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 up in Earth’s atmosphere; Putin…
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 have embraced a zombified version…
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 East Mediterranean ports2 has been a…
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, while asking Tesla followers whether…
A Way of Thinking About China
Foreign Relations Thinking: Issue Set-Up We’ve heard the ineffective “or” questions: Is China an adversary, competitor, partner, or opponent to the United States? Is China a near-peer, or peer power? Which is the greater threat, China, Russia, or global terrorism? The honest answer is, “Yes, all of the above, with a regular doses of the unexpected.”…
Lai Xiaomin and China’s Anti-Democracy Narrative to the United States
With the execution of Lai Xiaomin of China Huarong Asset Management Co., China executed a subtle sword block and strike in the art of information war against the United States. Beijing’s leadership-level propaganda piggy-backs on decades’ long Russian intelligence narratives and memes marinating military, law enforcement, far right, and angry young men in the notion that…
China Update: Seizing Advantage from Strategic Lame Duck
Bloomberg reported that Iraq is prepared to enter a multi-billion dollar energy deal with China similar to that China made with Russia several years ago that culminated in the Siberian pipeline to China. These prepaid oil for financing deals are tools China uses to decouple its energy needs from U.S. domestic sources while gaining influence…
On Xi’s Menu: Lame Duck Divisé
Seizing the Gray: China leverages Donald Trump’s predictably divisive lame duck period at home to project itself as the responsible global leader in the world. China acted similarly when Donald Trump was in his fire and fury phase toward North Korea, later praising Kim Jong Un with no firm denuclearization commitments. Space Race: On December 1,…
Argument: Dynasties in U.S. Politics Present Security Vulnerabilities
Power families using their resources, names, and influence to repeatedly win or determine political offices can become de-facto dynasts to the detriment of U.S. national security. Much like software, firmware, or operating systems, such families are like programs running public offices with informational and other flaws that become well known and more vulnerable over time.…
Breaking the Divisiveness Pickle
“The Social Dilemma” documentary offers a pithy insiders’ look at social media’s and search engine roles in the ‘divisiveness pickle’ felt by U.S. Americans, to use the baseball term also known as a “rundown” between bases. The false dichotomies in demagogic, agitation propaganda, and partisan narratives make “the pickle” an apt…