GPI Global Policy Institute

Check out the highlights from GPI President, Paolo von Schirach’s recent Interview with Real tv

Check out the highlights from GPI President, Paolo von Schirach’s recent Interview with Real tv, where he discusses about "the strategic importance of Greenland ". Read here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjwM41zISpw #GPI #GPInstitute #Greenland

Trump Knows Good Real Estate and He Knows Greenland’s Value to National Security (From FOX News)

By Rebecca L. Grant, Ph.D., Vice President, Lexington Institute. January 20, 2025 Trump lit a bonfire under Denmark and NATO to spur much-needed progress to counter aggressive moves by Russia and China. “The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security. It is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building,” President Donald J. Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday. Trump is right.  Grab a globe and look down from the North Pole, or check out this official Pentagon map.  You will see that Greenland is pivotal to the Arctic front.  Greenland’s eastern coast guards the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom or GIUK. This is the entry gate to the Atlantic for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear-armed submarines.  Greenland hosts important early warning radar sites because its field of view covers so much of the bomber and missile flight routes from Russia and China.  No Greenland, no Golden Dome missile shield. Read here and below.

Iran Protests: When the Bazaar Turns Against the State On January 13, the Global Policy Institute hosted an online discussion examining Iran’s evolving protest movement and its broader political implications, with a focus on the growing role of the merchant class (Bazaaris) and what it may signal for the future of the Islamic Republic. 🎙 Speaker: Ahmad Hashemi 🎤 Moderator: Paolo von Schirach #Iran #IranProtests #MiddleEast #ForeignPolicy #GlobalPolicy #GPI

Trump Has Three Options That Would Devastate Iran Targets (From Fox News)

By Rebecca L. Grant, Ph.D., Vice President, Lexington Institute. January 14, 2025 Missile production facilities, space launch sites and drone factories among potential targets as pressure mounts on regime No one is better than President Donald J. Trump at putting maximum pressure on Iran.  As protests against the repressive, murderous regime continue, Trump is talking about military options as another means of adding to the dilemmas for Iran’s government.  “Locked and loaded,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Jan. 2, as the protests by the Iranian people ramped up.  Read here and below.

Texas Offers Practical Transportation Lessons For The U.S. (From InsideSources DC Journal)

By Rebecca L. Grant, Ph.D., Vice President, Lexington Institute. January 7, 2025 The full text of this article is available below and in InsideSources DC Journal at the link here. With travel in America becoming increasingly challenging and congested, it is important to find timely, practical solutions. Texas offers clear and intriguing lessons why expanded air transportation is a compelling alternative to often glamorized high-speed rail. According to the Texas governor’s office, the state’s population increases by 1,500 people daily. After growing faster than any other state over the last two decades, it is now the second-most populous. Texas has added $1 trillion to its gross domestic product over that time. However, the state also faces some serious challenges as it attempts to accommodate millions of new residents. Transportation infrastructure, especially within the Texas Triangle (Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Austin-San Antonio), is one of its most significant challenges. The I-35 and I-45 corridors, connecting Dallas-Fort Worth with Austin-San Antonio and Houston, respectively, are driving nightmares. More than 50,000 people travel the road between Houston and Dallas daily. Texas Department of Transportation’s North Houston Highway Improvement Project estimates there are 39 million person-hours of traffic delays annually. The project broke ground in 2024 and has a $13 billion price tag. Understandably, there have been many companies attempting to solve the Texas Triangle’s regional transportation problem. The market, with 150,000 daily intercity travelers, generates serious interest for those who believe they can devise automobile-alternate transport modes.

The Strategic Logic of Operation Absolute Resolve (From FOX News)

By Rebecca L. Grant, Ph.D., Vice President, Lexington Institute. January 5, 2025 President Donald J. Trump has taken a bold step in his campaign to yank Venezuela back from the brink and to keep China out of the Western Hemisphere.  Read here and below. Operation Absolute Resolve was a stunning tactical success by U.S. military forces.  Now comes the hard part: remodeling Venezuela without creating a quagmire. Nabbing illegitimate President Nicolas Maduro was another masterpiece orchestrated by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan “Razin” Caine.  Like the Operation Midnight Hammer’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities last June, this operation involved over 150 aircraft and built on America’s complete air dominance.  Caine credited the “years of experience hunting for terrorists.”  Intelligence agencies mapped every moment of Maduro’s routine – down to his pets.

Iran’s Regime Change Is Inevitable

By Ahmad Hashemi January 2,2026 As 2025 drew to a close, the Iranian national currency, the rial, plummeted to a record low. This collapse infuriated the Bazaaris (traditional merchants and shopkeepers), triggering a return of the familiar, tragic cycle of protest and crackdown to the streets of Tehran. The Bazaaris were historically close allies of the clergy. They bankrolled the 1979 Islamic Revolution. However, the new message from the shuttered storefronts of the Grand Bazaar is clear and quite different. The historic pact between the clerical establishment and the merchant class is broken. Nevertheless, notwithstanding this huge setback, even though the Islamic Republic appears more fragile than at any point in its 46-year history, the mechanics of regime survival remain largely intact. For those watching from Western capitals, the temptation to view the mass street protests as a precursor to a swift, perhaps foreign-assisted, collapse, is high. However, the reality on the ground suggests a more sobering truth: regime change in Iran is not a matter of if, but how it will be carried out—and the "how" depends on internal dynamics that foreign bombs cannot ignite, and exiled voices cannot dictate.

Venezuela Mission Spotlights Amphibious Ready Groups and Improved Ship Maintenance

By Rebecca L. Grant, Ph.D., Vice President, Lexington Institute. December 31, 2025 Operations in the Caribbean are yet more proof that amphibious forces will be in high demand.  In late November, all eyes were on the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, racing from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean to join Operation Southern Spear and help put the squeeze on Venezuela’s illicit money machine. But the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) was already on scene.  “Our integrated Navy-Marine Corps warfighters are ready to execute the nation’s business and deliver quick and decisive combat power no matter where we are tasked in today’s complex global environment,” said Capt. Chris Farricker, commodore, Amphibious Squadron 8, as the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) departed Norfolk, Virginia back on Aug. 15. Embarked with the Iwo Jima ARG was the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, a special-operations capable unit with formidable capabilities for “a wide variety of contingency missions,” as the Navy terms it.  Operation Southern Spear has included interdiction of drug boats and the capture of two Very Large Crude Carrier tankers.

AI Regulation Across the Atlantic: EU AI Act vs. U.S. AI Governance

By Osman Eren Dogan December 29,2025   Abstract One of the most significant contemporary policy issues requiring cooperation between the United States and the European Union is artificial intelligence (AI) governance, particularly in the post-2020 period. This study examines the differences between the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act and United States AI governance, with particular attention to Executive Order 14110. The analysis focuses on how these frameworks differ from a legal perspective, in their methods of application, and in their approaches to encouraging innovative activities (European Parliament & Council of the European Union, 2024; Harris & Jaikaran, 2024). The study explores whether these two distinct systems can coexist, potentially converge under a unified framework, or continue to operate separately. These regulatory choices are assessed in light of their broader implications for global AI norms and public perceptions of AI governance. The research employs multiple methods, including document analysis and expert outreach conducted in Washington, DC.

As we celebrate the joy and spirit of Christmas, the Global Policy Institute (GPI) extends its warmest wishes to our partners, colleagues, and communities around the world. May this festive season bring you peace, hope, and renewed purpose, and may the coming year be filled with impactful ideas, meaningful collaboration, and positive global change. ✨ Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year! ✨