Update: Turkey
In late August 2022, Haluk Bayraktar, the CEO of Bayraktar drone company Baykar, reportedly pledged that the company would not sell its drones to Russia “no matter how much money we are offered.” This, while expressly continuing to sell them to Kyiv in solidarity with Ukraine. Yet in March, Turkish Deputy…
Turkey playing both sides with decided preference for autocracy
One would think Putin would have yanked S-400 contracts with Turkey, angered by Ankara’s Bayraktar combat drone deals with Kyiv. He has not. Instead, he is pursuing a Bayraktar drone plant in Russia to use the combat drones against Ukraine. If a conflict with NATO broke out Putin would not…
Might NATO Aggressively Employ Anti-Bombardment & War Machine Countermeasures as Humanitarian Aid to Ukraine?
2022 Introduction: The following is a short position piece written under the auspices of Stratpass Corporation in February 2015 after the Crimean takeover by Russia. It proposes Transnational Anti-Weapon, Anti-War Machine, & Anti-Bombardment Aid Problem The Russian military expansion into Crimea, Ukraine, and Europe (EN1) warrants a new NATO conventional deterrence doctrine…
This Week in Russian Gray War: Space Shrapnel, Weaponized Refugees, Petro-economic Warfare
Russia’s “chain-reaction warfare,” via space shrapnel, weaponized refugees, and energy supply influence are much analyzed, yet there has been little devised to deter or decisively stop it. This last week, Russia blasted one of its defunct spy satellites into over 1500 fragments too high for the pieces to timely burn…
Defending Free Business & Private Property with Enhanced Fiduciary Duty
Corporate leaders do not fulfill fiduciary duty to shareholders in the spirit of the laws by allowing company property, some of which enables strategic advantage over free nations, to slide into the maw of autocracy. The Congress and legislatures of the United States, the 50 states, and U.S.-based business lobbies…
The Shape of Political Subversion: Executive to Legislative
The exodus of GOP conservatives from Congress continues into 2022 with Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez withdrawing from a primary contest in submission to a Trump-controlled candidate. It is not often a young incumbent steps down, especially one who expands and diversifies the GOP tent in the spirit of former President…
“Quackaganda” & the Art of Information Defense
It helps to update information defense nomenclature in ways that precisely target attack vectors aimed at our national security. Recently, attacks on U.S. and allied health security seek to tie-up U.S. resources and mental bandwidth on complex iterations of alternative health narratives that take on ‘Big Pharma,’ the “medical establishment,” and…
Is the Zambezi River Authority a Model for Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan?
Issues: The Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam, or GERD, is a massive Nile River dam project impacting tens of millions downstream and upstream. Ethiopia cites national sovereignty in its right to build and fill the dam to stabilize its own infrastructural, agricultural, and energy future. Egypt and Sudan cite risks to…
Beirut’s Port Explosion: Analysis and Strategic Implications
Introduction Purpose: To analyze open source information about (1) the strategic context and (2) chain of events leading to the massive ammonium nitrate explosion in Beirut’s port on August 4th, 2020, killing some 200 people, injuring over 6,500, and displacing 250,000.¹ Pre-and-Post Explosion Context Lebanon Generally: Modern Lebanon with its…
Tesla Ups Bitcoin Game with China
Setup: In Q1 February, Tesla bought 1.5 billion USD in Bitcoin, sold 10% of that for a profit, announced Tesla would accept Bitcoin for cars, then announced on May 12th on Twitter that Tesla will suspend its acceptance of Bitcoin for the negative environmental impact of its mining operations. This,…