RH 5.25.26 | Iran and the Middle East: Hormuz, Nukes, Hezbollah, Gaza

What's coming Up Next Week In The World 2026.06.14 to 2026.06.20

👉 Subscribe to The Restricted Handling Podcast https://www.restrictedhandling.com/ This week on The Restricted Handling Daily Intel Brief's What's Coming Up Next Week in the World, we are rolling into a packed global calendar with the geopolitical equivalent of a five-screen sports bar: G7 leaders in France, EU ministers in Luxembourg and Brussels, NATO ships moving through the Baltic, central banks setting the macro mood music, and Russia doing what Russia tends to do whenever NATO is nearby - showing up with a megaphone, a grievance, and probably a naval drill. The headline event is the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, where leaders from the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada, and the EU institutions gather with Ukraine, the Middle East, China trade tensions, sanctions, economic pressure, and global security all hovering over the table. This is the kind of summit where the public statement matters, but the side conversations may matter even more. Expect tight language, careful diplomacy, and plenty of behind-the-scenes maneuvering as leaders try to show unity on Russia, manage escalation risks tied to the Middle East, and keep China-related economic frictions from turning the room into a policy cage match. We also break down the EU Foreign Affairs Council, where Russia's war against Ukraine, the Middle East, and EU-China relations land in the same ministerial meeting. That gives Brussels an early chance to frame the week before EU leaders gather later for the European Council, one of the most important forums on the calendar for Ukraine support, European defense, security policy, and the future direction of EU strategy. In plain English: this is where the sausage gets made, then reworded, then negotiated again until everyone can pretend they loved the recipe. On the macro side, we cover the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the Bank of Japan, because geopolitics does not happen in a vacuum. Interest rates, inflation, bond purchases, energy risk, defense financing, and sanctions enforcement all connect. A central bank press conference may not have the cinematic flair of a NATO exercise, but these decisions shape the financial terrain leaders and militaries operate on. And speaking of NATO exercises, BALTOPS 2026 continues across the Baltic Sea region, with U.S. 6th Fleet, Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum, and forces from 15 NATO countries involved. This is a live maritime deterrence signal in a region directly tied to Russia - and Moscow, true to form, is already in the neighborhood with its own brand of Cold War tribute-band signaling. We also flag the watchlist: possible movement on the EU's proposed 21st sanctions package against Russia, the upcoming renewal cycle for Crimea and Sevastopol sanctions, follow-through after Xi Jinping's visit to Pyongyang, and additional Russia-NATO messaging around the Baltic. If you follow Russia, China, Ukraine, NATO, the EU, the Middle East, DPRK, sanctions, global security, defense policy, central banks, or international affairs, this episode gives you the calendar before the chaos. Think of it as your no-hype, high-signal briefing on what matters next week - with just enough energy to keep the geopolitics from sounding like it was read aloud by a committee in a windowless room. 👉 Subscribe to The Restricted Handling Podcast https://www.restrictedhandling.com/ Get the daily intelligence brief Ryan and Glenn read covering Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, the Middle East, geopolitics, sanctions, military and intel operations. Save a few hours of your time getting ahead of the news cycle at restrictedhandling.com.

RH 6.13.26 | Saturday Spy Stories Deep Dive

👉 Subscribe to The Restricted Handling Podcast https://www.restrictedhandling.com/ [https://www.restrictedhandling.com/] A weekly deep dive into the latest spy stories and intelligence updates from across the globe. We spotlight the hidden dynamics driving security crises, geopolitical maneuvering, and covert operations—all with a sharp, unvarnished perspective. From cyber threats to clandestine influence campaigns, this episode pulls together the week's most critical developments, cutting through the noise and spin. Join us as we uncover the storylines shaping tomorrow's conflicts, power plays, and intelligence battles. 👉 Subscribe to The Restricted Handling Podcast https://www.restrictedhandling.com/ [https://www.restrictedhandling.com/] Get the daily intelligence brief Ryan and Glenn read covering Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, the Middle East, geopolitics, sanctions, military and intel operations. Save a few hours of your time getting ahead of the news cycle at restrictedhandling.com.

