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• I stayed at a resort in Sidemen, a more rural part of Eastern Bali, for under $50 a night.
• While in Sidemen, I enjoyed a private bike tour and incredible waterfall views.
• I'm happy I chose to skip more popular spots in Bali, which helped me avoid crowds of tourists.

Before I visited Bali, I was convinced by posts on Reddit and TikTok that it was little more than a crowded playground for influencers trying to get the perfect photo for Instagram.

Knowing that many of its popular areas, like Seminyak and Kuta, have struggled to deal with high levels of tourism (and the pollution and damage that can cause) in the past few years only added to the image I'd created in my mind.

I don't travel just to snap photos, and I enjoy getting to explore without crowds, so when I finally visited, I decided to head to a less popular and more rural region of Eastern Bali: Sidemen.

I'd heard about Sidemen from a friend who had visited Bali a few months prior. After seeing images of the area's lush green landscape and reading about its incredible waterfalls and laid-back feel, I was sold.

My resort in Sidemen felt like an excellent value

When I arrived in Sidemen, I was delighted to find the lush valley was filled with rice terraces, artisan silver workshops, and otherworldly landscapes.

I stayed at Cepik Villa Sidemen, a resort where I paid $45 per night for an air-conditioned bungalow with a king-sized bed and complimentary breakfast each morning.

It had a pool, a rooftop spa, a yoga pavilion, and a restaurant where I had the best nasi goreng (an Indonesian fried rice dish) of my entire trip.

The luxe-feeling hotel, which only has six rooms, was surrounded by rice terraces. It looked immaculately maintained, and I even saw staff walking the grounds multiple times a day to tend to the wide variety of tropical plants.

A highlight of my stay was a private tour of the area with a local guide

My favorite activity at Cepik Villa Sidemen was a private scooter tour of the area with a staff member at the hotel who was born and raised in Sidemen.

Early in the morning, I hopped on the back of his scooter, and we drove about five minutes to the local market, which was already bustling before 8 a.m. I bought and tried things I'd never heard of, like snakeskin fruit, a sweet-and-sour fruit with scaly skin.

After exploring the market, we hopped back on the scooter and wove through the beautiful surrounding scenery until we reached Gembleng Waterfall.

My guide dropped me at the base of it, where I walked up a steep series of steps to access a few small pools that the waterfall feeds into.

I didn't see a single other person hiking up the steps or lounging in the pools during my visit. Looking out over the valley with the sound of the waterfall behind me, I was struck by how beautiful the area was and how lucky I was to have the view all to myself.

After that, we stopped to taste locally brewed Arak (a strong Balinese liquor) and visited Pertenunan Pelangi, where I watched crafters go through the complex process of designing, dyeing, and weaving colorful fabrics.

Choosing the right spot to base your stay in can make all the difference

As it turns out, I'd underestimated Bali and how much it has to offer.

Much to my delight, Sidemen felt so much different from the crowded, influencer-filled Bali I'd expected — yet it still felt luxurious and beautiful.

Unlike some of the other places I visited in Indonesia, Sidemen offered me a unique opportunity to connect with the landscape and the people.

I don't think I could've had the same personalized, private experiences in a more crowded place.

Although I don't necessarily dislike "touristy" destinations, I think there's something to be said for straying from the most popular recommendations online and seeking out something a little different.

I'm sure there are many reasons Bali's trendiest destinations draw so many visitors — but I feel my choice to spend time in a lesser-known part of the province was a good one.

The Briton’s 9,135-day overstay of his visa is a ‘record’, Thai police say

Beijing’s unexpected exercises disrupted flights and fuelled regional security debates

• Ukraine has become the largest producer of tactical and strategic drones, its defense minister said.
• Ukraine has ramped up its drone production since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
• In total, Ukraine delivered over 1.3 million drones to soldiers in 2024, its commander in chief said.

Ukraine has become the world's largest producer of key military-use drones, the country's defense minister said.

"We've become the biggest drone manufacturer in the world, drones of tactical and strategic level," Rustem Umerov said during a Sunday press conference at Ukraine's "Year 2025" forum.

Tactical drones support smaller-scale battlefield actions, often at close ranges, by gathering intelligence and supporting strikes, either as the munition or by providing targeting data.

Strategic drones, meanwhile, are often higher-end, high-altitude systems with the endurance to advance operations against higher-priority targets.

Speaking at the same press conference, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine's commander in chief, said the country delivered over 1.3 million drones to front-line soldiers in 2024. The general added that its long-range drones can strike targets up to 1,700 kilometers inside Russia.

At a separate press conference on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country produced 2.2 million drones in total in 2024 and planned to ramp up production further in 2025.

Ukraine's defense ministry didn't respond to a Business Insider request for comment.

Up-to-date and comprehensive data on various countries' respective drone production is scarce, making direct comparisons difficult.

June 2024 data from Statista Market Insights, a data analysis service on market trends, said China was set to be the world's largest overall drone manufacturer in 2024 and was on track to produce 2.9 million drones. However, the data does not include drones for military purposes, though off-the-shelf drones for civilian use have been heavily repurposed for military use in Ukraine and further afield.

In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was ramping up its own drone production to nearly 1.4 million in 2024, a tenfold increase from the previous year.

Drones are increasingly being used in conflicts around the world for intelligence and reconnaissance, bombing missions, precision strikes, and other military purposes by both state-level and non-state actors.

This has led to an increased demand for counter-drone capabilities.

In December, the Pentagon released a new counter-drone strategy aimed at coordinating how different branches of the US military are responding to the threat of drones and making "countering unmanned systems a key element of our thinking."

Drones have been a hallmark of the war in Ukraine, with both sides using the evolving technology to devastating effect.

Even so, Ukrainian tactical drones face significant challenges, according to a February report by the UK's Royal United Services Institute, with a 60-80% failure rate in hitting targets "depending on the part of the front and the skill of the operators."

Despite this, it said that they still account for 60 to 70% of damaged and destroyed Russian military systems.

In an October speech to executives from dozens of foreign arms manufacturers, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was capable of producing 4 million drones a year, up from the one million he predicted in December 2023.

Kyiv has tried to smooth the process of drone acquisitions for its troops.

Last week, Umerov said Ukraine's defense ministry was launching a new drone supply model to facilitate a "fast and uninterrupted supply of the best UAVs for our soldiers," and to provide its armed forces with an additional $60 million a month to purchase drones.

Ukraine's growing defense industry has led some to believe that drones, among other military capabilities, could play an important role in Ukraine's postwar economic recovery.

