Wonderful work here by @wellerstein.bsky.social and Peter Kuran. I have also used POWER OF DECISION to try and help students gain a more tangible sense that leaders really were/are prepared to use nuclear weapons. Thank you to both Wellerstein and Kuran for clarifying the film's content.

Title: The perils of periodising astropolitics: Space security and the system builders Author: Bleddyn E. Bowen, Durham University Abstract: Space systems are becoming an ever more important part of international security capabilities and practices. However, problematic interpretations of the Space Age are taking root in practitioner and academic circles along the contours of three sequential Space Ages. This article develops an original critique of these periodisations by applying a large technical systems approach and empirical research. It emphasises the role of space system builders and the prevalence of paradoxes in analysing space infrastructure as a method for critiquing three claims over the sweeping waves of democratisation, commercialisation, and militarisation in outer space that the periodisations make. This article proposes an alternative periodisation of a singular Global Space Age from 1957 that advances the counter-arguments that: first, power remains concentrated to a handful of space system builders rather than democratised to the many; second, that the space economy still relies on the state rather than being transferred to the private sector; and third, that the claims of sanctuary in space today ignore the spectre of space warfare that has long stalked space infrastructure. The infrastructural Global Space Age framing is offered as a useful materialist foundation for building bridges between international security, infrastructural technologies, and space security scholarship.

WHIGS IN SPACE! Or why democratisation, commercialisation, and militarisation rhetoric about space is wrong.

Very happy to see my new research article published with @ejisbisa.bsky.social!

The Perils of periodising astropolitics: space security and the system builders

@sgiadurham.bsky.social

🧵👇

Empire of the stars—not yet? China as a ‘partial’ great power in space- Astropolitics | BISA - Astropolitics Working Group

Don't forget to register for our next talk!

Thursday 26th March, 'Empire of the stars—not yet? China as a ‘partial’ great power in space' with Dimitrios Stroikos at 14:00hrs on Zoom.

www.bisa.ac.uk/members/work...

LeoLabs says they see hundreds of debris objects from the Starlink failure event

Some deep irony to China questioning Japan’s sovereignty over Okinawa over Japan’s support for Taiwan. As for me, I ask, why not self-determination for Okinawans? And also Taiwanese, Tibetans, and Uyghurs, and whoever? None of us are free until we all are, lol

"The Most Awful Responsibility" My new book on Truman and the bomb will be released next week

So, hey, my new book on Truman and the Bomb comes out NEXT WEEK! In this post on Doomsday Machines, I give a rundown of WHAT IT IS ABOUT, and other useful information, including the talk I am giving about it on December 16. doomsdaymachines.net/p/the-most-a...

A tiny crack in a spacecraft window triggered China’s first-ever emergency launch to Tiangong space station. A CCTV article reveals what happened over 20 intense days, and why a piece of space debris smaller than 1 mm forced the emergency response.

"This study identifies two variations of guanxi work processes. [...] The first pattern features a style of guanxi work that stresses the declaration of pseudo-kin or friendship, ritualistic toasting and drinking, and top-down driven emotion work."

Wait did Bigelow make a nuke movie
with a North Korean ICBM launch that's somehow less realistic than my 2018 short story? www.vice.com/en/article/a...

(tl;dr: Kim Jong-un tests a single ICBM, US fires several interceptors, Russian radar misses DPRK missile but seems many US missiles, nuclear war)

Can't remember where I saw it originally, maybe Grand Hotel Abyss. But it is quoted here in the LRB: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Theodor Adorno liked wombats, and so should you

At least he's not using it in "combat situations" yet.

Also love the article uses the AI dogfighter as an example in an article ostensibly about decision support 🤦‍♂️

"I have sought to slaughter as few civilians as possible." The rabid, apocalyptic Beat poetry that is "Mission with LeMay"

I was going to write something more general about Curtis LeMay, but I fell into the rabbit hole that is his bizarre memoir, “Mission with LeMay,” and felt that this was more than enough for one DOOMSDAY MACHINES post… doomsdaymachines.net/p/i-have-sou...

NINE DTP funding programme now active - full details in the link provided. First internal deadline 9th January 2026.

Thinking of doing a space policy/security PhD where I and my Durham colleagues could supervise but need funding? Have a look at the NINE DTP funding programme, now open. You need approval from host department first - internal deadline 9th January. www.ninedtp.ac.uk

photo of paulina borsook

1/ A longtime Wired editor just wrote a mush-brained essay about how he totally missed the political rot of Silicon Valley (& still doesn't get it).

But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that

Just spectacular how little the US debate on China's space tech has moved on since 1958.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

I don't want to have to write a paper on cuteness in Chinese nuclear politics, but the data are so good! 🙃

Nuclear Weapons At China's 2025 Victory Day Parade - Federation of American Scientists This buildup appears to contradict China's obligations under the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and could well stimulate nuclear buildups in the United States and India.

My colleagues and I here at the FAS Nuclear Information Project have posted this analysis of the nukes at the Chinese victory day parade. If you have corrections/suggestions, please let us know. fas.org/publication/...

A social media post from Xinhua News shows military vehicles carrying large missile launchers in formation, with Chinese text stating that the Dongfeng-5C missile’s strike range covers the globe.

social media post from People's Daily

comment section, with all top voted comments repeating "worldwide coverage"

A graphic from People’s Daily shows a white note pinned with a red pushpin. The handwritten-style red text in Chinese reads: “After reading, I only remembered one sentence: strike range covers the entire globe.”

today's weibo is the epitome of completely normalized everyday militarism... if you want to browse endless photos of missiles and see everyone repeat "打击范围覆盖全球” (strike range covers the entire globe)

This one too

Typing Rocket Force slogans into the pinyin input tool and its response is largely "surely not!?".

Why yes, computer, I am trying to write "LOVE THE MISSILES".

Go and work for my old boss! The subject matter might be depressing but Drew is very supportive ☺️

People exploring the future of military staffs would be well served to pay closer attention to history, especially the organization and operation of U.S. Navy staffs and how they differed from Army staffs.

Making support material is the main use for LLMs in wargaming I'm considering. A designer can't make news bulletins for every outcome in advance. Unexpected player choice is to be encouraged!

Simulated news in-game can be imperfect without harm i.e. writing off hallucinations as misinfo or error

As ever, Sebastian has wise words for us on wargaming 👇

Lanyue descent test video. Via: m.weibo.cn/detail/51973...

The irony is that we'd happily play a good board game where you have to keep your garden tidy

Painfully relatable

Hopefully the bingo game made people think about the terms and language we use in the space sector, how and why some phrases fall in and out of fashion, and showcased why humanities, social sciences, and arts research belong in the space sector just as much as our STEM counterparts.