Same old story. The Economist (EU) Sat, Apr 11, 2026 “They promoted an old idea, common in monarchies throughout history, that injustice cannot be the good tsar’s fault: it must be his bad officials’. The story of one local administrator… Read More »The disinformation state
People are dumb. Even those in power. “The Economist (EU) Sat, Apr 11, 2026 The Kaiser thought a short, sharp war would reshape the Balkans to Germany’s advantage and boost his own standing at home. He doubted that many other… Read More »How to avoid world war three
Central comitees rarely work. “In 1958, Mao ordered every village in China to produce steel. Farmers melted down their cooking pots in backyard furnaces and reported spectacular numbers. The steel was useless. The crops rotted. Thirty million people starved.In 2026,… Read More »The AI Great Leap Forward
It is all about stories. “The corporation does not wonder whether formation is possible. It has quarterly OKRs around it.” https://tantaman.com/2026-04-06-formation-we-admit-to.html
Flexibility matters. “That flexibility becomes decisive because of what I’d argue is a real Roman equipment advantage, which isn’t really a technological advantage, per se. The only new technology the Romans are using is mail armor, which, to be fair,… Read More »Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IVc: Perseus
How China needs to rethink its Taiwan strategy because of Iran. Newsweek International Fri, Apr 10, 2026 https://pressreader.com/article/281496462829335
Logistics wins wars. “It is striking that while Philip V is never really fighting the Romans in this war more than 80 or so miles (as the bird flies) from the Macedonian heartland, the Romans, operating more than 500 miles… Read More »Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IVa: Philip V
Why don’t we? “Just to give a fun sense of how wild these years were, in brief what happens is: Pyrrhus gets hard shut out by Lysimachus’ much larger army in 286, retreating back to Epirus with his tail between… Read More »Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IIIb: Pyrrhus
It is important to delegate and build capable leaders to.have a large state or an organization. “Eleven independent commands. And that wasn’t an abnormal year! And then all of these experienced commanders head back to the Senate, where they’re available in… Read More »Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IIb: Handfuls of Maniples
How Romans fought. “An enemy that has broken formation to pursue the velites which then slams face-first into the hastati while tired and out of formation is going to have a very bad time” https://acoup.blog/2024/02/09/collections-phalanxs-twilight-legions-triumph-part-iia-how-a-legion-fights/