📣 New Publication! 📣

Delighted my new #openaccess article on ‘Strategic Saints and Sinners’ is out in @IAJournal_CH

It explores the strategic implications of cynical self-interest in war.

Abstract in thread👇Please share/repost!

#strategy #war @irph.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/ia/advance-a...

📣 New Publication! 📣

Delighted my new #openaccess article on ‘Strategic Saints and Sinners’ is out in @IAJournal_CH

It explores the strategic implications of cynical self-interest in war.

Abstract in thread👇Please share/repost!

#strategy #war @irph.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/ia/advance-a...

Trump's Wars: How an Anti-War President Learned to Love the Use of Force Donald Trump has always presented himself as an anti-war president. He rails against ‘endless wars’ and mocks nation-building interventions.

With US military action against Iran underway, Donald Trump's record as Commander-in-Chief provides important clues about how the campaign might unfold.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/trumps...

Ukraine Is Losing the War With Moscow Pressing Its Advantage, Kyiv Should Trade Land for Peace

Not sure I’d pass this as an undergrad essay: while important to ask hard Qs about continued resistance, drawing such bald conclusions from purely material factors-disregarding will, morale, org, leadership, pol, etc (beyond strat goals)-is seriously myopic reader.foreignaffairs.com/2026/02/26/u...

The Baltic is becoming a battleground between NATO and Russia Poland, Sweden and others are buying subs to protect pipelines

The Baltic is becoming a battleground between NATO and Russia
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from The Economist

A few thoughts on possible US-Iran conflict (1/11):

The Age of Kleptocracy Geopolitical Power, Private Gain

reader.foreignaffairs.com/2026/02/17/t...

The Sound of Munich: Autonomy, Anxiety, and the Twilight of Transatlantic Order Munich was warmer than Washington this weekend, both in weather and in sentiment. Neither development was widely forecast. The sense of crisis in

At Munich, leaders declared a new era for Europe. The terms are still up for debate.

What China is really up to in the Arctic Its close co-operation with Russia is alarming many in the region

What China is really up to in the Arctic
economist.com/china/2026/0...
from The Economist

Trump Administration Erases the Government’s Power to Fight Climate Change

Trump Administration Erases the Government’s Power to Fight Climate Change www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/c...

What War With Iran Would Look Like Decapitation strikes against the regime are likely. An invasion is not.

foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/11/i...

What Thucydides Could Really Teach Trump The Trump administration’s embrace of coercion, transactional alliance politics and performative displays of strength is often defended as hard-headed realism in an unforgiving international system...

What Thucydides Could Really Teach Trump

“Athens did not fall because it lacked power; power changed Athens”

#realism #geopolitics #Thucydides #War #restraint #Pericles #power #strategy #alliances #Trump #narrative #nato #hubris #melos

The UK Ministry of Defence, “Low-Carbon Warfare,” and the struggle to construct novel sociotechnical imaginaries of future war Why do defence organizations take some imaginaries of future warfare more seriously than others? In this article, we use the concept of “sociotechnical imaginaries” to chart the struggle of a vangu...

IRPH's Dr Duncan Depledge, Dr Tamiris Santos (@tamispsantos.bsky.social), and Dr Tom Hobson have a paper in Contemporary Security Policy's latest issue. You can read 'The UK Ministry of Defence, “Low-Carbon Warfare,” and the struggle to construct novel sociotechnical imaginaries of future war' now.

The UK Whole of Society Defence and the Reality of Modern War The national conversation must address society's preparations to defend itself, reimagining the citizen solider of the 21st century, and every sector's role in this effort.

'The question is not whether the British public will rise to the occasion, it is whether they will be properly equipped to do so effectively, ahead of time.' write Ed Arnold and Major Laurence Thomson in the latest RUSI Commentary.

Caught red-handed! Sorry Neville. Perhaps an indefensible usage, but I do feel it neatly conveys a core theme of his work. That's why I frame it as a 'Thucydidean precept' & quote you, alongside a proviso. If it didn't exist, I would have concluded by saying something similar (no doubt less well).

What Thucydides Could Really Teach Trump The Trump administration’s embrace of coercion, transactional alliance politics and performative displays of strength is often defended as hard-headed realism in an unforgiving international system...

Trump and his aides invoke frequently Thucydides when they discuss American foreign policy, but misunderstand or misrepresent his words. In a new paper, IRPH's Dr Tom Waldman (Senior Lecturer in Security Studies) asks what Thucydides could REALLY teach Trump.