RH 6.12.26 | Iran and the Middle East | Trump-Iran Deal, Hormuz Tensions, Lebanon Leverage, Gulf Energy Risks

👉 Subscribe to The Restricted Handling Podcast https://www.restrictedhandling.com/ [https://www.restrictedhandling.com/] Today's episode of The Restricted Handling Daily Intel Brief jumps straight into the pressure cooker: the US, Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, Gulf energy politics, Lebanon, Hezbollah, Israel, and the high-stakes diplomacy that could either cool the region down or send everyone right back into the danger zone. Ryan and Glenn break down President Trump's claim that a US-Iran settlement may be close, even as Tehran says no final decision has been made. That gap matters. A lot. The White House is talking like a deal is almost ready for the cameras, while Iran is keeping its leverage alive, protecting its red lines, and making sure nobody mistakes negotiation for surrender. Classic Middle East diplomacy: everyone is talking, nobody is fully agreeing, and energy markets are refreshing the page like the rest of us. This episode digs into why the Strait of Hormuz remains the centerpiece of the crisis. Iran is using the waterway as a strategic pressure point, tying maritime access, oil flows, and regional stability to the outcome of negotiations. The US, meanwhile, is trying to keep pressure on Tehran through military strikes, a naval blockade, and diplomacy that is moving fast but not exactly smoothly. If you care about oil prices, sanctions, global shipping, inflation, or why one narrow waterway can make markets sweat worldwide, this one is for you. The brief also covers the Gulf states doing what Gulf states do best: hedging, maneuvering, and trying very hard not to become the next headline. Qatar's alleged back-channel outreach to Iran over the Ras Laffan gas complex gets attention, as does the UAE's direct engagement with Iranian security officials. These are not side plots. They are central to understanding how US partners are trying to stay aligned with Washington while protecting their own energy infrastructure, economies, and survival interests. Lebanon is also moving to the front of the board. Iran wants to preserve Hezbollah as a major regional lever, Israel wants Hezbollah degraded or dismantled in the south, and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is trying to keep Lebanon from being treated like someone else's bargaining chip. The result is a dangerous mix of diplomacy, proxy pressure, Israeli military planning, and regional dealmaking. Ryan and Glenn also get into the political and legal complications facing Washington and Israel, including maritime casualties, damaged water infrastructure in Iran, Netanyahu's inner-circle legal problems, and the awkward human rights optics around US plans to deport some Iranian migrants to the Central African Republic. This is a punchy, fast-moving intelligence-style episode for anyone tracking Iran, the Middle East, geopolitics, US foreign policy, sanctions, energy security, Hezbollah, Israel, Qatar, the UAE, the Strait of Hormuz, and global oil markets. Big picture first, tactical details only where they matter, and enough context to understand why this crisis is not just a regional story. It is a global one. 👉 Subscribe to The Restricted Handling Podcast https://www.restrictedhandling.com/ [https://www.restrictedhandling.com/] Get the daily intelligence brief Ryan and Glenn read covering Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, the Middle East, geopolitics, sanctions, military and intel operations. Save a few hours of your time getting ahead of the news cycle at restrictedhandling.com.

