Introducing: The Arms File

Where weapons flow, power follows. The Arms File uncovers who’s arming whom and why it’s reshaping the fragile balance in Eastern Europe. Part of The Gunpowder Chronicles by The Frontliner.

Dear reader, we’re expanding the scope of The Gunpowder Chronicles with a focused, intelligence-driven newsletter: The Arms File.

This new brief will monitor, document, and analyse the movement, buildup, and deployment of weapons across the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe with a critical eye on Serbia’s rising role as a regional proxy furthering Russian geopolitical interests. In an increasingly polarised world, where arms deals are rarely just about defence, The Arms File will follow the paper trails and the supply chains to tell the deeper story behind military posturing.

We’ll look at:

• Which countries are buying or selling weapons and why

• What armament trends tell us about shifting alliances and strategic goals

• How state and non-state actors are shaping the region’s security balance

• And who benefits from keeping conflict zones armed and unstable

Why this matters

Weapons don’t move in a vacuum. They follow political will, economic leverage, and ideological alignment. And in fragile post-…