Blake Herzinger
@bdherzinger.bsky.social
I like big navies and I cannot lie. Navy Reservist | CIMSEC | Asian Security | ex-Citi, AEI, USSC, Twitter, Pacific Forum, US Pacific Fleet | Proud Idahoan | Opinions mine, but you're welcome to adopt them
Excellent thread from @mgerrydoyle.bsky.social —>
Gerry Doyle@mgerrydoyle.bsky.social · last wk.the problem here isn't military, it's the way the military was used. what was the desired outcome? could that be achieved by long-range strike alone? (answer to the first question is a series of question marks, answer to the second is "no")
So the Coast Guard has finally redeployed the cutters formerly tasked to Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA), moving them from Bahrain to Singapore and the Philippines.
The Navy wants 30 unmanned vessels in the Indo-Pacific by 2030. It still has no plan for fixing them there. warontherocks.com/broken-drone...
Broken Drone, Far from Home: The Case for Overseas Autonomous System Sustainment
It’s 2028, and the Fujian carrier strike group has just left Yulin, China, for an unknown destination. The U.S. Navy’s “Hedge Strategy” has let commanders
warontherocks.com
"As the protective value of physical distance erodes, strategic depth — once conceived in geographical terms — must now be measured in the resilience of data and compute.” @bdherzinger.bsky.social
Blake Herzinger@bdherzinger.bsky.social · 4w agoReally pleased to make a return to @warontherocks.bsky.social, arguing for a new concept - digital strategic depth. warontherocks.com/cogs-of-war/...
Really pleased to make a return to @warontherocks.bsky.social, arguing for a new concept - digital strategic depth. warontherocks.com/cogs-of-war/...
Gathering Clouds: Building Digital Strategic Depth in the Compute Age
The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have exposed a strategic reality that military planners are only beginning to confront: In a data-centric age,
warontherocks.com
“My country right or wrong: when right, to be kept right, when wrong, to be put right.” - Major General Carl Schurz 🇺🇸
📕YCAPS is pleased to announce the Alliance Handbook Series with the usstudiescentre.bsky.social 1) US-Japan @marsecbradford.bsky.social @mikebosack.bsky.social 2) Australia-Japan @mikebosack.bsky.social 3) US- Australia @bdherzinger.bsky.social Access below👇 www.ycaps.org/alliance-han...
this is the simple answer to people who keep saying NATO expansion matters. Sure, it matters because it presented an obstacle to Russian imperial ambitions. Putin didn't invade because he hated NATO expansion, he hated NATO expansion because he wanted to invade
It's an unusual form of isolationism...
Wesley Morgan@wesleymorgan.bsky.social · 7mo agoFirst-ever US airstrikes in Nigeria put the second Trump admin’s 2025 combat actions at: —Nigeria—tonight’s strikes —Yemen—1,000+ strikes (Mar-Apr) —Somalia—120 strikes, 1 ground raid —Syria—78+ strikes, 3 ground raids —Caribbean—11 strikes —Eastern Pacific—20 strikes —Iran—3 strikes —Iraq—1 strike
New post out: @ldfreedman.bsky.social talks to @kschake.bsky.social - who's worked at senior levels in the US defense and state departments - on how the military should deal with Trump, Hegseth and illegal orders. (Free to read) samf.substack.com/p/the-state-...
The State and the Soldier
How should the US military react to a "unprincipled principal"?
samf.substack.com
Information Office of the PRC State Council furiously scribbling down notes on how you roll out the public announcement of a blockade
Ryan Goodman@rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 8mo agoIt is international law 101 that a military blockade is not just a violation of the UN Charter, but a crime of aggression. Unless that blockade is in response to an 'armed attack.' None of President's Trump's list of complaints come close to an armed attack. 1/
wrote this week about a topic there's surprisingly little coverage of in the United States even in think tanks focused on the Chinese military: the everyday lives of Chinese soldiers. foreignpolicy.com/2025/12/16/c...
What’s It Like to Be a Chinese Soldier?
