A week that was… China, Russia, U.S., Iraq, Kurdistan, Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan, airstrikes, international mobilization, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Europe and U.K., nuclear issues, climate “threat multipliers”, Ebola…
WarTimes – Wk of Oct 13
Author: Strategic Demands Online
StratDem ‘factoid’ re: Road to Security
Consider these facts regarding the U.S. Department of Defense: · U.S. military operations represent the largest consumer of all forms of energy globally… · U.S. troops in Afghanistan pay the equivalent of $400 per gallon of fossil fuel when security, transportation and mortality costs are tallied up…
“Citizenfour”
CITIZENFOUR February 22, 2015 Citizenfour wins Oscar at the Academy Awards Acceptance Speech Why Citizenfour deserved its Oscar / New Yorker Feb 23, 2015 – Reddit AMA / Citizenfour–Snowden-Greenwald-Poitras -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- October 2014 “Most people think… it won’t happen to me… and I have nothing to hide… It’s always the same argument.” Premiere Oct 10 Trailer […]
WarTimes – Wk of Oct 6
Snapshots of conflict and war, policy options, opinion-makers, analyses from experts and non-experts, from the left and the right, mainstream and alternative, independent perspective of Strategic Demands…
Cyber Futures — Into the Cloud
Strategic Demands weekly series focusing on growth of the global Internet and the repercussions and consequences of surveillance state operations … StratDem looks at the Deep Net and myriad Intranets, the Mobile/Wireless Net, the tools/devices connecting to the Net, all impacted by ubiquitous surveillance, and we consider the Digital Rights and Open Data movement.
New Definitions of National Security
Environmental Security… National Security… “National Security” demands an expanded definition going forward into the 21st century as a result of changing environmental conditions, the dynamics of interactive networks, and new means and open methods of sharing critical environmental information.
Re-up – Ten more years
Without U.S. Congressional debate and with minimum public discourse and near absence of media notice or news, headlines or editorials, op/ed columns or speeches, the longest ongoing war in U.S. history has just been memorialized by agreement/treaty to continue another ten years.
Calculus of War – Airstrikes and Recruitment
The consequences of tactical warfare rarely (if ever) take into account the “blowback”, the mid- and long-term consequences of war. Preponderance of power can deliver shock and awe, devastation, body counts — but collateral damage, the struggle for hearts and minds, the wages of political war are not considered as the drums of war beat […]
Democracy in HK — and US/China relationship
#OccupyCentral? It seems the U.S. Occupy has been exported to China. The Chinese government reacts by banning Instagram (having already banned Twitter, Facebook, Google, et al.) StratDem: In the mid- and long-term, the technology of open data and social media is delivering a global political challenge. All governments now face a tech-enabled open gov movement […]
On the radar, visit our newest site extensions
Strategic Demands adds a visual element as we track security, war and peace developments — http://bit.ly/1yrh9X6 — http://bit.ly/1mUvA0S — September 22, 2014 — war commences in Syria — 25 years of war in the region expands with escalation across borders…
Another War – Syria
“It will take time… there are challenges ahead”… Army Lt. Gen. William C. Mayville Jr., director of operations for the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, says the objectives set for the US-led war in Iraq and now Syria could take years to complete — the pieces on the board are moving in multiple, unpredictable dimensions.
Speaking of “Environmental Security”
400,000 march in NYC before UN Climate Summit. Few observers of negotiations expect diplomatic breakthrough. Impasse prevails. Substantive outcome unlikely. UN struggles to find international consensus and to approve action agenda…
Blogiverse site that vacuums up security intel
The online universe, of course, has multiple trillions of points of data circulating for observation and use, or ignored and archived. Occasionally, a few ‘bloggers’ stand out amidst the billions of posts, the hundreds of thousands of billions of pixels, and the petaloads of mined data being sifted for hooks. Here we have an example […]
On the Horizon
The Topics here have been suggested for future StratDem studies, articles, reviews and/or commentary. Let us know your thoughts, which of the following ring a bell, which of these hit your s/plexus, which would you suggest we pursue. editor@sh7.ea8.myftpupload.com
Debate It
The President’s speech — and new U.S. war policy — goes into the history books September 10, 2014. Should this new war be formally debated? Does the Constitution require a Congressional debate, action and distinct resolution? Isn’t it time to revise the 2001 “Authorization for Use of Military Force”, as the National Security Network urges?
Scotland Independence Vote
Scotland achieves more independence, but not as an independent nation — HM Naval Base in Scotland, the only base for the UK nuclear fleet, can stay for now — Vote moves UK to ‘devolution’, increased powers for Scotland, agenda to revisit independence.
September 3, 2014
VP Biden to Islamic State: We will follow you to the gates of hell… Over the past months, Mideast news has headlined “gates of hell” threats — read Maliki and Hamas, commentators in Jerusalem and Fox TV, the warnings and theology evoke ancient times…