Andrew Bayly says he is ‘deeply sorry’ for inappropriate action

President Donald Trump teased a possible meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday from the Oval Office, amid what he called his "serious discussions" with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. 

The president, from the Oval Office Monday, hinted at a potential meeting with Zelenskyy to finalize an agreement for rights to access its natural resources in exchange for the United States’ billions of dollars in support for the country's war against Russia.

TRUMP SAYS DEAL WITH UKRAINE FOR US ACCESS TO ITS RARE EARTH MINERALS IS ‘PRETTY CLOSE’

"In fact, he may come in this week or next week to sign the agreement, which would be nice, I'd love to meet him. Would meet at the Oval Office," Trump said. "The agreement is being worked on now." 

"They are very close to a final deal," the president said. 

The Trump administration is seeking to recoup the cost of aid sent to the war-torn country by gaining access to rare earth minerals like titanium, iron and uranium. 

"It'll be a deal with rare earths and various other things. And, he would like to come. As I understand it, here, to sign it. And that would be great with me," Trump said. "I think they then have to get it approved by their council or whoever might approve it, but I'm sure that will happen." 

Trump said that the deal is "very beneficial to their economy," while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the deal is "very close." 

"One-yard line," Bessent said. 

Trump’s comments come just after he posted on Truth Social that he was in "serious discussions" with Putin about ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. 

The post came after French President Emmanuel Macron of France joined him in the Oval Office to speak to the G7 Summit. 

"The meeting was convened by Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, the current chair of the G7, to acknowledge the Third Anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine War—Which would have never started if I was president," Trump posted on his Truth Social.  

TRUMP SET TO MEET WITH WORLD LEADERS IN DC DURING BUSY WEEK AS RUSSIA-UKRAINE PEACE TALKS CONTINUE

"Everyone expressed their goal of seeing the War end, and I emphasized the importance of the vital ‘Critical Minerals and Rare-Earths Deal’ between the United States and Ukraine, which we hope will be signed very soon!" Trump continued, adding that the deal is an "economic partnership" would "ensure the American people recoup the tens of billions of dollars an military equipment sent to Ukraine, while also helping Ukraine’s economy grow as this brutal and savage war comes to an end." 

The president said, though, "at the same time," he was "in serious discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia concerning the ending of the War, and also major Economic Development transactions which will take place between the United States and Russia." 

"Talks are proceeding very well!" he added. 

The president Monday also predicted that the Russia-Ukraine war could end within weeks. 

"I think the war could end soon," Trump told reporters. 

When asked if it could be "within weeks," Trump said: "Yeah, I think so, right? Don't you think so? I'd like to ask, have you, I think we could end it within weeks. If we're smart." 

"If we're not smart, it'll keep going and we'll keep losing young, beautiful people that we shouldn't be dying. And we don't want that," Trump said. "And remember what I said? This could escalate into a third world war, and we don't want that either." 

Trump administration officials, including White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, recently with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin’s Foreign Affairs Advisor Yuri Ushakov to hash out ways to end the conflict. 

TRUMP OFFICIAL SAYS UKRAINE MINERAL DEAL IS 'WIN-WIN' FINANCIAL OPPORTUNITY FOR US TAXPAYERS, UKRAINIANS

Ukraine was absent from the negotiations in Saudi Arabia. 

Ukraine's lack of involvement sparked Zelenskyy to double down on the stance that his nation will not accept a peace deal unless it is a part of the negotiation process. 

Zelenskyy told reporters Tuesday in Turkey that "nobody decides anything behind our back," after stressing in recent days that Kyiv will not agree to a peace negotiation without Ukraine’s input.

Trump recently amplified his rhetoric against Zelenskyy, including arguing Zelenskyy was a poor negotiator and that he's "sick of it." 

"I've been watching this man for years now as his cities get demolished, as his people get killed, as his soldiers get decimated," Trump told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade.

"I've been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards, and you get sick of it," he continued. "You just get sick of it, and I've had it."

"I get tired of listening to it," Trump said. "I've seen it enough, and then he complains that he's not at a meeting that we're having with Saudi Arabia trying to intermediate peace. Well, he's been at meetings for three years with a... president who didn't know what the hell he was doing. He's been at the meetings for three years and nothing got done, so I don't think he's very important to be at meetings, to be honest with you. He's been there for three years. He's he makes it very hard to make deals."

Meanwhile, the president said Monday he would be "certainly" willing to go to Moscow. 

"At the appropriate time, I would go to Moscow," Trump said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would step down as president of Ukraine if it meant his nation would be accepted into NATO. 

Zelenskyy told reporters Sunday he was willing to give up the presidency "if it is for the peace of Ukraine," or if Ukraine is offered NATO membership – after President Donald Trump called him a "dictator" for failing to hold wartime elections. 

He also said he did not agree with Trump that Ukraine should pay the U.S. retroactively for the over $100 billion in aid offered since war broke out three years ago on Monday. 

"We agreed with Biden that this was a grant. A grant is not a debt," Zelenskyy said. 

US-UKRAINE RIFT BREAKS OUT AT UNITED NATIONS ON 3RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR

U.S. officials have said NATO membership is off the table for Ukraine at any point in the near future, as Russia would never agree to such terms. 

Despite Zelenskyy's complaints, Trump insisted a new draft mineral deal is "very close," and the deal will be worth $350 billion. 

"It looks like we're getting very close, the deal's being worked on we're getting very close to getting an agreement where we get our money back over a period of time. But it also gives us something that is very beneficial to their economy, to them as a country," Trump told reporters while meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the U.S. and Ukraine are at the "one-yard line" of a deal. 

"The negotiations have been very constructive, with nearly all key details finalized. We are committed to completing this swiftly to proceed with its signature. We hope both US and UA leaders might sign and endorse it in Washington the soonest to showcase our commitment for decades to come," Olga Stefanishyna, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister, added on X. 

Zelenskyy insisted he would not sign a deal that would cost Ukraine for decades.

"I will not sign what 10 generations of Ukrainians will have to pay back," he said. 

However, Zelenskyy is under pressure to agree to a deal to appease the Trump administration as the U.S. tries to broker peace with Russia.

The deal involves offering the U.S. preferential access to hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals as payback for past military aid, with no guarantee of future aid. 

TRUMP SET TO MEET WITH WORLD LEADERS IN DC DURING BUSY WEEK AS RUSSIA-UKRAINE PEACE TALKS CONTINUE

"I expect to see a deal signed this week," White House envoy Steve Witkoff said on CNN Sunday. 

