Michael Woodson
Unity Series Part III: There is a Season
Is a teenager conservative in growth? An octogenarian liberal in speech? A mother conservative in love? Or a father liberal with his family’s safety? Is a government that taxes heavily without having achieved conservatively efficient government operations liberal in returns for the taxpayer? Is a government that conservatively taxes too little in a time of…
Algorithmic, Fully Autonomous Killing is a Trap for the Power Using It
Setup A recent report says the Pentagon is closer to approving autonomous drones killing human targets, a decision that would likely backfire in ways that do more damage than good to the United States. (This article does not address close range fully autonomous weapons systems on battlefields set apart from civilian populations and employed by…
Unity Series Pt. II: Meanings of Liberal and Conservative
Premise Being liberal or conservative for reasonable people who are generally well cannot and does not mean constant agitation, enmity, and disputation over gridlocked issues until we lose all reason and collapse as a homeland, culture of excellence, and as a people with a future. What does it mean then? There are guides to understanding…
Unity Series Pt. I: Gray Warfare
Working Definition of Gray Warfare for Purposes of this Essay Gray warfare is activity that damages human relationships and material assets civilizations rely on to be well, thrive, defend, and excel. Depending on the warring party’s intentions, gray war’s aims may range from checking the power of a target nation to its destruction and subjugation.…
Observations: Chinese Gray War Spike in SCS Correlated with Hamas Surprise Attack
Observation: Two weeks before October 7, 2023 and ever since Hamas waged its lethal combined arms and terrorist attack on U.S. ally Israel, China ratcheted up the continuity and intensity of its gray warfare against U.S. allies in and surrounding the South China Sea to test the resolve and unity of free nation allies including…
Under Putin, Russia’s Vassalage to China
China’s and Russia’s “multipolar world” brand has obscured China’s global unipolar objectives and Russia’s subjection to China. As Putin gambles Russia’s future on death dealing expansion during an economic contraction, China’s power over Putin hardens. Multipolar-speak helps hide that from Russians. Susan Haynes née Turner warned of this deception risk in her 2009 paper “Russia,…
Beijing’s Gamble: Putin’s Unsuccessful Mentor
As with Dr. Frankenstein’s ill-considered electrification of a dead person in Shelley’s classic, President Vladimir Putin three years into his reign sought to raise Yuri Andropov’s foreign and domestic policies from the dead to help him rebuild the USSR that Andropov’s decision-making on Soviet intervention in Afghanistan hastened toward collapse. And now there’s Ukraine. Other hardliner…
Iran Regime: Russia’s and China’s Destabilizer Bot
The dictatorial theocracy of Iran has been a quasi-vassal of larger dictatorships since the Iranian revolution of 1978-79. Today Iran acts in the strategic interests of Russia and China as it seeks membership in their regional organization, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. From 1997-2006, Russia under Putin was the top heavy conventional weapons supplier to Iran…
Keeping It Real: Reminders About The Dictators’ Club
The Dictators’ Club uses force, corruption, subversion, degradation, reeducation camps, unjust prosecutions, assassinations, and systematic lies to try to destroy opponents, dismantle free nations, and wage gray and open warfare to realize their expansionist plans. They are not likely to change unless they have to do so. Reminder on the Nature of Today’s Autocrat Regimes…
Belarusian Helicopters Fly Low into Poland’s Białowieża Forest
Setup: Two events aimed at NATO ally Poland were apparently orchestrated by Moscow, Belarus, and Wagner Group mercenaries this week: (1) Wagner mercenaries moved toward the strategic Suwalki gap that joins NATO ally Poland with the Baltics (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), (2) and a military helicopter incursion into Poland by at least two low-flying Belarusian…