RH 6.12.26 | China IPO Walls, Spy Turtles, Teodoro Sanctions

👉 Subscribe to The Restricted Handling Podcast https://www.restrictedhandling.com/ [https://www.restrictedhandling.com/] China is back in the spotlight, and this episode has a little bit of everything: strategic tech decoupling, South China Sea pressure, AI industrial policy, space race drama, Taiwan diplomacy, Myanmar intelligence intrigue, and yes, Beijing is now talking about spy turtles and spy fish. Somehow, that is a real sentence in a serious intelligence brief. In this June 12, 2026 China episode of The Restricted Handling Daily Intel Brief, Ryan and Glenn break down how US-China competition is moving into a new arena: capital markets. SpaceX is reportedly blocking investors from mainland China and Hong Kong from its IPO, and OpenAI may follow the same path. That is a big deal for anyone watching technology security, AI competition, defense contracting, space policy, and strategic investment controls. This is not just about who gets rich when a hot company goes public. It is about who gets access to the financial upside of the most sensitive parts of America's national security technology stack. The episode also digs into China's race to build its own AI and space ecosystems. Beijing is pushing the "ciyuan," or token, economy as a way to measure, price, regulate, and eventually control the AI infrastructure layer before the private market gets too wild. China Telecom's TokenHub and the new Token Ecosystem Alliance show how Chinese state-backed firms are trying to shape the future of AI services, cloud adoption, domestic chips, and model deployment. Then we get into the space race. SpaceX's massive IPO is energizing Chinese commercial space firms, but the gap remains huge. China wants reusable rockets and Starlink-style constellations, but LandSpace, CAS Space, Guowang, and Qianfan still have a long way to go before they can challenge SpaceX and Starlink at scale. This is your fast, sharp, and human-readable China intelligence brief covering geopolitics, sanctions, AI, space, maritime security, Taiwan, Myanmar, the Philippines, and the future of US-China strategic competition. 👉 Subscribe to The Restricted Handling Podcast https://www.restrictedhandling.com/ [https://www.restrictedhandling.com/] Get the daily intelligence brief Ryan and Glenn read covering Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, the Middle East, geopolitics, sanctions, military and intel operations. Save a few hours of your time getting ahead of the news cycle at restrictedhandling.com.

RH 6.12.26 | Russia: Crimea Fuel Crisis, NATO Border Prep, Drone Pressure

👉 Subscribe to The Restricted Handling Podcast https://www.restrictedhandling.com/ [https://www.restrictedhandling.com/] Ryan and Glenn break down the top Russia, Ukraine, NATO, intelligence, energy, cyber, and sanctions-adjacent stories shaping the battlefield and the geopolitical chessboard. We start with a rare diplomatic push by Britain, France, and Germany, whose ambassadors met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin in Moscow to press support for direct Russia-Ukraine talks and reinforce backing for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's peace framework. Moscow responded with its usual "everyone is out to get us" routine, but the larger story is Europe trying to stay in the room as Ukraine looks for diplomatic leverage and hard security guarantees. The episode also covers Ukraine's expected $20 billion request to allies at the next Ramstein-format Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting. Kyiv believes it has a six-to-nine-month opportunity to exploit Russia's slowing advances, and the message to partners is clear: now is the time to fund momentum, not admire it from the sidelines. Then we move into Crimea, where Ukraine's pressure campaign against Russian logistics is creating real-world pain. Fuel shortages in Sevastopol and Yevpatoriya, QR-code rationing, damaged routes through occupied southern Ukraine, and Moscow's sudden interest in fuel-market forecasting all point to the same problem: Russia's rear areas are not feeling very rear anymore. We also cover Ukrainian strikes into Tatarstan and Samara, including reported hits on refinery and petrochemical infrastructure around Nizhnekamsk and Togliatti. That matters because Ukraine is forcing Russia to defend deep industrial sites, energy infrastructure, public events, and transportation networks far from the front line. On the NATO front, we look at Russian military construction near Finland, Karelia, Pechenga, and Kaliningrad. Russia may not be ready for a near-term fight with NATO, but it is clearly laying groundwork for postwar force projection along the alliance's northern flank. This episode also gets into the future of drone warfare, Russia's centralized Rubicon drone program, Ukraine's more adaptive unmanned systems model, and the bigger question of whether Moscow's top-down war machine can keep up with Ukraine's faster innovation cycle. Plus, we cover Russian nationalizations, budget secrecy, FSB counterintelligence activity, internet control, cyber operations tied to Void Blizzard, and Ukraine's relocation of key industrial capacity from Kramatorsk to western Ukraine. If you follow Russia, Ukraine, NATO, military logistics, sanctions, energy security, intelligence operations, cyber threats, drone warfare, or the future of European security, this episode gets you caught up fast, without needing to read a mountain of reports before your second coffee. 👉 Subscribe to The Restricted Handling Podcast https://www.restrictedhandling.com/ [https://www.restrictedhandling.com/] Get the daily intelligence brief Ryan and Glenn read covering Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, the Middle East, geopolitics, sanctions, military and intel operations. Save a few hours of your time getting ahead of the news cycle at restrictedhandling.com.