"We’re funding with no arrangement to pay it back. Alternatively, the Europeans who are most affected by this war were funding the minority share, and they had agreements to pay it back. This agreement is much about repayment for all that we have done on behalf of the Ukrainian people."

Last week, Zelenskyy infuriated Trump by rejecting an initial version of a minerals deal, leading Trump to deem the Ukrainian president a "dictator without elections" and said Ukraine "never should have started" the war. 

Zelenskyy, in turn, said Trump was operating in a "disinformation space," which earned the Ukrainian leader warnings from Vice President JD Vance and national security adviser Mike Waltz to tone down his criticisms.

"I want the same as Donald Trump says he wants — to end the war as soon as possible. I believe he wants and will help us to end it. But the 'peace through strength' tactic should be applied on Russia first and foremost. We are partners and I want him to be on our side," Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine's constitution outlaws holding elections while the nation is operating under martial law, which it has been since February 2022. Elections were originally scheduled for last spring. 

Under the first draft of the mineral deal, the U.S. and Ukraine would split the profits of its minerals 50-50 for up to $500 billion. 

The second draft of the deal, obtained by the New York Times, was even harsher – and would have required Kyiv to give up its minerals, oil and gas revenues and earnings from ports and other infrastructure until reaching $500 billion. 

Zelenskyy said he would not recognize Trump’s $500 billion figure, as the assistance Ukraine had received from the U.S. was closer to $100 billion. 

• Polynesia is a popular honeymoon destination, but I traveled there solo and had a wonderful time.
• I rented my own scooter and stayed in guesthouses, a different experience than most honeymooners.
• Although the islands can be luxurious, I had the most unique experiences off the beaten path.

I know several people who honeymooned on the French Polynesia islands, and their photos looked marvelous.

The islands seem great for couples — US News even named two of them (Bora Bora and Tahiti) as some of the best spots for newlyweds in 2025.

However, I wanted to see if Polynesia is also a worthwhile destination for a solo trip.

Here's how I spent a week island-hopping around Polynesia all by myself.

I started my Polynesian getaway in Tahiti

To kick off my trip, I flew Air Tahiti Nui to the largest island in French Polynesia, Tahiti.

I landed early in the morning, and my room at Te Moana Tahiti Resort wasn't ready yet.

So, I started exploring the area right away. There were yellow mopeds in front of the hotel that I could rent by downloading an app on my phone.

I named my scooter Lemondrop and spent the entire day with her.

The first stop was grabbing a bite to eat at Snack De Mairipehe — which ended up being one of the best meals I've ever had.

It was my first time trying poisson cru, a delicious dish that consists of raw fish marinated in citrus juice and coconut milk alongside cucumbers, tomatoes, and avocados.

Some local recommendations filled out the rest of my day

At the restaurant, a local told me about Tahiti Iti, a reef break that offers some of the best surfing in the Pacific Ocean. Of course, I had to see for myself.

I rode over, and when I arrived, I saw some people about to leave the shore on a small boat. I asked if I could join, paid a small fee, and found myself on a 30-minute tour to the break to see the surfers up close.

It was one of the coolest travel experiences I've ever had.

I also stopped to see the Arahoho Blowhole and the Plage Ahonu black-sand beach before heading back to my hotel.

There were surprises around every corner in Tahiti

The next day, I strolled through the island's popular Marche de Papeete market, where I sampled several local foods.

I also took a wrong turn and ended up on a neighborhood street closed off for an outdoor game of bingo. The locals encouraged me to join, and I won on my first try.

The unplanned moment remains one of my favorite memories from the trip — it gave me a warm glimpse into the local culture.

Next, I made my way to Raiatea

The next leg of my trip was on Raiatea, which was only a 45-minute flight away. It's considered a sacred island in Polynesian spirituality and home to the Marae Taputapuātea UNESCO World Heritage Site.

I stayed in a mother-daughter-run bed and breakfast called Niu Shack. My room was in a hut in the jungle, and the mother cooked all my meals with fresh fruits from her extensive garden.

Beyond the stunning accommodations, the highlight was trying my hand at sailing on a double-hulled Holopuni canoe.

I was excited to explore the Marquesas Islands

Next, I visited one of the most remote archipelagos in the world, the Marquesas Islands.

I had to get back to Tahiti, and then it was a three-hour flight to Nuka Hiva, the largest of the islands.

I loved staying with a local family in Pension Tokaeva guesthouse. It was fascinating to slow down and converse with the family — thank you, Google Translate — and learn more about their lives and culture.

My last stop was Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands

For the final leg of my journey, I flew to Hiva Oa, the second largest of the Marquesas Islands. I rented a car — which was an interesting adventure itself — and visited the Paul Gauguin Cultural Center to learn more about the French artist.

The most memorable part of my time on the island, however, was traversing the lush, mountainous cliffside in search of local tiki makers.

I ended up purchasing two tikis, one stone and one wooden, from two different villages an hour away from each other.

I loved my trip, and I didn't feel out of place as a solo traveler

I was worried the Polynesian islands would be full of loved-up newlyweds — and that many of the local attractions would be catered to them. Luckily, that wasn't my experience.

I had a fabulous time exploring a few of the islands by myself and was able to connect with locals along the way.

I could see why someone would want to celebrate love in a place like Tahiti, but I'd be excited to come back with or without a partner.

Mustafa Al-Bassam is a former member of Anonymous, the global hacktivist collective known for cyberattacks on governments, corporations, and security agencies. Al-Bassam also cofounded LulzSec, a splinter group that launched high-profile cyberattacks in 2011. He was one of the key figures behind its hacking of Sony Pictures, the CIA website, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and multiple international law enforcement agencies.

In this interview, Al-Bassam takes us inside the world of cyber warfare and digital activism, discussing the rise of Anonymous, hacking programs targeting governments, and the battle for online privacy. He offers insight into cybersecurity threats posed by intelligence agencies like the US National Security Agency and UK Government Communications Headquarters and discusses how global powers such as China and Russia use hacking as a geopolitical weapon.

Since leaving the hacktivist world, Al-Bassam has become a blockchain developer and an entrepreneur. He earned a doctoral degree in computer science and cofounded Celestia, a decentralized blockchain platform aimed at enhancing online security and privacy.

For more:
Twitter: @musalbas
Celestia: www.celestia.org

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Twenty-two hours into tropical paradise, the money nerds started getting emotional.

In November, four dozen Americans and Australians converged in the spiritual heart of Bali, Indonesia, at a luxury resort filled with banana trees and the sounds of passing sheep. The crew was united by their commitment to the Financial Independence, Retire Early movement.