Behind the parades, recruits face long deployments, strict rules, and limited opportunities.
foreignpolicy.com
*looking for the land Venezuela stole from the United States*
a man wearing a yellow shirt with the letter a on the front
ALT: a man wearing a yellow shirt with the letter a on the front
media.tenor.com
“The white paper outlined this plan without deference to or even acknowledgement of U.S. sensitivities, likely putting China on a collision course with the United States in the region in the months and years ahead.” thediplomat.com/2025/12/chin...
China’s 2025 White Paper on Latin America Sets the Stage for Renewed Competition With the US
The new document declared China’s intention to expand its influence on all fronts, even as the U.S. is turning its focus to the Western Hemisphere.
thediplomat.com
#OTD 1907: The Great White Fleet departs Hampton Roads, Va. to circumnavigate the world in 14 months, a journey of 43,000 miles that included 20 port calls across six continents.
At least there's a solid rebuttal to that gawdawful Harrison Kass piece about getting rid of the Marine Corps thehill.com/opinion/nati...
thehill.com
China to fall out of Germany’s top five export destinations for first time since 2010 – Reuters: ‘dropping to seventh place as shipments decline 10% to 81 billion euros ($95.04 billion) this year’ ‘as imports from [China] rise more than 7% to around 168 billion euros, accounting for 12% of all’
China to fall out of Germany's top five export destinations for first time since 2010
China will fall out of Germany's top five export destinations for the first time since 2010, dropping to seventh place as shipments decline 10% to 81 billion euros ($95.04 billion) this year, a govern...
reuters.com
Great piece by Chris Miller: “The Trump administration’s offer of economic inducements misses the point. Russia doesn’t want a business deal, it wants Ukraine: a building block of Mr. Putin’s new sphere of control and a victory that could humiliate the West and demonstrate his great-power status."
Opinion | Putin Isn’t in It for the Money
That’s why he hasn’t accepted the Trump peace plan. He’s a czar, not a businessman, and he wants to swallow Ukraine.
wsj.com
The man suspended enforcement of the foreign corrupt practices act for gods sake. What possible reason could you have for doing that if not “doing corruption”?
Patrick Chovanec@prchovanec.bsky.social · 8mo agoSaying Trump is “transactional” is just a gentle way of saying he’s corrupt. Every power he has been trusted with, he treats as a way to extract favors and benefits from anyone he sees as situationally vulnerable.
My assessment of the Trump national security strategy: "it sees the United States’ adversaries as partners in that war, but it does not see how much U.S. power relies on the voluntary assistance of other countries."
The Only War the White House Is Ready for Is Culture War
The new U.S. National Security Strategy is a moral and strategic disaster.
foreignpolicy.com
Those that can erect protectionist barriers will do so. Those that cannot will be hollowed out by Beijing.
Carl Quintanilla@carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 8mo ago.. a “remarkable figure, never before seen in recorded economic history ..” @wsj.com 🇨🇳 www.wsj.com/economy/trad...
Seeing a leader of the United States adopt this line is revolting. While the US remains imperfect, it is also the global leader in FDI as well as the world’s leading destination for inbound investment. China would love to have an economy like America’s.
The thing about this is that it makes a real nice place to live.
Revan@revan.eurosky.social · 9mo ago
Dude, you're the incumbents, the only message that works for you is prices actually going down
Politico@politico.com · 9mo agoEXCLUSIVE: After Dems’ 2025 election sweep, Trump plans to refocus his messaging on the cost of living, says his 2024 campaign political director, James Blair. Sneak peek of Blair’s interview with our @DashaBurns on #theconversation: politi.co/4oMzVmI
Government of posters facing a crisis: what if the solution was more posting
Hill Woward@convolutedname.bsky.social · 9mo agoDude, you're the incumbents, the only message that works for you is prices actually going down
Everyone I know that makes something in a critical industry. Also most people I know that work on economic security issues. Argue against the implementation, the power grab by the executive, the active and apparently intentional harm to alliances, sure.
Sharon 🪳🌹@sharonk.bsky.social · 9mo agokind of curious as to which angle? tackling re-industrialism or current account deficits?
