For much of September, the strategic question was whether attacks on Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, combined with increasing Houthi pressure in the Red Sea, could neutralize the principal alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz.

That is why governments should be wary of purchasing tomorrow's force based entirely upon the most spectacular images from today's war. The drone is unquestionably here to stay. What remains unanswered is whether drone dominance is equally permanent.

The Trump–Xi meeting in Washington was this week's largest diplomatic event, but it did not settle the questions that determine security and economic resilience in the Pacific. The two governments endorsed a proposed tariff adjustment covering $30 billion of goods in each direction, activated trade and investment discussion mechanisms, agreed on a channel for incidents involving advanced AI, and promised further military crisis communication.