FIRE's promise: Embark on a super-saving path to ditch corporate drudgery ahead of schedule and retire on your terms.

On the first day of the retreat, we sipped on coconut water and focused on introductions. Attendees at the five-day, $1,800 retreat came largely from Big Tech, finance, and small businesses, a mix of five- and six-figure paychecks. At 22, I was the youngest person in attendance — by far. The other participants ranged from 35 to nearly 60 and included both those on the path to early retirement and those who had left their jobs years ago.

On the second day, people started opening up about what brought them to the island. This retreat came, like any financial product, with caveats and nondisclosures. During small-group sessions, we were instructed not to interrupt or ask follow-up questions. I agreed not to write details that might identify specific people.

Inside a bamboo-paneled room with the AC blasting, wooden chairs were arranged in circles of four, so close that our knees almost touched. The organizer, a retired teacher from Texas who moved to Bali, talked about mending her relationship with an estranged parent. Next up, her friend — a prominent financial independence influencer — described a painful interaction with his tween daughter.

Then the first member of our four-member group was up.

She spent a minute looking down at her flip-flops. Though she had been all smiles up to this point, when she finally spoke, she teared up and told us about a childhood family trauma.

The next man kept the emotional momentum going by talking about his loneliness. The third member of our quartet confessed how his obligations to his parents sometimes felt like a burden. I had rarely seen men cry, but here two did so one after the other. Last up, I thought about what troubled me, a 22-year-old with a dream job, a happy family, and good friends. I told them I was anxious that my sister's going overseas to college next year could pull us apart. I had never said that out loud.

Throughout that half hour, people sobbed, patted each other's shoulders, and, like me, struggled to show their solidarity without words.

The confessional set the stage for nearly a week of conversations — about stocks and Excel models, yes, but far more about personal growth and life optimization, replete with phrases like "accountability buddies."

After six months of writing about FIRE, I knew isolation to be one of the common downsides of retiring early. When all of your friends have a 9-to-5, nobody's around for lunch on a Tuesday.

At this retreat, I saw how deeply those feelings cut through a global community that often doesn't feel like a community at all. FIRE adherents need more than a lunch buddy — they're yearning for friends who won't shoot down their seemingly far-fetched plans, like retiring at 35.

"Any time I bring up net worth, my friends think I'm bragging," a five-figure employee with a job she hates told me over dinner. "Here I have people who are so much further than me in their journeys that I can talk about money openly."

Amy Minkley, the organizer who lives in Bali, said she came to appreciate the value of live, long events — not just a monthly happy hour or Zoom hang — in 2021 after attending her first retreat. Minkley had grappled with money issues since her parents' divorce during her childhood. She took on two jobs as a teenager to help her struggling mother.

"I felt like I met my tribe," she said about attending her first event. "I was so moved by the people that stayed up late with me and really counseled me through some big money scarcity issues."

Over the next few years, advice from new friends she made at these Bali retreats helped her sort her aging parents' long-term care.

"People don't often get that vulnerable until they've been around each other for multiple days," said Minkley, who retired at 44. "There's just something so valuable to be able to have conversations about money in real life."

Escaping judgment

Many outsiders associate the FIRE movement with fun-eschewing cheapskates.

Early evangelists, like the blogger Mr. Money Mustache, preached about living a bare-bones life to save as much as possible, then quitting your job the second you hit a certain threshold.

"There's been a lot of judgment over the years," a woman who started her path to FIRE in 2017 told me. "There's a lot of people that think that it doesn't work."

One American said she stopped talking about personal finance with her friends. They told her that they thought the FIRE community was a cult and that she was depriving herself.

"They just don't have the discipline to save and invest, so they think retiring early is impossible," the woman said.

"I still go out, I still travel, hell I even still drink Starbucks occasionally," she said. "It's hard to convince people that it's not about deprivation — it's about deciding what you value and spending on those things."

Over dinner with a Balinese fire dance and spicy Thai food, two women — both serial Financial Independence retreat attendees — told me their loved ones associated retiring early with laziness or lack of ambition.

Others said they needed someone outside their regular circle to give them permission to take the big step, whether it be to retire, to quit, or to actually spend money. A small-business owner told me she made two of the biggest decisions in her life — to start a business and to get a divorce — at similar events. She credits the phone-light, nature-heavy long weekends centered on Financial Independence, or FI, that feel more like adult summer camp than a financial workshop.

One woman in her 50s, who suffered from what's known in FIRE-land as "I'll resign next year" syndrome, asked a trusted person at this year's retreat to run through her finances to see whether she could retire. Back home in New York, a financial advisor had quoted her nearly $3,000 to do the same.

"This community is worth every penny," she said after a loud, late-night game of spoons.

FI influencers and Gen Xers who had retired years ago led breakout sessions with catchy names like "Financial Independence Next Endeavor" to talk about how to retire meaningfully.

The early retirees recommended creating a bank account to spend solely on experiences with friends and family. The session leader told us one of the best trips he had ever taken was last year's $20,000, 11-day cruise from Greece to Italy, with his mom and his adult daughter. His "fun bucket" helped him ditch the frugality mindset.

In an exercise about how to introduce yourself without mentioning work, a "FI-curious" couple with adult children struggled to talk about themselves. They had prioritized building their business for the past several years. They didn't know who they were without work — or where they would go if they decided to retire early.

'Accountability buddies'

On the last day, our 50-person group sat in a circle sporting a mix of loose tank tops and uneven tans. We shared one thing we promised to do to improve our lives after getting home. To keep on track, we were directed to find "accountability buddies."

One woman promised to talk to her FIRE-wary partner about her desire to move abroad. A business owner broke down and confessed that her work felt like a prison so she would consider hiring help. A couple with young kids said they would prioritize their sidelined marriage — though the two finance whizzes had recently hit nearly $2 million in net worth, they had never considered shelling out for household help or a full-time nanny.

"It's a cautionary tale," the husband said. "When the kids grow up and they leave, you look at each other and you realize you're two different people."

One man, whom I had always seen laughing and surrounded by others, teared up, saying he was going to try to forge more meaningful friendships.

When I checked in with some attendees in the weeks after the retreat, they told me their accountability buddies had stayed in touch. Some, like the couple with young kids, were following through on their improvement pledge — the duo had hired someone for household tasks and were trying to find an au pair.

On the eve of my 23rd birthday, I'm not gunning to retire by 30. Whether I have two or four decades of work ahead of me, the long weekend of drinking the coconut water made me want to invest in meaningful connections, not just my brokerage account.

