“How much of what we did was good?
Zhou Enlai (fictional version), from the conclusion of the opera Nixon in China
Everything seems to move beyond our remedy.”
Few military best practices survive first contact with the private sector, yet every business activity today is very obviously taking place within a context of sustained and intensifying geopolitical conflict between nuclear superpowers.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022—and the respective NATO and Chinese responses—are playing out against and existing backdrop of global plague, civilization-threatening ecological collapse, and overheated financial markets. This is World War III already, though perhaps not as many of us originally envisioned it.
War by any other name
“The first Great Information War began in 2014…” – Carole Cadwalladr
“We are already in the middle of a third World War, whether we’ve fully grasped it or not.” – Interview with Fiona Hill
How China Embraces Russian Propaganda and Its Version of the War, Li Yuan
Impunity for War Crimes in Syria Casts a Grim Shadow Over Ukraine, Ben Hubbard
Refactoring perception
“Interesting to see how the @nytgraphics has changed their map symbology as the Russian war in #Ukraine️ unfolds….” – @LeviWesterveld
How tyrants stay in power—and lose power
The Dictator’s Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith
The new and fast-changing macroeconomic landscape
Russia’s Ukraine invasion could be a global economic ‘game changer’, David J., Lynch
“We are in uncharted territory…” – @Guay_JG
Ukraine War Threatens to Cause a Global Food Crisis, Jack Nicas
The pendulum in international affairs, Howard Marks (March 2022)
Biden rebuffed as US relations with Saudi Arabia and UAE hit new low, The Guardian (April 2022)
Financial instability and inequality
A critique of crypto – @ummjackson (07/14/21)
A critique of donor advised funds – John Arnold (08/11/21)
A critique of QE – Rudy Havenstein (07/14/21)
The folly of ruling out a collapse – John Hussman (August 2021)