day-old bullets.
Some X threads from the last few days. For the most part, these posts are about news in National Security. We do the scrolling so you don’t have to! This post also serves as an open thread. I welcome readers to post comments or additional links related to national security or history, even if they are not directly related to the links below.
🚨 BREAKING: The greatest Secretary of State Marco Rubio just scored a HUGE WIN for USA influence in Latin America, making Paraguay an OFFICIAL partner in destroying terrorists who try to kill Americans and destabilize the region
WE LOVE MARCO! 🔥🇺🇸
“The biggest threat in the… pic.twitter.com/9pn32VMIys
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 15, 2025
Not a fan of the sensationalism in the post, but it did send me down a rabbit hole that you can follow here. I actually tried to go directly to the State Department site, but the link was broken. I hope that is not a harbinger of things to come. Regardless, this is a big deal. If I had to choose 1 thing from the current administration that I fully support, it is their America’s policy. That area has been ignored for far too long. Here is the key quote from the article:
“So what we sign today is a Status of Forces Agreement that allows us to formalize a partnership that already exists and that we want to build upon; that allows us to train together; that allows us to advance the transfer of equipment that they need for their own security; that allow us to share intelligence in real time; that allow us to operate together when necessary – and in the case of any contingencies, by the way. This includes having an opportunity to very quickly partner on humanitarian responses, be it to natural disasters or anything else.
So we’re excited for this – for the ability to do this today. Paraguay is among our strongest allies in the world, but certainly in the region, and we want to continue to find concrete ways to work together and operate together. And by the way, this extends beyond the security realm. This is not just a security matter. This agreement is about security, but we also want to extend and expand our cooperation on the economic front. There’s a lot of good things, positive things happening in Paraguay, a tremendous potential to make Paraguay a richer country and do so in partnership with American economic interests in a way that further binds our two countries together and makes us stronger. So we’re very grateful for that.”
Today I had the chance to read #China’s Policy Paper on Latin America and the Caribbean, released just a few days ago.
It is the first update to this document in 9 years and it came immediately after the “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine was released. I think the timing… pic.twitter.com/2fA0Atlw00
— Imdat Oner (@imdat_oner) December 15, 2025
Sometimes, to understand our own policy, we can gain understanding by reading an adversaries response to it. This does come from The Global Times and should be considered basically propaganda not an independent take. But messaging is important. This is China’s response to the Trump Corollary. I highly recommend clicking the link to read the whole thing but here are some highlights:
“First…China is openly rejecting the idea that the Americas belong to any single power, and it pushes back against Washington’s efforts, which started under Biden and are now accelerating under Trump, to squeeze China out of the region.
“Second, China presents Latin America and the Caribbean as a central part of the Global South and as an important driver of a more multipolar world. The region is not framed as a backyard or a buffer zone, but as a partner with its own agency and strategic weight.”
“Third, the document makes it clear that China no longer sees itself as an outside player in the region.”
“There is also a broader geopolitical message. As the US strengthens its military posture and alliances inIndo-Pacific, especially around Taiwan, China is responding in a different way by deepening its economic, technological, and diplomatic presence in Latin America and the Caribbean. In effect, competition is moving closer to the US mainland.”
“The contrast is striking. Where Washington talks about dominance and red lines, Beijing talks about inclusion and development, at least on paper. Whether that approach holds in practice is another question, but the strategic signal is clear.”
Very important. https://t.co/drzVm4KqzP
— Aaron MacLean (@AaronBMacLean) December 15, 2025
I had to do some digging to find out why this is important. This is the important part.
“They gave up their defense and national security work at the behest of investors, became dependent on foreign suppliers, and then got beaten out of their home market by those (and other) foreign suppliers. Now they’re finished.“
China has deployed maritime structures—one integrated management platform, and two aquaculture cages—have been deployed inside the South Korea-China Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ) without prior consultation with the South Korean government.
Satellite imagery analysis reveals… pic.twitter.com/N8m4VvHAjj
— Isabella Anderson (@IsabellaAn67) December 15, 2025
It’s the Yellow Sea too! The structures China is building in the Yellow Sea are officially for commercial fishing; however, all should be considered dual-purpose and are certainly expansionary. (The dubbed voices in the video are kinda funny also.)
Mike Rowe epitomizes common sense with every word. He so completely understands America at its best. Why aren’t the guys like this in charge of our state governments? I did his show recently (airing sometime in January), and I was just so impressed with him. He is a grassroots… https://t.co/g6Srg9hg28
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) December 15, 2025
Mike Rowe is the best, and this is true. We need more tradesmen.
The Appeal to Heaven flag is awesome, it really bothers me that the legacy media defames this flag. It depicts the Eastern White Pine. The King of England banned our colonial ancestors from harvesting this species and his men even marked the trees that weren’t allowed to be… https://t.co/l1oUtwc9P0 pic.twitter.com/VLpUMOxqWp
— RodeoProfessor (@RodeoProfessor) December 16, 2025
Some good history when individuals are trying to make everything controversial.
Conservation means caring for the land and all the life that lives on it. pic.twitter.com/nO5rpDJ9Qd
— American Conservation Coalition (@ACC_National) December 15, 2025
Truth.