I'll have my 30s and 40s to grow my career and net worth. But I need to enjoy friends and family now, while everyone is still fit and healthy. In the past three months, I have said yes to more activities and taken the initiative to plan others — a new tactic, because I often waited for loved ones to show they cared by asking me first.

And while I love my job as a journalist, I'm thinking more about who I am beyond it. As a kid, I dreamed of the hobbies I could pursue when I had my own time and money, untethered from school obligations. Now, I have no more excuses — and my accountability buddy is waiting.

President Donald Trump is set to have another busy week meeting with foreign leaders in the nation's capital as administration leaders continue working out a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. 

Trump will meet with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron in his fifth week back in the Oval Office, national security advisor Mike Waltz said on Fox News' "America Reports." The announcement follows Macron calling for an emergency meeting of world leaders after the Trump administration excluded Europe from sitting at the negotiating table to settle the war between Ukraine and Russia.

"Just a few months ago, everyone was talking about this war as though it would never end," Waltz said on "America Reports" after confirming Starmer and Macron will visit Washington, D.C. "In just a very short amount of time, President Trump has us, everyone – the Ukrainians, the Russians, the Europeans – talking about it now and debating.… Only President Trump could drive that shift in conversation. And we have to acknowledge that that's happened."

TRUMP SOUNDS OFF ON ZELENSKYY'S INSULTS AS US WORKS TO BROKER UKRAINE PEACE DEAL WITH RUSSIA: 'I'VE HAD IT'

Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met in Riyadh last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs advisor Yuri Ushakov to hash out ways to end the conflict. Ukraine was absent from the negotiations in Saudi Arabia. 

RUSSIA, UKRAINE TAKE ‘SIGNIFICANT FIRST STEP TOWARD PEACE’ AFTER RUBIO-LED NEGOTIATIONS, WHITE HOUSE INSISTS

Ukraine's lack of involvement sparked President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy to double down on the stance that his nation will not accept a peace deal unless they are a part of the negotiation process. 

Zelenskyy told reporters Tuesday in Turkey that "nobody decides anything behind our back," after stressing in recent days that Kyiv will not agree to a peace negotiation without Ukraine’s input.

Trump amplified his rhetoric against Zelenskyy last week, including arguing Zelenskyy is a poor negotiator and that he's "sick of it." 

"I've been watching this man for years now as his cities get demolished, as his people get killed, as his soldiers get decimated," Trump told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade last week. "I've been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards, and you get sick of it," he continued. "You just get sick of it, and I've had it."

TRUMP'S FRUSTRATIONS WITH ZELENSKYY ESCALATE AS US TURNS UP PRESSURE ON UKRAINE TO REACH PEACE DEAL

"I get tired of listening to it," Trump responded. "I've seen it enough, and then he complains that he's not at a meeting that we're having with Saudi Arabia trying to intermediate peace. Well, he's been at meetings for three years with a... president who didn't know what the hell he was doing. He's been at the meetings for three years and nothing got done, so I don't think he's very important to be at meetings, to be honest with you. He's been there for three years. He's he makes it very hard to make deals."

Trump added on Friday that Macron and Starmer "haven’t done anything" since 2022 to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. 

Trump's recent remarks on Zelenskyy have apparently alarmed European leaders who have backed Ukraine throughout the war. Macron previewed in remarks on Thursday that he will reportedly take a tough tone with Trump during their meeting. 

TRUMP AND ZELENSKYY WAR OF WORDS HEATS UP EVEN AS US LOOKS TO WIND DOWN WAR IN UKRAINE

"Trump, I know him. I respect him and I believe he respects me," Macron, who will meet with Trump on Monday, said during a question-and-answer session on social media. "I will tell him: deep down you cannot be weak in the face of President (Vladimir Putin). It's not you, it's not what you're made of, and it's not in your interests."

Starmer, who is slated to meet with Trump on Thursday, said on Sunday in Scotland that there cannot be peace talks without Ukraine's input. 

"Nobody wants the bloodshed to continue. Nobody, least of all the Ukrainians," he said Sunday, according to Reuters. 

"But after everything that they have suffered, after everything that they have fought for, there could be no discussion about Ukraine without Ukraine, and the people of Ukraine must have a long-term secure future." 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke to members of the media on Saturday following CPAC, saying a peace deal could be reached as soon as this week. 

"The president, his team are very much focused on continuing negotiations with both sides of this war to end the conflict, and the president is very confident we can get it done this week," she said. 

Fox News Digital's Bailee Hill, Morgan Phillips and Diana Stancy contributed to this report. 

Konstantin Malofeyev is on a roll. It's the day after Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 election, and the Russian oligarch's 900,000 followers on Telegram expect a rollicking post. Malofeyev, after all, is one of the Russian right's most adept media magnates, mentored by a former producer from Fox News on how to nourish and captivate a conservative audience in Russia.

Malofeyev illustrates his postelection post with a provocative image of Trump raising a clenched fist. Trump "is our enemy," he declares. "He wants a great America." Even so, he suggests, Trump might be able to get together with Vladimir Putin and agree on a common goal: how to divide the world between the two great superpowers. He finishes with a Trumpian flourish: "LET'S MAKE RUSSIA GREAT AGAIN."

It might sound like standard social media bluster, but Malofeyev can't be dismissed as a blowhard. He combines the media savvy of Steve Bannon with Elon Musk's ability to bankroll his own crusades, but he goes to greater lengths than either: The nationalist, religiously infused political faction he helps lead includes elements of the country's military and security services. On his multimedia platform, Tsargrad, which claims more than 3 million followers, Malofeyev beats the drums for Russian nationalism with a fervor that rivals the strongman posturing of Trump himself. He's also a proud sponsor of violent military rebellion: In 2014, he helped organize — and perhaps even instigate — the Russian separatist rebellion in the Donbas region of Ukraine, which served as a precursor to Putin's all-out invasion.

When Malofeyev speaks, everyone from Kremlin insiders to policymakers in Washington pays heed, his pronouncements seen as a signal of where Putin might be headed. He also has a fan base among American conservatives who cheer his screeds against "wokeness" and who view Washington and NATO as the culprits for the war in Ukraine. "He has enough money that he can certainly get his ideas listened to," says E. Wayne Merry, a Russia expert and former foreign service officer who served in the US Embassy in Moscow. It pays, then, to understand what Malofeyev has in mind to "Make Russia Great Again" — a goal that, in his mind, might be achieved only by full-scale nuclear war. "We are able to and must deliver a truly potent retaliation strike in a way that will force the West to curb support of Ukraine," Malofeyev wrote in an article published last year on Tsargrad.

