Media manipulation in the Israel-Hamas conflict poses a challenge for journalists Wars are fought in two domains. First, in the physical domain of armed combat. Secondly, in the ideological-doctrinal domain of propaganda and messaging. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has seen a vigorous propaganda and messaging war, both between Russia and Ukraine and between…
Dictators like Putin would do well to remember the saying: After Hubris, Nemesis It is axiomatic that a dictatorship will, eventually, implode in a riot of recrimination, mayhem and murder. Consider 20th-century Russia. Having manoeuvred himself into the top job, Joseph Stalin set about rolling back his esteemed predecessor Lenin’s experiments with artistic freedom and…
Biden’s decision to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs doesn’t bode well for Ukraine’s 2023 campaign As I observed in my last Troy Media commentary on the Russia-Ukraine War, she who forgets or ignores the past risks having it repeat. Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden authorized the supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine. Because of…
A striking parallel can be drawn between the Prigozhin rebellion and Caesar’s historic crossing of the Rubicon On June 24, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner private military company (PMC), came close to marching several thousand of his brutish, battle-hardened mercenaries into Moscow, a city defended by Rosgvardia militiamen and police officers. It is…
Failure to supply Ukraine may prolong the war and raise the risk of tactical nukes At the conclusion of the Second World War, or, as the Soviets had it, the Great Patriotic War, the victors, most conspicuously the United States, realized that unless the continent of Europe was quickly rebuilt, states such as Italy and…
Evaluating how policies will be read by third parties will lead to fewer geopolitical failures It is axiomatic that events are interpreted differently by different parties. As the saying goes, one woman’s terrorist is another woman’s freedom fighter. How a person perceives an event will be influenced by their personal history, circumstances, access to objective…
If history tells us anything, it is that regional conflicts spread Those of us who believe we are in the foothills of a Third World War despair at western leaders’ complacency. On 13 Mar. 2023, Britain’s Foreign Secretary announced a derisory £5 billion increase to the UK’s defence budget, apparently ignorant of the fact that…
The best defence against hybrid warfare is methodical skepticism It has finally dawned on the West’s leaders that the impetus behind the Cold War – a deep mistrust between East and West – endures and that, rather than ending, the Cold War has evolved into a struggle between totalitarianism and pluralism, oppression and freedom. The…
Despite its recent minor successes in eastern Ukraine, the war is not going Russia’s way With the Russia-Ukraine War about to enter its second year and President Vladimir Putin increasingly frustrated at the demonstrable ineptitude of his army, navy and air force, the world community, whose members appear to be in denial about the risks…
The world can no longer afford to swim with the green tide In 2008, Britain’s parliamentarians passed the Climate Change Act (CCA), which committed Britain to achieving Net Zero by 2050. As The Economist put it, CCA “would mark the end of Britain’s contribution to global warming, notwithstanding ‘exported’ emissions resulting from products made abroad”.…
Media manipulation in the Israel-Hamas conflict poses a challenge for journalists Wars are fought in two domains. First, in the physical domain of armed combat. Secondly, in the ideological-doctrinal domain of propaganda and messaging. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has seen a vigorous propaganda and messaging war, both between Russia and Ukraine and between…
Dictators like Putin would do well to remember the saying: After Hubris, Nemesis It is axiomatic that a dictatorship will, eventually, implode in a riot of recrimination, mayhem and murder. Consider 20th-century Russia. Having manoeuvred himself into the top job, Joseph Stalin set about rolling back his esteemed predecessor Lenin’s experiments with artistic freedom and…
Biden’s decision to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs doesn’t bode well for Ukraine’s 2023 campaign As I observed in my last Troy Media commentary on the Russia-Ukraine War, she who forgets or ignores the past risks having it repeat. Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden authorized the supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine. Because of…
A striking parallel can be drawn between the Prigozhin rebellion and Caesar’s historic crossing of the Rubicon On June 24, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner private military company (PMC), came close to marching several thousand of his brutish, battle-hardened mercenaries into Moscow, a city defended by Rosgvardia militiamen and police officers. It is…
Failure to supply Ukraine may prolong the war and raise the risk of tactical nukes At the conclusion of the Second World War, or, as the Soviets had it, the Great Patriotic War, the victors, most conspicuously the United States, realized that unless the continent of Europe was quickly rebuilt, states such as Italy and…
Evaluating how policies will be read by third parties will lead to fewer geopolitical failures It is axiomatic that events are interpreted differently by different parties. As the saying goes, one woman’s terrorist is another woman’s freedom fighter. How a person perceives an event will be influenced by their personal history, circumstances, access to objective…
The best defence against hybrid warfare is methodical skepticism It has finally dawned on the West’s leaders that the impetus behind the Cold War – a deep mistrust between East and West – endures and that, rather than ending, the Cold War has evolved into a struggle between totalitarianism and pluralism, oppression and freedom. The…
Despite its recent minor successes in eastern Ukraine, the war is not going Russia’s way With the Russia-Ukraine War about to enter its second year and President Vladimir Putin increasingly frustrated at the demonstrable ineptitude of his army, navy and air force, the world community, whose members appear to be in denial about the risks…
The world can no longer afford to swim with the green tide In 2008, Britain’s parliamentarians passed the Climate Change Act (CCA), which committed Britain to achieving Net Zero by 2050. As The Economist put it, CCA “would mark the end of Britain’s contribution to global warming, notwithstanding ‘exported’ emissions resulting from products made abroad”.…