I wrote he naval chapter in this book on Russia’s military capabilities, where the English version is now available as a free download.
Military strategy and politics
Russian defense minister complains about propaganda centers in the West
Sergey Shoigu clams that strategic propaganda centers operate in Riga, Tallinn and Warsaw to spread misinformation against Russia.
Cargo spaceships and pipe dreams
CDR Salamander has a scathing critique of general Hyten’s ideas for logistical spaceships and a centralized virtual combat cloud.
Forward basing of US ground troops in Western Pacific is unrealistic
It makes little sense to talk about forward basing of American ground forces in East Asia before addressing the problem that no country wants to host them.
Lukashenko weaponizes refugees against Lithuania
Belarus is apparently channeling migrants from the Middle East and Africa into Lithuania as a way to put pressure on their neighbor.
How Donald Rumsfeld deserves to be remembered
Not in a positive light.
Russia and the West moving into state of more “professional antagonism”
The Russian Prosecutor General has declared Bard College an “undesirable organization”. This means that any Russian citizen who maintains a relationship with the American liberal arts school faces up to six years in prison, while all foreign professors and students are banned from Russia. Bard runs a mini-campus in Saint Petersburg, so the number of […]
The argument that Russia’s security zones around Crimea are legal
Since HMS Defender’s recent freedom of navigation operation close to Crimea, there has been an interesting public debate about the legal aspects of innocent passage. My attention has been drawn to this article by professor Stefan Talmon where he makes the case that Russia’s suspension of this right in certain areas in the Black Sea […]
Do tripwire forces work?
Not according to Paul Poast and Dan Reiter. In this article in War on the Rocks titled Death without deterrence, or why tripwire forces are not enough they argue that nobody is deterred by a militarily insignificant body of soldiers whose only job it is to die. Though tripwire forces offer little deterrence power, larger […]
Silo-based nuclear missiles are better than their reputation, and Stanislav Petrov did not save the world
Pavel Podvig has some interesting points on his blog about the Soviet Union’s nuclear strategy and the value of silo-based missiles. Pavel’s point is that silo-based ICBMs are much more useful than they are typically made out to be: Silo-based multiple-warhead ICBMs have a consistently bad reputation with the arms control crowd and nuclear hawks […]