Does he truly believe the war in Ukraine can be won with nuclear weapons? "Yes, I still think it is possible," Malofeyev tells me in a meandering, 7,000-word opus he sends in response to questions I submitted to him. "We have been messing around with a weak rival like Ukraine for too long, even with all the help they get from NATO." In his view, Russia must rebuild the empire along 19th-century tsarist lines.

"I see my position now in Russia as someone deeply engaged in its imperial revival," Malofeyev writes. "I believe that Russia will become an Empire again, and we are heading towards that end irreversibly and decisively," he adds. "I will help this come about with all my might."

Like Putin, Malofeyev wants to return Russia to a time before the Soviet revolution — reviving traditional values and institutions like the Orthodox Church and reassembling a "Great Russia" that includes ethnic Russians living in places like Ukraine. As both a child and an exuberant architect of this grand mission, his zeal for it possibly exceeds Putin's own.

Malofeyev was born in 1974 in a Moscow suburb, where his father was the head of a Soviet astrophysics laboratory. When he was 11 or 12, he tells me, one of his father's colleagues, a theoretical physicist, handed him a Bible, which he devoured. A grave childhood illness opened "some inner horizons," and his great-grandmother nourished a religious sensibility. But it was "The Lord of the Rings" that stimulated his conversion. "I was one of the boys who came to faith in Jesus Christ through Tolkien's fairy tale universe," Malofeyev tells me. "It may sound strange but it's true!"

In the summer of 1991, with the Soviet Union on the brink of collapse, Malofeyev enrolled at Moscow State University to study law. By his account, his political views had already crystallized. He wanted Russia to go backward, to the pre-Soviet era when Imperial Russia was ruled by a tsar with the blessing of the Russian Orthodox Church. As a student, he wrote papers extolling prerevolutionary Russia, guided by his "single dream" — to "revive the monarchy in Russia and the Russian Empire itself." The Russian people were happiest then, he believed. His given name, he points out to me, was in honor of his great-grandmother's late husband, an officer in the White Tsarist Army.

This nostalgic vision dovetailed with an unremitting antipathy toward Western democracy — especially America's — as an empty form of what he derisively calls "show business." In 1993, as a law student, he watched with revulsion as Russian tanks, on orders from President Boris Yeltsin, fired on nationalist oppositionist rebels in the Russian parliament. "Yeltsin's actions were being coordinated directly from the American embassy," Malofeyev told me. (In fact, the American embassy viewed the shelling as a disaster for Yeltsin and for the cause of Russian democracy.)

After graduating, Malofeyev embarked on a path through the no-holds-barred terrain of Moscow finance. Like many of the country's newly minted oligarchs, he prospered through a combination of guile and strategic alliances with Kremlin-connected figures. In 2005, he launched his own investment fund, Marshall Capital Partners, whose largest single stake was in Rostelecom, Russia's state-controlled telecommunications provider. Russia was not yet a pariah in Western business and political circles, and with his fluent English, Malofeyev developed personal connections to players both on Wall Street and in London's financial district. At its peak, his investment fund reportedly amassed assets of $1.5 billion.

But Malofeyev, unlike other oligarchs, did not shy away from promoting his political views. When the Kremlin was advancing a law to suppress 'gay propaganda,' Malofeyev told cultural conservatives in the West that "Christian Russia" could help liberate their own countries from what he called "the new liberal anti-Christian totalitarianism of political correctness, gender ideology, mass-media censorship and neo-Marxist dogma." To expand his political influence, he hired Jack Hanick, a former Fox News producer, to help create a Russian media platform modeled on Fox News. When Rupert Murdoch founded Fox News, Malofeyev was told by Hanick, "studies showed that 80% of the American population was conservative, but at the same time 80% of journalists were liberals." Malofeyev immediately saw the parallels. "When I heard about this," he tells me, "I believed that we could do a similar thing in Russia, because during the Western 'colonization' of our media during the 90s, Russian media as well became very liberal and pro-Western."

Under Hanick's tutelage, Malofeyev was on his way to becoming a full-fledged culture warrior. Then a transformative event — one that took place on an actual battlefield — propelled him into an even more radical role: an organizer of armed rebellion.

In February 2014, the Maidan revolution in Ukraine toppled the country's pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych. It also threatened to bring Ukraine into the European Union — a move that would represent a political and economic setback for both Putin and Malofeyev. Alexandar Mihailovic, the author of "Illiberal Vanguard: Populist Elitism in the United States and Russia," tells me Malofeyev's "personal finances" stood to suffer, because his "considerable investments in import and export businesses" in the Donbas region were suddenly at grave risk.

Two months after the uprising, a militia of pro-Russia commandos engaged in a shootout in the Donbas against forces loyal to Kyiv. The group was headed by Igor Girkin, a former operative in the Russian security services whom Malofeyev had brought onto the payroll as head of security at Marshall Capital. On a phone call intercepted by Ukrainian intelligence, Malofeyev could be heard showering praise on Girkin. He was especially pleased the clash took place on Palm Sunday, the Christian holiday that marks Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Malofeyev: So you killed exactly right people.

Girkin: Excellent! Thank you.

Malofeyev: Also want to say you marked very well the holiday.

Malofeyev was a prime financial backer of the pro-Russia separatists as they maneuvered to establish political control of the Donbas. Alexander Borodai, the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, had consulted for Malofeyev at Marshall. As the fighting raged on, Malofeyev brushed aside questions about why a self-professed Christian would back an armed and bloody insurrection. "You are confusing Christianity with Buddhism," he told a Russian publication at the time. "Christianity knows a large number of holy warriors," including saints who "chopped people up with a spear and a sword." Igor Girkin, he said, "took communion during the war, banned swearing in his units, and said that war is a holy cause."

To this day, Russia analysts debate whether Malofeyev, in fomenting the rebellion, was acting on his own or on the Kremlin's instructions. It's a question that goes to the core of who he is: Just how willing is Malofeyev to act on behalf of his interests, and in his view Russia's, without express permission from Putin?

"I am 80% sure that was his initiative" in the Donbas, Ivan Grek, the director of the Russia program at George Washington University, tells me.

The US and other Western governments sanctioned Malofeyev as "closely linked" to the separatist rebellion in Ukraine. But despite the financial blow he suffered, Malofeyev sped ahead with his media venture. In 2015, Tsargrad launched with a Fox-like slogan: "We are not afraid to tell the truth." But Vasily Gatov, a Russia media analyst, has noted that Tsargrad's closest American parallel is not Fox News but Breitbart, which offers a similarly "hyper partisan" blend of news and opinion.

