Essays

essays

The trials of a president

The failed prosecution of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy in the American Civil War, underscores the lasting tension between justice and political pragmatism seen..

Angus Brown September 26, 2024

essays

How private intelligence companies became the new spymasters

In a world awash with digital data, private intelligence companies now compete with state agencies, turning everyone into potential spies and transforming the age-old craft of espi..

Shashank Joshi September 24, 2024

essays

Will machines make strategy?

The emergence of AI capable of deducing human intentions signals a new frontier in technology that could transform the world of strategy, diplomacy and warfare.

Kenneth Payne September 18, 2024

essays

How companies go to war

We are living through a change in the balance of power between states and the private sector. The implications for modern conflict are vast.

Ulrike Franke September 16, 2024

essays

Our attention dilemma is age-old

We have not lost our ability to focus, we are just focusing on the wrong things - an attention dilemma that has haunted western thought for centuries.

Alastair Benn September 13, 2024

essays

Saxony and the return of the Third Germany

The citizens of Saxony and Thuringia elected new state parliaments on 1 September, voting overwhelmingly for extremes of left and right. Over its long and complex history, Saxony h..

Luka Ivan Jukic September 12, 2024

essays

Dumbarton Oaks: creating a new world order

Eighty years ago, representatives of the soon-to-be victorious allied powers gathered outside Washington DC to lay the foundations of the United Nations. Examining how delegates de..

Andrew Ehrhardt September 10, 2024

essays

How censorship conquered the world, again

The great age of rising standards of living was also the age of the marketplace of ideas; truth telling goes hand in hand with optimism. In the absence of prosperity and community ..

David Wootton September 5, 2024

essays

The Australian way of war and peace

Australia stands at the forefront of a democratic resistance against China's expanding influence, reshaping its strategy and alliances to meet the challenges of a contested Indo-Pa..

Rory Medcalf September 3, 2024