Survival: August-September 2025

Survival, the IISS's bimonthly journal, challenges conventional wisdom and brings fresh, often controversial, perspectives on strategic issues of the moment.In this issue:* Following US and Israeli airstrikes, Mark Fitzpatrick assesses Iran's residual nuclear capabilities, its freshly intensified resentment and its perceived need to defensively arm itself* Anna M. Gielas argues that humans must be kept actively engaged in artificial-intelligence interfaces used in autonomous warfare to preserve human discretion and cognitive readiness to intervene* Ramon Pacheco Pardo judges that Yoon Suk-yeol's December 2024 declaration of martial law ultimately served to underscore the resilience of South Korean democracy* Dana H. Allin and Jonathan Stevenson examine the windows of opportunity that precipitated Israel's strikes on Iran: Israel's current strategic superiority and a US president disinclined to prevent Israeli action* And nine other thought-provoking pieces, as well as our regular Book Reviews and Noteworthy column.To read free articles from the journal, please visit its homepage at https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/tsur20.Editor: Dr Dana AllinManaging Editor: Jonathan StevensonAssociate Editor: Carolyn WestEditorial Assistant: Anna Gallagher