To serve as chief editor, Malofeyev brought in Aleksandr Dugin, whose nationalistic writings enjoyed a following among Moscow's political elite, including military strategists. Dugin's 1997 book "The Foundations of Geopolitics," called for the restoration of a Moscow-run Orthodox Eurasian empire, in which Ukraine would be stripped of its sovereignty and become "a purely administrative sector of the Russian centralized state." The Russians, Dugin preached, were an "imperial people." The declared goal of Tsargrad — the name Slavs gave to the ancient Byzantine capital of Constantinople — was to "rebuild the empire."

"Aleksandr Dugin is a great man, I should say he is truly brilliant," Malofeyev tells me. Dugin now serves as editor in chief of Katehon, a think tank Malofeyev established. The organization derives its name from a biblical term that Malofeyev translates as "the force that keeps the world from being consumed by the coming evil."

Dugin's views, bankrolled by Malofeyev, have made him a darling of the American right. When Tucker Carlson visited Moscow last year for an exclusive interview with Putin, he also sat down with Dugin, whom he hailed as "a writer who writes about big ideas." In Dugin's telling, Putin was despised in the West because of his defense of "traditional values." Agreeing, Carlson bemoaned what he called the "very serious" antipathy directed at Putin. When Carlson posted a video of the interview on X, it garnered more than 8 million views.

As Tsargrad has expanded its reach and influence, Malofeyev has outpaced even the Kremlin's ambitions for empire-building. In 2022, when Putin finally launched his all-out invasion of Ukraine, a headline on Tsargrad exulted: "The predictions are coming true: Ukraine is no more." Now, with Trump's return to power, Malofeyev sees an opportunity to end the war and reestablish Russia's reach into Europe.

"There is only one single conversation that can take place to solve all of this," he told me. "A summit between President Putin and President Trump, where these two world leaders would resolve the whole set of issues, redrawing global security into a new multipolar framework. Ukraine is only a small part of this bigger picture." It didn't take long for Malofeyev's desire to begin to materialize: The two leaders had a phone call on February 12, during which Putin hinted at his desire to end what he views as NATO's expansionist agenda on the frontiers of Europe. A week later, Trump called Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky a "dictator" and said he's planning to meet with Putin to negotiate an end to the war.

In the meantime, the message Tsargrad is delivering to Russians is that all is not well in the land Putin has ruled for so long. The platform often publishes the kind of dissent that the Kremlin normally moves to silence. "Society is tired of unpredictability and uncertainty," Yuri Pronko, a veteran Moscow journalist and one of Tsargrad's chief commentators, declared in a recent video. "Life in Russia has become very expensive, both literally and figuratively. Prices have skyrocketed, and if someone's salaries grow, they are immediately devalued by inflation and devaluation."

I suggest to Pronko that his grim presentation doesn't sound like what the Kremlin wants to hear. "I am a journalist, not a propagandist," he tells me. "It may seem strange to you, but in Malofeyev's media I have more freedom than I previously had in other media."

In Moscow, the platform is widely perceived as to the right of Putin. "A lot of people close to Tsargrad are radically opposed to Putin," says one insider. "For these people, Putin is not radical enough."

Given Tsargrad's critical tone, why does the Kremlin — which has increasingly cracked down on naysayers — tolerate Malofeyev? It may suit Putin to remind Russians that he is not the most militant figure in Moscow. Malofeyev serves as a useful demonstration that "Putin is not the worst choice," says Dmitry Gudkov, a former member of Russia's parliament now living in exile. It's possible that Putin genuinely appreciates Malofeyev's fervent support for Russia's war in Ukraine, including medals for valor the oligarch hands out to Russian warriors. And it doesn't hurt that Malofeyev is married to Maria Lvova-Belova, who serves as Putin's commissioner for children's rights. Both Lvova-Belova and Putin have been indicted by the Hague on suspicion of "the war crime of unlawful deportation" of children from Ukraine to Russia.

Malofeyev and his spouse, in any event, share with Putin the distinction of being supremely hated figures in Kyiv. A "nice family," is how Yulia Klymenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, sarcastically describes the Malofeyev pair to me in a text. "Ideological devil + convict witch. The only home for them is hell."

Malofeyev's views on America come through loud and clear in his 20-page response to my questions. "It is proven fact that what you used to call 'Founding Fathers,' all of them were members of a secret, not at all transparent or democratically elected Masonic organization," he writes. "It was all a big show run by rich slave owners." He also rails against the "Deep State" that ran the Biden administration with "their perverted ideology (globalism, wokeism, cancel culture, encouragement of mass migration, gender issues) and live habits (pedophilia, child trafficking, and so on)." Still, he says, the future may offer hope: "I would like to agree with Elon Musk, who has recently said that we need to establish a direct democracy on Mars." His view of Trump's return to power contains a certain grudging respect. Trump and Musk, he says, are "transparent in their loyalty to post-liberalism, traditional values and anti-woke ideology."

Given his cultural rhetoric, Malofeyev serves as a useful conduit to American conservatives, recasting Putin's government as a vital bastion of traditional values. Jackson Hinkle, a MAGA hard-liner whose podcast was banned by Twitch for propagating disinformation about the war in Ukraine, interviewed Malofeyev on his podcast after Trump's election, introducing him as a "Russian patriot" who had been "vilified by the US government." Hinkle assured listeners that Malofeyev — and by extension, Putin — deserved their admiration. "I don't consider him a villain," he said.

It would be easy to dismiss Malofeyev's promotion of family values as a cynical ploy to win the support of Western conservatives. But everyone I spoke with about him — in Moscow, Washington, and Europe — views Malofeyev as sincere in his beliefs. Critics view him as a key cog in the culturally retrograde triumvirate of Trump, Putin, and Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary. "The Axis of Hate is back," Remy Bonny, a Belgium-based activist who advocates for LBTQ+ rights, tells me. In this transatlantic bloc, Bonny says, Malofeyev can be seen as an early and influential champion of Russia's emergence under Putin as a "pacesetter" for a global campaign against progressive values.

Malofeyev, for this part, has a simple explanation for the latitude he is given to criticize Putin's policies. "I am an independent rich man," he told podcaster Hinkle last year. "I have nothing from the state. My media belongs to me, privately. My business is completely private."

Just how much Malofeyev is worth isn't clear; the scuttlebutt in Moscow is that he has amassed a fresh pile of wealth in crypto. He won't disclose any information on his business affairs, he tells me, because that would make it easier for American prosecutors — "this gang of thieves" — to "steal my assets." The US government has seized some $5 million traced to a Malofeyev investment in a Texas bank, and the Justice Department has authorized transferring the funds to Ukraine to support war veterans.

Still, outspoken as Malofeyev can be, he sometimes pulls his punches. A year ago, a Moscow court sentenced Igor Girkin to prison — the man Malofeyev once employed and praised as a holy warrior in the Donbas rebellion. Girkin's crime was to call out Putin as a "cowardly bum." Malofeyev apparently did nothing to help his former employee escape this fate. Girkin has said he had a falling out with Malofeyev on "how an honest Russian patriot should act." In Girkin's view, the oligarch's aspiration to fit Russia's government in a "patriotic-monarchist uniform" was "doomed to failure."

One clue to Malofeyev's approach to Putin came in November, when he addressed a rally on National Unity Day, a Russian holiday. In the remarks he posted on his Telegram channel, he gave thanks to the local governor and bishop for participating in the celebration — but, tellingly, he made no mention of Russia's president. At 50, Malofeyev is not so much confronting the 72-year-old Putin as looking past him. When I asked him to describe his vision of a post-Putin Russia, Malofeyev said the Russian constitution should be changed to allow Putin to rule for life and to appoint a successor, just as in a monarchy.

That step would fit with Malofeyev's cherished idea of a future for Russia constructed on a glorified idea of the past. It could also enable him to emerge as an influential player in the post-Putin era. I ask Merry, the former foreign service officer, who is likely to succeed Putin. Russia's next ruler, he says, will almost certainly be a "serious nationalist," he answers — and will likely come from the camp of those "frustrated with Putin's inability to get it done" in Ukraine. In other words, from the camp of which Malofeyev is a leader.

As I pored over Malofeyev's responses to my questions, it seemed to me at times he was risking the Kremlin's ire. But his willingness to push back at Putin's war policy as soft and slow on Ukraine also reflects the frustration that many Russians feel over a bloody struggle that has ground on for more than a decade. At his year-end press conference in December, Putin was asked what he would do differently if he had the chance to go back to the beginning of the all-out invasion of Ukraine. "I would have thought the decision ought to have been taken earlier," he replied. Putin, in effect, has gravitated to the position long held by Malofayev. His life mission, to rebuild the empire, on track, the oligarch is proving an uncanny foreshadower of the direction of a turbulent Russia.

Paul Starobin is the author of "Putin's Exiles: Their Fight for a Better Russia."

China says Australia made ‘unreasonable accusations’ and deliberately hyped the situation after naval drills

A 17-year-old girl died after being bitten by a shark in the north of Brisbane earlier this month

• The US Space Force needs a "warfighting ethos" to compete with China in space, a new report has said.
• Failure to adapt could threaten the force's long-term chances of success in the space domain, it said.
• The Space Force also lacks a clearly defined role and resources, the authors said.

The US Space Force needs a change in mindset and increased funding to compete with China in the space domain, two retired US colonels argued in a new report for the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

The report, which was released earlier this week, summarizes the findings and recommendations from a two-day workshop held in October at the Mitchell Institute's Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence.

The event brought together 55 space experts to examine the Space Force Chief of Space Operations' theory of success — called "Competitive Endurance" — against a set of potential crises over the next 25 years, including the Russian deployment of a nuclear antisatellite weapon and an attempted Chinese space blockade.

The workshop found that the role of the Space Force was not well understood by many Americans and that it lacked resources and a "warfighting ethos," which the authors of the new report said threatened its long-term chances of success against China in the space domain.

"Systemic issues exist within the Space Force and Department of Defense that threaten the success of the Space Force in a long-term competition with China," Charles Galbreath, a retired US Space Force colonel, and Jennifer Reeves, a retired US Air Force colonel, wrote.

"Chief among these are: inadequate authorities and resources, a lack of clearly defined and understood roles and missions, and the need for increased warfighting ethos."

Drawing on the workshop's findings, the authors, both senior fellows at the Mitchell Institute, called on Congress to increase funding to the USSF and loosen policy restrictions to allow the deployment of offensive and defensive weapons, which they said would enable the force to "create a stronger posture, capable of deterring hostile actions and conflict."

They also urged the force to develop educational and training programs that aimed to "foster an assertive, warfighting culture," adding that Space Force members — known as Guardians — "must see themselves as warfighters and project a war-winning ethos."

While Galbreath and Reeves praised the "three tenets of Competitive Endurance" — avoiding operational surprise, denying first-mover advantage, and undertaking responsible counter-space campaigning — they said the theory did not "normalize space as a warfighting domain" or allow Guardians to "pursue victory and space superiority," which they said made it difficult for the public and Congress to grasp its military importance.

"If this loophole is not addressed, the Space Force and U.S. Space Command could find itself in a death spiral of waning support and funding, ultimately precluding the fielding of capabilities and conducting of operations necessary to secure U.S. interests in space," they added.

A Space Force spokesperson told Business Insider that "as China and Russia accelerate the development of counter-space capabilities, the need for a well-resourced Space Force has never been more critical."

"Our Guardians remain committed to ensuring space superiority while safeguarding the long-term stability and sustainability of the domain," they said.

Maj. Gen. Timothy Sejba, commander of Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM), said in 2023 that a warfighting mindset was vital to the USSF's work.

Speaking to attendees at the Air & Space Forces Association's 2023 Air, Space & Cyber Conference, Sejba, then Brigadier General, said that STARCOM's mission was to instill the warfighting mindset in every Space Force recruit.

"Even though the Space Force is only four years old, we've built the warfighting mindset for almost 40 years," he said, adding that he thought it was "critical" for the force to train "like we potentially have to fight in the future."

"I think that exists in other domains and other services, but it's one that we just haven't necessarily had to put into place for space in the past," he added.

Officials have long warned of growing international threats facing the US in the space domain.

In an interview with Politico in October, Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, the Chief of Space Operations, said China was developing counter-space capabilities at a "mind-boggling" pace and was of particular concern for the US.

John Plumb, a former assistant secretary of defense for space policy, also warned in 2023 of the increasing quantity and quality of global counter-space threats.

Plumb pointed to China fielding ground-based counter-space weapons and Russia developing its own systems designed at "degrading and denying US space-based services."

"Our competitors have watched us, they have learned from us, they've stolen from us, and they have developed capabilities to hold us at risk. But they are not ready for us. They're not ready for us today," he said.